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Sustainable Transport Futures
- The Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle
Speaker: Josh Usher |
About the Speaker:
Josh Usher is a Research Consultant at ISF with
past experience in assisting with the development
of a variety of renewable energy technologies. He
holds a degree in mechanical engineering and physics
from the University of British Columbia, Canada, and
has worked for companies such as Ballard Power Systems
and Battery Energy. He is currently involved in sustainability
planning in the areas of distributed energy, buildings
and the built environment and transport futures. He
has worked extensively with electric vehicles including
solar powered cars and electric bicycles and managed
the team that created the first plug-in hybrid electric
vehicle in Australia. |
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Topic Overview:
Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) are the next
logical step in the evolution of the automobile. PHEVs
combine the best elements of traditional petrol-only
internal combustion engine vehicles, electric vehicles
and hybrid electric vehicles. This has been demonstrated
by both GM's and Totoya's announcements to have PHEVs
in showrooms in 2010 with many of the other major car
companies expected to begin production in the near future.
Given these developments, PHEVs will quickly become
a significant component of the Australian vehicle fleet.
However, this is just the tip of the iceberg, as PHEVs
can not only charge their batteries off the electricity
grid, but deliver energy back in to the grid when necessary.
This concept of vehicle to grid (V2G) is still in the
early stages of development with preliminary studies
being done internationally. As the equivalent of the
total stationary electrical power generation capacity
of Australia is "purchased" every four months in the
form of new vehicle engines, the potential for battery
stored energy in vehicles is enormous. Even a moderate
market penetration of PHEVs will create a huge resource
for peak shaving, utility regulation services, and capacity
reserves. This in turn will further bolster the viability
of intermittent renewable generation technologies.
Brief points:
- PHEVs are the next logical step in the evolution
of the automobile
- Greenhouse gas emissions only reduced when charged
off renewable
- PHEVs have potential to increase reliability
and therefore introduction of intermittent renewables
(wind / solar)
- Significant improvement possible in urban air
quality
- Battery costs are rapidly declining
- Vehicle-Grid interaction has the potential for
significant savings on electricity network infrastructure
Summary:
Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles will be introduced
into world markets in the near future. This small change
in technology has the potential to reshape the relationship
between the transport and energy sectors. If fully optimised,
this new resource could have significant benefits including
reduction in greenhouse gases, improvement in urban
quality and significant cost savings on network infrastructure.
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Website: http://www.isf.uts.edu.au/ |
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