By Joseph Vellone, ev.energy
While the Biden Administration has set a target of net zero emissions by 2050, transportation is still currently the largest source of pollution according to the EPA. State-level policies to phase out traditional combustion-engine vehicles have the potential to reduce our country’s CO2 emissions by 27% by 2050. Alas, this still isn’t enough to get us to net zero.
To truly transform our country’s transportation into a zero-emissions system, we’ll need to ensure that the electrons used to charge electric vehicle batteries also come from zero-emission sources like nuclear, wind, solar and hydro. Aligning EV charging with intermittent renewable generation will also help ensure our country’s power grids are reliable.
The great news is that the technology enabling low-carbon EV charging currently exists and is being demonstrated in places like California today.
Low-carbon-energy economy
Renewable energy is the fastest-growing energy source in the US, and our country’s renewable generation increased by 90% between 2000 and 2020. Looking ahead to 2050, the Energy Information Administration expects renewables to become the country’s leading source of power, claiming 44% of the mix.
However, one of the main challenges with renewable energy is its intermittent nature, with output dependent on how strong the wind is blowing or how sunny the sky is.
The most immediate solution is storing renewable energy in a battery when it’s produced for later use. Since EVs are essentially “batteries on wheels,” there is a growing opportunity to leverage the onslaught of EVs hitting our roads. BloombergNEF forecasts indicate that the US could have as many as 200 million passenger EVs on its roads by 2040 – and that was before the extension of the EV tax credit by the Inflation Reduction Act.
Bridging the gap
So, how do we direct green electrons into EV batteries?
The answer is continuous managed charging, which the Smart Electric Power Alliance defines as a technology that “adjusts EV charging schedules in response to wholesale energy prices, renewable generation, grid constraints, or other signals while adhering to driver preferences.”
The more challenging question is how to better manage EVs to charge only when low-carbon energy is available. While the potential for continuous managed charging is limited in certain settings, such as when someone is charging their EV in a parking lot or on the side of a highway and needs whichever electrons are currently available, more than 80% of EV charging in the US happens in the driver’s home.
This presents a lot more flexibility, especially given that the average residential EV is plugged in for 12 hours but only requires 2.5 hours of charge, as reported by BloombergNEF and ev.energy. Continuous managed charging technologies like ev.energy, which offers a free app that EV drivers can connect their vehicle or home-charger to, are able to work with utilities and power grid operators to schedule those 2.5 hours of charging for times when zero-carbon generation is abundant, such as overnight hours when wind generation tends to be higher, or daytime hours when the sun is shining and solar production is at its peak.
Software platforms can do this by integrating with power grids and obtaining real-time information on what kind of power is being generated up to 24 hours in advance. Managed-charging algorithms then combine this information with the requirements set by the driver (specifically, desired battery level and departure time) to calculate the cheapest and greenest hours to charge.
For example, ev.energy uses APIs with the driver’s vehicle or charger to then send a signal to the device about when to charge. The driver “sets it and forgets it” – similar to Apple’s optimized battery charging for iPhone – and always has the option to override this optimized charging at any time within the app.
EV charging in action
Continuous managed EV charging technology already exists today and is being deployed in California and elsewhere to direct green electrons into EV batteries.
In California, Silicon Valley Clean Energy has been running its GridShift program since 2020, which uses a mobile app to send a push notification to customers 24h in advance of a day when abundant solar power is expected, and awards its customers with a $1 energy-bill credit for each “low-carbon event” they participate in.
Last year, SVCE neighbor Marin Clean Energy launched its MCE Sync program, which also deploys push notifications ahead of low-carbon events and reports to shift over 50% of EV charging demand to hours with an average of 80% lower-carbon electricity. Over 90% of MCE Sync users have participated in at least one low-carbon event, and over 60% participate regularly.
Elsewhere in California, Pacific Gas & Electric has partnered with BMW on the ChargeForward pilot which reduces the GHG emissions from EV charging by 32%.
We’re also seeing similar momentum across the EU, but it’s exciting to see programs in the US act as a blueprint for the entire energy ecosystem to take advantage of EV charging to get one step closer to reaching net-zero emissions.
Looking ahead
With emerging vehicle-to-grid (V2G) technology, EVs have the potential to not only store renewable energy when it’s available, but also to discharge it back to the power grid as part of a “virtual power plant” comprised of batteries. Coupled with an increasing share of low-carbon power generation, V2G technology can get us even closer to our net-zero targets.
Utilities and energy suppliers will play an increasingly important role not only in funding and deploying renewable energy projects like wind and solar farms, but also in incentivizing EV drivers to offer their EV batteries as storage and reward them for charging with low-carbon generation.
No matter how you slice it, EVs are going to be one of our key assets for stemming the tide of climate change.
About the Author
Joseph Vellone leads ev.energy’s North America business, working with utilities and CCAs across the country on managed EV charging programs. He has extensive experience designing, implementing and scaling EV charging programs that engage customers while delivering grid and environmental benefits. Prior to ev.energy, Vellone worked as a management consultant for utilities and power grids with the Boston Consulting Group. He is a graduate of Princeton University (B.A. Economics & Public Policy) and the London School of Economics (MSc. Environmental Economics & Climate Change).
