The arrival of modern electric cars has raised concerns about the possibility of a mass influx of charging vehicles overwhelming the grid. While there isn’t much indication that will happen yet, one California utility is trying out an experimental practice just in case.
Pacific Gas & Electric will pay BMW i3 drivers $1,000 in gift cards to participate in an 18-month trial, in which the utility will try to relegate charging to certain times of the day when the grid isn’t under heavy load. About 400 i3 drivers in the San Francisco Bay Area applied for the program, according to Bloomberg.
Called ChargeForward, the program will give 100 participants access to an app, which they’ll use to say when they need to charge their cars. The app is managed by BMW, which communicates with PG&E regarding available capacity. When capacity is constrained, PG&E will tell BMW to cut up to 100 kilowatts of charging, and the carmaker will in turn ask owners to delay.
Owners who need a charge urgently can opt out of the delay, and if cutting charging still doesn’t free up enough capacity, BMW can turn to an energy-storage array composed of recycled batteries from MINI E electric cars. These electric MINI Coopers were used in one of the pilot programs that were part of the i3’s development process.
The energy-storage array is located at BMW’s Mountain View offices. It has 240 kilowatt-hours of capacity, and harvests electricity from a 100-kilowatt solar-panel installation. BMW already uses it for onsite power, and discharges excess back into the grid.
In addition to the $1,000 gift card awarded upfront, ChargeForward participants can earn an additional $540 gift card at the end of the 18-month program, although that amount diminishes the more they opt out of delayed charging.
