Ford Motor Company (NYSE: F) announced Wednesday that its plug-in hybrid vehicles under development will be able to communicate with future smart grids, allowing owners to program when to recharge the vehicle, for how long and at what utility rate.
Ford said it has developed an intelligent vehicle-to-grid communications and control system that can "talk" directly with the electrical grid via smart meters provided by utility companies through wireless networking. Owners will uses the vehicle’s touch screen navigation interface and in-dash computer to program charging preferences.
For example, a vehicle owner could choose to accept a charge only during off-peak hours between midnight and 6 a.m. when electricity rates are cheaper, or when the grid is using only renewable energy such as wind or solar power.
"We are designing what plug-in hybrids and battery electric vehicles will be capable of in the future," said Greg Frenette, manager of Ford’s Battery Electric Vehicle Applications. "Direct communication between vehicles and the grid can only be accomplished through collaboration between automakers and utility companies, which Ford and its partners are demonstrating with this technology."
The first of the specially equipped plug-in hybrid demonstration vehicles has been delivered to American Electric Power of Columbus, Ohio. Ford’s other utility partners’ vehicles will also be equipped with the communications technology.
Over the past two years, Ford said it has logged more than 75,000 miles on the plug-in hybrid test fleet in collaboration with its industry partners. The plug-in hybrid research focuses on four primary areas: battery technology, vehicle systems, customer usage and grid infrastructure.
"Broad commercialization of electric transportation is not something a car company can achieve on its own," said Nancy Gioia, Ford director, Sustainable Mobility Technologies. "Developing and producing the vehicles is just one part of the electric transportation equation. We are well on our way to delivering the vehicles, but for widespread adoption the infrastructure to support the technology needs to be in place and we need to ensure that the national electric grid can support increased electric demand."
In 2007, Ford announced a partnership with utility Southern California Edison. Since then, Ford and Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), an independent nonprofit organization, have expanded the partnership, with a three-year plan to develop and evaluate technical approaches for integrating PHEVs into the nation’s electric grid system, a key requirement to facilitate widespread adoption of the vehicles.
Other Ford partners include: New York Power Authority, Consolidated Edison of New York, American Electric Power of Columbus, Ohio, Atlanta-based Southern Company, National Grid of Waltham, Mass., and Pepco Holdings.
Ford also has announced a collaboration with Smith Electric Vehicles to help bring a small electric commercial van to market in 2010.
Ford recently was selected for two grants from the Department of Energy under its fleet electrification program. The program is designed to accelerate viable commercial volumes of electrified vehicles and vehicle-to-grid infrastructure development.
One grant, for $30 million, will help fund Ford’s collaboration with utility partners across the nation with an expansion of a vehicle demonstration and grid integration program.
Ford also will receive a $62.7 million DOE grant for production of an electric-drive transaxle that could be used for hybrid and plug-in hybrid vehicles at Ford’s Van Dyke transmission manufacturing facility in Sterling Heights, Mich. This grant will be matched by Ford.
Ford has said it plans to invest nearly $14 billion in advanced technology vehicles in the next seven years.
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Read the full Reuters report at the link below.
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