Electric vehicles are just like any other electrical device, that is, they consume energy when they are plugged in.
Power companies spend of lot of time and effort balancing the supply of electricity with the demand for it. A typical commute that ends with millions of people arriving at home at about 5:30PM also generates a lot of demand on the power grid.
Workers come home, turn on the air conditioning, perhaps the TV, start making dinner, or jump in the shower, all around the same time. Power consumption spikes and power companies scramble to meet the demand by upping power production.
Imagine if many of those millions of drivers adopted electric vehicles, which would add a whole new level of demand to the power grid, when the power grid is already under heavy demand. Many utility operators have implemented tiered pricing for power consumed at different times of day, whether peak of off-peak hours.
The same information that effects a difference in your utility bill at the end of the month could be used to reduce the cost of charging an electric vehicle as well as reduce the strain on the power grid.
For the typical electric vehicle owner charging at home, the vehicle will sit idle for up to 12 hours. Most electric vehicles on an LII charger won’t require more than 4 or 5 hours charging, but who wants to set an alarm to get up and plug in their electric vehicle at 3AM?
In Australia, DiUS Computing’s ChargeIQ electric vehicle charger is the first with the ability to communicate with the smart meters that are used to monitor power consumption. By monitoring power consumption and adjusting how and when the charger actually charges the vehicle.
Over the last three years of testing, DiUS Computing has been able to demonstrate a seamless integration into the power grid. ChargeIQ charges the electric vehicle during off-peak hours, reducing demand on the power grid as well as taking advantage of off-peak electricity pricing. DiUS calculates this innovation could save owners up to 50% while requiring almost no effort on the part of the customer or the utility provider.
Image©DiUS Computing
