Lots of Volts Could Bring Jolts to Some Neighborhood Power Grids

Lots of Volts Could Bring Jolts to Some Neighborhood Power Grids

By John O'Dell December 1, 2009

Panelists Tackling PHEV Issues Say Aging Power Equipment Could Pose Problems

Panelists (from left) Andrew Shapiro of GreenOrder; Mark Duvall of the Electric Power Research Institute; California State Sen. Leland Yee; Michael Peevey of the California Public Utilities Commission and Chevrolet executive Brent Dewar discuss plug-in hybrid and EV infrastructure issues at Los Angeles panel sponsored by Chevrolet.

By Danny King, Contributor

Herbert Hoover's backers in the 1928 presidential campaign may have wanted to see a car in every garage, but if that happens with the Chevrolet Volt, there could be problems.

In California, where GM will make a big play with the 2011 Chevrolet Volt when sales begin at the end of next year, some neighborhoods simply don't have sufficient electrical capacity to support a Volt - or any other plug-in electric car - in every garage, according to speakers at a Los Angeles roundtable discussion Monday of GM's upcoming extended-range plug-in hybrid.

A fairly even distribution of millions of Chevy Volts across California would barely make a dent in the state's electricity demand, but the concentration of the cars within a small area might challenge regional electrical capacity.

That will be especially true if customers retrofit their homes to allow for quicker charges than from the standard electric plug, according to Michael Peevey, president of the California Public Utilities Commission, and Mark Duvall, director of electric transportation at the nonprofit, industry-backed Electric Power and Research Institute (EPRI).

Challenging Capacity

Fast-charging systems draw far more power form the grid than do chargers using regular household 120- or 240-volt current.

"There won't be equal distribution," said Peevey, the former president of Southern California Edison. The Volt's expected price tag - $40,000 before tax credits and other incentives - is likely to restrict early sales to well-to-do enclaves. "If everybody on a particular block decides to charge their EV at 9 pm, it puts a significant strain on the system," Peevey said.

Such concentrated demand is just one of the scenarios both public officials and representatives of the Chevrolet Division pondered at the General Motors-sponsored event as the company prepares to feature the car at this week's Los Angeles International Auto Show.

With the Volt slated to go into production late next year, the California imarket s expected to be key to early demand for the car, which has a battery-only range of up to 40 miles before a gas-burning engine-generator kicks in to continue supplying electrical power for up to 300 miles more.

Early estimates are that the Volt might deliver average combined city-highway fuel economy of 60-90 miles per gallon - although with the combination of a gas generator, electric drive and a grid-recharged battery pack, mileage will vary wildly depending on individual driving needs and habits.

Incentives Needed

Whether or not the Volt's launch is successful, panelists agreed, may depend on incentives beyond the $7,500 federal tax credit that will leave the Volt well above the $20,000 to $30,000 range customers pay for conventional gas-electric hybrids such as the Toyota Prius.

Peevey has proposed getting utilities to cut nighttime electricity rates in half as an additional incentive for buying a plug-in such as the Volt, whose  daily recharging needs require about the same electricity as a refrigerator or water heater.

Utilities could further spur demand by streamlining the approval process for people to upgrade their electrical systems to allow for fast-charging systems, Peevey said.

State Sen. Leland Yee (D-San Francisco/San Mateo) has another idea.

Carpool Lane Access

He's authored a bill that would allow high-occupancy-vehicle lane access over the next six years to as many as 65,000 cars that get at least 65 miles per gallon while no longer allowing access to the current crop of conventional, non-rechargeable hybrids that get about 45 miles per gallon.

We need to support these kinds of technologies," Yee said of the Volt, adding that his bill is likely to  be voted on in the state Senate next month. "I travel to Asia quite a bit, and when you go there and open the shade in the morning, you don't see blue skies whatsoever. We've got to prevent that from happening in California."

The Volt, which has a 16-kilowatt-hour battery providing 8 kilowatt-hours of usable energy, along with a 1.4-liter flex-fuel engine-generator, can be charged either with a standard 120-volt charging cord that requires about eight hours for a full recharge, or a 240-volt charger that cuts the recharging time in half.

Circling back to those problematic neighborhood brownouts if the Volt and plug-ins to follow are successful, panelists said that power companies across the national are well aware of the potential and are busily cataloging worn equipment and overloaded or aging substations with an eye to upgrading as quickly as possible.

"We've been working on it for years," said Duvall.

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Photo by Steve Fecht, courtesy of General Motors.

John O'Dell:  is an AutoObserver Senior Editor. Follow @AutoObserver on Twitter.