Each year at the DistribuTECH trade show, a new theme seems to emerge spontaneously on the exhibit floor.

Three years ago it was “smart grid,” a theme that has since spread like a technology shockwave throughout the industry. Two years ago it was “demand response,” and last year it was the home-area network (HAN) and related customer-interface technologies. These themes still are gaining momentum as companies formulate their smart-grid and smart-metering investment plans.

This week in Tampa, Fla., one of the most obvious themes at the show was the rise of electric vehicles. Everyone wanted to talk about EVs—some with a healthy dose of skepticism, but mostly with genuine excitement and optimism.

For example, smart-grid technology company Tendril was displaying a Tesla Roadster at its DistribuTECH booth, immediately across from Fortnightly’s booth. (Company sources explained that Tendril got this sweet car because one of the company’s private equity investors also is a major owner of Tesla Motors.) Tendril used the Roadster to demonstrate the smart-charging features of its energy management software.

Other examples abounded at the show. Plug Smart was demonstrating its EV charging station. At the Sensus exhibit, representatives from the U-SNAP (Utility-Smart Network Access Port) alliance were demonstrating HAN capabilities with a cutaway “doll house” that included an EV parked outside. While the demo wasn’t promoting EV management per se, the point was clear: Sensus is promoting technologies that will integrate EV smart-charging into the company’s FlexNet advanced metering infrastructure.

Likewise representatives at Itron, Lockheed Martin and Control4 were talking about the EV-management capabilities of their recently partnered systems.

The list goes on.

Part of the buzz probably comes from a couple of salient numbers. The first number is 40. That’s the approximate number of unique models of highway-capable EVs and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV) scheduled to begin hitting showrooms between now and the end of 2011. Depending on whom you ask, between 18 and 24 of those models are bound for U.S. highways during that time. Many of the manufacturer names are newcomers, but all the major auto makers—from the United States, Japan, Korea and Europe, not to mention China and India—have EVs of some type slated for rollout in the next 18 months or so.

The second number is 1 million. That’s how many electric vehicles some analysts estimate will be running on U.S. roads by 2020—and other analysts predict much higher numbers by that date. A report issued this week by the ISO/RTO Council concluded that fully integrated smart charging would allow 1 million EVs to operate on the U.S. grid with a negligible increase in the country’s peak load (546 MW)—but only if utilities implement smart charging.

“[EVs] represent a significant new set of power users that grid operators must prepare to serve,” stated Stephen G. Whitley, president and CEO of the New York ISO and ISO/RTO Council chairman. “PEVs also might lead to game-changing innovations in energy distribution.”

It’s no wonder, then, that EVs emerged as the spontaneous theme at this year’s D-TECH. Will they become a transformative force to rival the smart grid? Time will tell, but judging from the track record of D-TECH exhibitors, the EV’s future looks bright indeed.-MTB

Posted: March 30th, 2010 under electric vehicles, green energy, smart charging, smart grid.
Comments: none