Posts Tagged ‘Plug-in hybrid’

The energy company Vattenfall and Volvo have launched a joint venture to be able to offer plug-in hybrid vehicles on the market in 2012.

The period of transition from fossil fuelled vehicles to vehicles run on electricity will take some time. With more electric vehicles used our dependency on oil will diminish because electricity can be created from various energy sources. A plug-in hybrid vehicle uses electricity as the main energy source but when the battery is empty it can also be run on petrol/gasoline or biofuels like bioethanol or biodiesel. The main purpose for the battery on electric vehicles developed in the close time span is therefore shorter road trips but the capacity will be enough for most drivers living and working in the same city or area.
Compared to a combustion engine the electricity engine uses about 75% less energy. With petrol fuel prices available on the market today electricity will power the vehicles with about a fifth. Because the development of batteries takes time and costs a lot of money the prices on plug-in vehicles will be higher than a traditional vehicle. This will probably change over time.

The Plug-in hybrid can be charged in your home, at work or wherever the batteries can be loaded. According to Vattenfall, more plug-in hybrids on the market that needs to charge their batteries will not be a capacity problem for the existing Swedish grid. In time the demand of quick charging stations will increase. This must be in mind while building or upgrading the grid infrastructure.

Here are two video presentations about the development of Plug-in hybrids from Volvo and Vattenfall.

This post consists of some facts and some dreams…

In the future that I believe in, almost everything will be connected and integrated with each other. You will be able to control and plan your everyday life in a new way. I believe in smart transportation plug-in hybrid vehicles that is part of the community transport system. I think that the smart vehicle will adjust its time schedule after my moves and pick me up when I need it and drive me wherever I would like to go. The people waiting for me know exactly when I will arrive. The plug-in vehicle batteries can be charged anywhere in the grid.

Does it sound too futuristic?
Visit www.skycab.se/eng or take a look at this video:

In the future that I believe in, you don’t need several cards in your wallet for bank accounts, shopping bonus cards, ID etc. You are the ID yourself by using your eyes or your fingerprints and perhaps with only one card.

Read about Precise Biometrics Match-on-Card™

Ok, what does this have to do with a Smart Grid Infrastructure?
It’s easy. Without electricity the civilization stops and this is just the beginning.
The utility companies are in the perfect position for creating new flexible and reliable services and products. In the Smart Grid everything will be more flexible and it will be easy to monitor what’s happening in the grid and automatically adjust to it. You will be able to minimize distribution losses, detect leaks, peaks and outages and much more.

There could be much more than just energy and water.

To be able to communicate in the Smart Grid you need to set up an infrastructure for telecommunication. Telecommunication will be a key in the future to come so why not build a network that all customers also can use to get access to the Internet at the same time and make some money on it? Some utility companies have decided that they don’t want to become a telecom company and stops. Other utility companies build a backbone network instead and invite telecom operating companies to use it for its traffic. This enables a deregulated market which is good for the end customers.

Here’s a link to one utility company in Sweden that provides an open city network.
www.jonkopingenergi.se/web/Bredband (Swedish)
www.jonkopingenergi.se/web/Bredband (Google translate)

With a Smart Grid Infrastructure you will be able to adapt to new services and products.