California wants your juice
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https://abc7news.com/electric-vehicle-ev-pge-power-outages/13620139/
California's power grid will have to expand in order to meet the demand for more energy. PG&E's CEO Patricia Poppe has come up with an "unconventional" idea, using electric cars to send excess power back to the grid to prevent blackouts.
Bi-directional charging already allows a few electric cars to send energy from their battery to a home. Think of it as a backup home generator.
RELATED: PG&E, Elon Musk brainstorm ways to meet growing electricity needs
The Ford F-150 Lightning already has that capability and all General Motors electric vehicles are expected to follow. In a recent interview with Good Morning America, GM CEO Mary Barra talked about GM leading the way in the EV industry.
"I have tremendous confidence in our brands, the strength of our brands and our customers and the loyalty that we have," said Barra.
But PG&E's CEO, Patricia Poppe thinks the technology can go even further by also sending that excess power to the grid, except that, the interconnection is not there yet.
"Right now today, there is no technology and no automotive manufacturer whose cars can actually send power beyond the home and up into the grid," said Mark Toney, of Turn (The Utility Reform Network).
But that doesn't mean it won't eventually happen, says Kurt Johnson of the Climate Center.
"There are 125 plus vehicle-to-grid projects going on globally," revealed Johnson.
San Diego has a pilot program with school buses using bi-directional charging that feeds into the grid at the end of the day.
