Energy Dept Says US Has Idle Capacity to Fuel PHEVs; Sees Wide Benefits
Dec 11, 2006 (From the CalCars-News archive)

This report answers some questions we get all the
time. We're going to have to update our FAQ to
draw on this authoritative source! However,
though the press release is out today, the actual
report won't be available for several weeks. We'll announce when it's out.


Mileage from megawatts: Study finds enough
electric capacity to "fill up" plug-in vehicles across much of the nation
http://www.pnl.gov/news/release.asp?id=204
Release date: December 11, 2006
Contact: Susan Bauer, (509) 375-3688

RICHLAND, Wash. – If all the cars and light
trucks in the nation switched from oil to
electrons, idle capacity in the existing electric
power system could generate most of the
electricity consumed by plug-in hybrid electric
vehicles. A new study for the Department of
Energy finds that "off-peak" electricity
production and transmission capacity could fuel
84 percent of the country's 220 million vehicles
if they were plug-in hybrid electrics.

Researchers at DOE's Pacific Northwest National
Laboratory also evaluated the impact of plug-in
hybrid electric vehicles, or PHEVs, on foreign
oil imports, the environment, electric utilities and the consumer.

"This is the first review of what the impacts
would be of very high market penetrations of
PHEVs, said Eric Lightner, of DOE's Office of
Electric Delivery and Energy Reliability. "It's
important to have this baseline knowledge as
consumers are looking for more efficient
vehicles, automakers are evaluating the market
for PHEVs and battery manufacturers are working
to improve battery life and performance."

Current batteries for these cars can easily store
the energy for driving the national average
commute - about 33 miles round trip a day, so the
study presumes that drivers would charge up
overnight when demand for electricity is much lower.

Researchers found, in the Midwest and East, there
is sufficient off-peak generation, transmission
and distribution capacity to provide for all of
today's vehicles if they ran on batteries.
However, in the West, and specifically the
Pacific Northwest, there is limited extra
electricity because of the large amount of
hydroelectric generation that is already heavily
utilized. Since more rain and snow can't be
ordered, it's difficult to increase electricity
production from the hydroelectric plants.

"We were very conservative in looking at the idle
capacity of power generation assets," said PNNL
scientist Michael Kintner-Meyer. "The estimates
didn't include hydro, renewables or nuclear
plants. It also didn't include plants designed to
meet peak demand because they don't operate
continuously. We still found that across the
country 84 percent of the additional electricity
demand created by PHEVs could be met by idle generation capacity."

"Since gasoline consumption accounts for 73
percent of imported oil, it is intriguing to
think of the trade and national security benefits
if our vehicles switched from oil to electrons,"
added PNNL energy researcher Rob Pratt. "Plus,
since the utilities would be selling more
electricity without having to build more plants
or power lines, electricity prices could go down for everyone."

Lightner noted that "the study suggests the idle
capacity of the electric power grid is an
underutilized national asset that could be tapped
to vastly reduce our dependence on foreign oil."

The study also looked at the impact on the
environment of an all-out move to PHEVs. The
added electricity would come from a combination
of coal-fired and natural gas-fired plants. Even
with today's power plants emitting greenhouse
gases, the overall levels would be reduced
because the entire process of moving a car one
mile is more efficient using electricity than
producing gasoline and burning it in a car's engine.

Total sulfur dioxide emissions would increase in
the near term due to sulfur content in coal.
However, urban air quality would actually improve
since the pollutants are emitted from power
plants that are generally located outside cities.
In the long run, according to the report, the
steady demand for electricity is likely to result
in investments in much cleaner power plants, even
if coal remains the dominant fuel for our electricity production.

"With cars charging overnight, the utilities
would get a new market for their product. PHEVs
would increase residential consumption of
electricity by about 30 - 40 percent. The
increased generation could lead to replacing
aging coal-fired plants sooner with newer, more
environmentally friendly versions," said Kintner-Meyer.

"The potential for lowering greenhouse gases
further is quite substantial because it is far
less expensive to capture emissions at the
smokestack than the tailpipe. Vehicles are one of
the most intractable problems facing policymakers
seeking to reduce greenhouse gas emissions," said Pratt.

Finally, the study looked at the economic impact
on consumers. Since, PHEVs are expected to cost
about $6,000 to $10,000 more than existing
vehicles - mostly due to the cost of batteries --
researchers evaluated how long it might take
owners to break even on fuel costs. Depending on
the price of gas and the cost of electricity,
estimates range from five to eight years - about
the current lifespan of a battery. Pratt notes
that utilities could offer a lower price per
kilowatt hour on off-peak power, making PHEVs
even more attractive to consumers.

Adding "smart grid" communications technology to
ensure the vehicles only charge during off-peak
periods and to provide immediate, remote
disconnect of chargers in event of problems in
the power grid would make them attractive to utilities.

PNNL is a DOE Office of Science laboratory that
solves complex problems in energy, national
security, the environment and life sciences by
advancing the understanding of physics,
chemistry, biology and computation. PNNL employs
4,200 staff, has a $725 million annual budget,
and has been managed by Ohio-based Battelle since the lab's inception in 1965.