Even leading experts disagree about needs to electrify automobiles
DETROIT — As the electric utility and automotive industries come together to create an entirely new kind of vehicle, there is still much debate about such basic questions as infrastructure needs.
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A case in point is David Joos, president and CEO of CMS Energy, who spoke at The Business of Plugging In, a conference aimed at the plug-in electric vehicle industry. Joos, whose company owns Consumers Power Co., said he disagrees with the calls for infrastructure updates made by Peter Darbee, chairman of Pacific Gas & Electric.
During an earlier panel discussion Tuesday morning at the Motor City Hotel and Conference Center, Darbee said the nation’s electrical system is going to need massive upgrades to cope with electric vehicles drawing power.
“We have let our infrastructure go,” Darbee said. “Are we ready? Not entirely now.”
But Joos said the system will be able to cope with the added load because electric vehicles will be added to the grid slowly. On top of that, the most electric vehicles will be charged overnight when demand on the electric-generation system are its lowest.
Consumers only uses about 50 percent of its peak capacity most of the time because it has to be prepared to cope with high-usage periods such as hot summer days when homeowners run their air conditioning. Adding electric vehicles won’t affect Consumers’ need for peak power, he said.
But Darbee also said that government and utilities have to start installing charging stations so electric vehicles can be charged when they owners are parked at work or while shopping.
Joos said there will be time to implement those facilities.
“You don’t need extra public charging outlets at the outset,” Joos said.
Darbee said that the government needs to do more to support the fledgling electric vehicle industry. He suggested that there should be a carbon tax on vehicles using old fossil-fuel technology to pay for vehicles of the future and encourage buyers to move toward them. Darbee was one of many speakers to point out that the U.S. government subsidizes low gasoline prices with its efforts in the Middle East to keep oil flowing.
“This is something we all should line up and go and support fervently,” Darbee said.
On that point, Joos and Darbee agree. Joos said Consumers is bullish on electric vehicle technology.
Date: October 20, 2009
Categories: Electric vehicles, Technology, green
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