Researchers claim that so-called smart meters are key to supporting the EV market

Feb 25, 2014 20:26 GMT  ·  By

In order to make sure that the ever increasing number of electric cars owned and driven by people in the United States does not put too much strain on the grid, such environmentally friendly cars should only be fed small amounts of power at a time, researchers say.

To this end, a team of University of Vermont specialists recommends that so-called smart meters be installed across the country's territory.

Click Green details that these smart meters would be in charge of ensuring communication between a given household and the utility that it draws power from.

More precisely, the information that they would keep tabs on and bounce back and forth would concern electricity supply and demand, the same source details.

The University of Vermont scientists say that, under the scenario they propose, an electric vehicle would only be allowed to charge for about 5 or 10 minutes tops at a time.

After this, it would be disconnected and it would have to patiently wait until other cars also got partially charged and its time to feed on electricity once again came.

This method of charging electric vehicles would only have to be used during times of peak consumption. Thus, should a car be plugged in while demand is fairly low, it would be allowed to charge uninterrupted.

Specialists say that, by regulating electricity supply and demand in this manner, electrical distribution systems, and especially transformers and underground cables, would be less likely to break down as a result of overload.

What's more, they argue that neither people who own electric cars nor the vehicles themselves would be negatively affected.

“The vehicle doesn't care. And, most of the time, as long as people get charged by morning, they won’t care either,” explains researcher Paul Hines.

“By charging cars in this way, it's really easy to let everybody share the capacity that is available on the grid,” he goes on to argue.

Otherwise put, the power demand that plug-in cars create would be distributed throughout the whole night and day.

To encourage people to embrace this new method of charging electric vehicles, the University of Vermont scientists suggest that a discount rate be offered.

Should someone who embraced this technology one day need to charge their vehicle as fast as possible, they would be allowed to cut in front of the line, but be asked to pay full market rates for the power consumed.

“We assumed that drivers can decide to choose between urgent and non-urgent charging modes,” researchers say.

In the year 2013, people in the United States purchased well over 96,000 plug-in electric cars. When compared to the year 2012, this represents an increase of 84%.

Consequently, there are many who claim that the country's grid must adapt to the increase in power demand that the popularity of electric vehicles is bound to foster without delay.

“The problem of peaks and valleys is becoming more pronounced as we get more intermittent power - wind and solar - in the system. There is a growing need to smooth out supply and demand,” Paul Hines stresses.