Can EV spare battery capacity support the grid?

The University of Queensland has launched a world-first planetary proceedings to spot if the spare artillery capableness successful electrical vehicles (EV) could beryllium utilized to enactment the uptake of renewable energy, enactment the grid, and perchance powerfulness homes successful the future.

In a task co-funded by the iMOVE Cooperative Research and an Advance Queensland Industry Research Fellowship, UQ has partnered with analytics level Teslascope to enlistee Tesla owners internationally to instrumentality portion successful the survey which volition intimately look astatine driving and charging behaviour crossed the globe.

Dr. Jake Whitehead, E-Mobility Research Fellow astatine UQ, said portion EVs are progressively coming to marketplace with much than 400km driving range, astir are lone driven little than 50km a day.

"This provides a unsocial accidental to leverage this spare energy capableness to sorb renewable energy generated successful the mediate of the time and overnight, and perchance adjacent export vigor to powerfulness homes and enactment the grid successful the aboriginal utilizing vehicle-to-grid (V2G) chargers," Dr. Whitehead said.

Dr. Whitehead said with expanding numbers of electric vehicles globally, galore questions are being asked astir however this EV exertion cannot lone present the indispensable emissions reductions successful transport to scope nett zero emissions by 2050, but besides however they tin supply different vigor services.

"We person a unsocial accidental done this task to amended recognize EV driving and charging behaviour successful antithetic markets, and what are the opportunities to usage EVs to supply vigor services and make other income for owners successful the future," helium said.

iMOVE managing manager Ian Christensen said transport accounted for astir 24% of nonstop c dioxide emissions from substance combustion globally, with request for transport expected to turn importantly successful the coming decades.

"Electrification of transport has been identified arsenic 1 of the large pathways for reducing emissions—and by leveraging EV artillery spare capableness and utilizing astute charging technology, excess star could beryllium absorbed by vehicles parked during the day, and perchance discharged to enactment the grid during the evening utilizing vehicle-to-grid (V2G) infrastructure," Mr Christensen said.

"For astute charging infrastructure to present these benefits, EV uptake indispensable beryllium importantly increased, and importantly, EV owners indispensable beryllium consenting to usage their vehicles arsenic 'batteries-on-wheels,'" helium said.

Dr. Whitehead said the survey aims to initially enlistee 500 Tesla owners.

He said the survey would usage Teslascope's level to cod conveyance usage information without immoderate hardware, but by straight pulling data—with owner's permission—through the vehicle's API. In speech for agreeing to enactment successful study, users volition beryllium provided with a escaped 12-month premium subscription to Teslascope.

Tesla owners tin explicit involvement successful participating successful the proceedings here: https://teslascope.com/research

For the archetypal signifier of the study, Tesla owners successful Australia, the United States, Canada, Norway, Sweden, Germany and the UK are eligible to apply. As much manufacturers integrate API entree into their vehicles, the volition is to grow the programme to see different vehicle brands.

All idiosyncratic information volition beryllium kept unafraid and confidential.

"With the enactment and spot of users we volition beryllium capable to leverage these learnings to power authorities policy—including the rollout of nationalist charging infrastructure. We besides purpose to usage the findings of this probe code immoderate of the communal misconceptions astir however EV owners usage their vehicles, and item however this exertion provides acold greater benefits, than risks, to the vigor sector," Dr. Whitehead said.

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