Publication Detail
Vehicle-to-Grid Power: Battery, Hybrid, and Fuel Cell Vehicles as Resources for Distributed Electric Power in California
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UCD-ITS-RR-01-03 Research Report Download PDF |
Suggested Citation:
Kempton, Willett, Jasna Tomic, Steven Letendre, Alec N. Brooks, Timothy E. Lipman (2001) Vehicle-to-Grid Power: Battery, Hybrid, and Fuel Cell Vehicles as Resources for Distributed Electric Power in California. Institute of Transportation Studies, University of California, Davis, Research Report UCD-ITS-RR-01-03
Electric-drive vehicles can become an important resource for the California electric utility system, with consequent air pollution, system reliability, and economic benefits. We refer to electric power resources from vehicles as "Vehicle to Grid" power (V2G). The economic value of some forms of V2G appear high, more than enough to offset the initially higher costs of electric-drive vehicles, thus having the potential to accelerate their introduction. To realize this potential, some coordination of vehicle and infrastructure planning will be needed.
This study calculates three parameters of electric drive vehicles (EDVs) which are important for their use by the electric system: resource size, availability, and economic potential. Economic potential was calculated for three power markets: peak power, spinning reserves, and regulation services. Vehicles were not found to be competitive for baseload power. The analysis uses California electricity market prices for three years—1998, 1999, and 2000—as well as historical electric utility experience. This three-year comparison insures that recent disruptions, and historically atypical prices, in the 2000 California electricity market do not bias the results. In addition to electricity markets, "customer side of the meter" strategies are analyzed, in which vehicle power offsets time-of-use charges, demand charges, and interruptible rates. These multiple calculations of the value of EDV power make the conclusions about its economic viability more robust.
This report analyzes V2G power from three types of EDVs—battery, hybrid, and fuel cell. Battery EDVs can store electricity, charging during low demand times and discharging when power is scarce and prices are high. Fuel cell and hybrid EDVs are sources of new power generation. For economic reasons they would sell power only when prices are high. Battery and plug-in hybrid EDVs can also sell regulation services, which involves little or no net battery discharge. In the terminology of the California Air Resources Board (CARB), battery and fuel cell EDVs are considered Zero Emission Vehicles (ZEV), hybrids are considered Advanced Technology Partial ZEV (AT-PZEV), and battery EDVs are often referred to simply as EVs.
This study calculates three parameters of electric drive vehicles (EDVs) which are important for their use by the electric system: resource size, availability, and economic potential. Economic potential was calculated for three power markets: peak power, spinning reserves, and regulation services. Vehicles were not found to be competitive for baseload power. The analysis uses California electricity market prices for three years—1998, 1999, and 2000—as well as historical electric utility experience. This three-year comparison insures that recent disruptions, and historically atypical prices, in the 2000 California electricity market do not bias the results. In addition to electricity markets, "customer side of the meter" strategies are analyzed, in which vehicle power offsets time-of-use charges, demand charges, and interruptible rates. These multiple calculations of the value of EDV power make the conclusions about its economic viability more robust.
This report analyzes V2G power from three types of EDVs—battery, hybrid, and fuel cell. Battery EDVs can store electricity, charging during low demand times and discharging when power is scarce and prices are high. Fuel cell and hybrid EDVs are sources of new power generation. For economic reasons they would sell power only when prices are high. Battery and plug-in hybrid EDVs can also sell regulation services, which involves little or no net battery discharge. In the terminology of the California Air Resources Board (CARB), battery and fuel cell EDVs are considered Zero Emission Vehicles (ZEV), hybrids are considered Advanced Technology Partial ZEV (AT-PZEV), and battery EDVs are often referred to simply as EVs.