GM: First-gen Volts won't communicate with grid, future versions will
2011 Chevy Volt - Click above for a high res image gallery
One of the many intriguing aspects of electric car ownership is the ability to choose where, when and how to charge the vehicle's batteries. In most areas, electric utility rates vary widely depending on the time of day, with the least expensive periods generally at night. With that in mind, the cheapest time to charge an electric car is likely while you sleep.
That may not always be the case, though. In the future, many experts predict that automobiles and other appliances may be smart enough to communicate with the electrical grid and will charge themselves when excess power is available at attractive rates. According to GM's Britta Gross, future versions of the Chevy Volt are expected to have this capability.
There are a few possibilities presented by Gross that GM could use to allow the Volt to communicate with utility companies, including its own OnStar technology and, in the future, embedded chips using the Zigbee protocol that could wirelessly connect to a smart grid.
Gallery: 2011 Chevy Volt
[Source: GM-Volt.com]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
!!D 6:17PM (5/12/2009)
Zigbee isn't one company. The ZigBee Alliance (http://www.zigbee.org) is group of companies to promote the ZigBee protocol (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ZigBee), a short-range, low-data-rate (250 kbps max) wireless data transfer protocol.
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Jeremy Korzeniewski 6:39PM (5/12/2009)
!!D - Thanks for the clarification. Consider the post updated.
JK
brn 9:36PM (5/12/2009)
So the first generation Volt won't do something that may or may not actually happen?
Buy a timer.
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why not the LS2LS7? 10:10PM (5/12/2009)
Is there at least a timer I can set to make it charge after 10PM even if I plug it in earlier?
A simple think like a dishwasher has where you just press a button 3 times to delay starting for 3 hours would be good enough.
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GoodCheer 10:57AM (5/13/2009)
http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2102613
Stew 11:15PM (5/12/2009)
Communication with the grid is not a desireable feature in my ever so humble opinion. If I am too lazy to know when my off-peak rates start, then program the Volt's built in timer to start at that time, then clearly charging off peak is not important to me. And you would only need to set this once for crying out loud, after you set it presumably that's when it would charge every night.
Vehicle to grid communication sounds like the exact foot in the door government would need to get in my pocketbook even more than it already is. I'm getting flashbacks of Oregon wanting to put GPS in everyones car.
Please don't do me any favors, I know how to set a timer, sheesh!
Stew
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GoodCheer 11:00AM (5/13/2009)
If you were offered $2000/year for providing regulation services to the grid, with minimum charge level set by you and manual override for when you know you need to charge fast, would you be interested?
Bill 5:33PM (5/13/2009)
There is no "fast charge" available at residential service.
And I doubt utilities would pay you $2,000/year.
Duke Energy here offers all of $8/month credit for load control (why no one participates)
Sir.Vix 1:46AM (5/13/2009)
#4....
"Is there at least a timer I can set to make it charge after 10PM even if I plug it in earlier?"
I follow the Volt as closely as i can, and i'm 99% sure the first generation Volt has this feature. You can leave it plugged in say between 9PM and 6AM and set it to charge between 1AM and 5AM one night and 10PM to 3AM the next night, all of those settings are adjustable.
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Tohe 8:07AM (5/13/2009)
This is not rocket science. We simply need uniformity across the grid. Right now, regional smart grids have implemented it differently. Austin has a mesh like link from meeter to meeter, others use an in-power link. Basically we need the Grid to find technological consensus before we applied said technology to mass produced cars.
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