PG & E NEEDS YOUR BATTERY

In association with this, see the article above and the quote to the right from Sherry.

PG & E eyes power grid plan to boost electric cars
Lenard Andersen, February 23, 2007 (Reuters via Yahoo News)

- California's biggest utility, Pacific Gas & Electric Co., is considering a plan to charge fleets of battery-powered cars overnight with wind energy and let consumers sell back some of the stored electricity during the day.
- In addition to reducing oil consumption and greenhouse gas emissions from standard cars, the plan could help stoke production of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles and give power managers more energy capacity on the grid for hot summer afternoons…
- The utility, a subsidiary of PG&E Corp., "could recharge car batteries through electric outlets during the off-peak overnight hours and recharge the grid from the batteries during critical peak demand periods," Hal LaFlash, director of energy policy and planning at PG&E, said.
- In California, wind power is the biggest renewable source, with more…to be added to meet the state's goal for renewable supplies…

- Minneapolis-based Xcel Energy also is studying smart-grid technologies and recharging hybrid electric vehicles and feeding excess power back to the grid…
- Colorado found that electric cars may reduce the overall cost of owning a car, and with new grid technology, cut harmful vehicle emissions by up to 50 percent…
- A power grid-to-car-batteries hookup, however, is probably at least five to six years away, Felix Kramer, founder of CalCars [a nonprofit group which has built about 20 plug-ins since 2004 by outfitting the Toyota Prius with new lithium-ion batteries] said…Improving battery technologies to boost energy density at lower weight and cost is a hurdle, but progress on lithium ion battery packs could help develop a bigger market for plug-in cars, Kramer said…
- Some electric cars are likely to be small and aimed at urban dwellers…

- Jan-Olaf Willums, chairman of Norway's TH!NK Electric Car Co., is betting he will find a market…The company raised $25 million…It expects to begin production in Norway in September…
- PG&E's LaFlash said new "smart grid" technologies such as high-tech meters that measure electricity use via remote control and give customers timing and pricing options could help drivers charge their batteries at home or parking lots and also get a bill credit for putting excess electricity back on the grid…Metering and billing systems would be equipped to match a car to an account…connections could be made from homes and office buildings to a smart grid, storing energy at off-peak and delivering more capacity to the grid at peak periods…