Electric cars as energy sources

CSIRO’s Low Emission Distributed Energy researchers, along with project partner SP AusNet, are modifying hybrid electric vehicles — cars that can run on either liquid fuel or electricity — at CSIRO's Engineering Facility in Clayton, Melbourne, to turn them into mobile power units.

Electronic engineer Chris Phyland explained how three standard Toyota Prius cars will be converted into plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV), which can be charged up from a home energy system: “We will remove the Toyota battery pack already in the car and replace it with a battery pack which is five times larger. The vehicle is then fitted with a battery charger which will allow the car to plug into and charge with electricity from the grid.”

Not only will this adaptation allow the car to be driven further on electrical power, it also turns a parked car in the driveway into a large battery bank for the house.

“The car effectively becomes a power storage unit for the home,” Phyland continued. “The car battery can be charged up at home, including from renewable energy sources, and then this power can be discharged to run appliances in the home, or it can be used for driving the vehicle.

The PHEV is most suited for low-speed (less than 55 km/h) urban driving, with an ‘electric’ driving range of about 40 km; however, there are benefits for highway driving as well.

“Even driving over longer distances, the larger battery bank improves the performance of the car and cuts down on greenhouse gas emissions,” Phyland added. “PHEV is not new technology in itself, but we are modifying it to support a completely unique application, that of using the car as a large mobile battery which can be integrated and used in our homes.”

The PHEV project is being undertaken as part of CSIRO's distributed energy research in the Energy Transformed Flagship. The first converted vehicle is expected to be completed in August 2009.