Vehicle to Smart Grid
Description
Add the hardware to the car to allow the owner to send power from the vehicle to the home or grid, based on utility needs. The owner would be paid when such needs arise and can set limits as to the minimum SOC.
Competitive/Pricing/Notes
Summary
We already have a good suggestion “Power House from Vehicle”. However, there is a much broader perspective to that suggestion. That is how Tesla cars can be part of smart grids – a very crucial societal challenge regarding balancing the public power grid in a smart and effective way. Also, at the same time save/earn money for Tesla owners.
There are many obstacles to overcome to address this issue but solving these would make it even more attractive to buy and own a Tesla car.
Society’s challenges with the electrical grid
One of the challenges of many countries when using more solar and wind energy is the balance of the public electrical grid and electricity production/consumption. When the wind blows and the sun shines there is often an excess of energy. On the other hand, we often lack electricity when it’s cloudy and no wind. As a result of this, the electricity spot price is low in the first situation but high in the other.
To help society overcome this challenge we need to find ways to flatten out energy consumption and production. This can be done by means of filling water reservoirs when there is an excess of energy and reusing that waterpower when low on energy.
Using Tesla cars to balance the power grid
We could also use batteries as buffers. Charging these when the price is low and there is an excess of energy. Sending the electricity back to the grid when we lack energy in the grid due to high temporary consumption or poor electricity-producing conditions.
So, we have Tesla cars provided with comparably huge batteries. If all Tesla cars could be used for storing electricity and provide that back to the grid when not needed for driving, we could:
- Help society overcome one of the huge challenges of using renewal energy like wind and solar
- Help the owners to potentially earn money by buying energy cheap and selling it back to the grid at a higher cost
- Help Tesla owners to support their own homes with cheap electricity since they then could buy it and store it with their Tesla and use that when the spot price for electricity is high. (This last point is already suggested as “Power House from Vehicle”)
Beneficial for Tesla as well as Tesla car owners
These features are currently being highly and seriously considered by other electrical car vendors. If we believe Tesla to be one of the most innovative car producers, this feature might be the most game-changing feature Tesla could come up with in contributing to the owners and society. Actually, being able to EARN money with your car would probably also make the cars even more attractive to buy and own.
Status
Unknown, although the Cybertruck may offer this feature.
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