REV’s Game-Changing Vehicle to Grid Technology Making it Possible for Renewables to Take Over

As REV Technologies embarks on new territory they are stepping outside the box and onto the grid, the smart grid. Founder and CEO, Jay Giraud, has a vision for a network of vehicles that will collectively provide utilities with back up energy in times of fluctuation, achieving increased stability for the grid. If there is any doubt in your mind that investing in smart grid technology is a good investment you just need to read the opening remarks in the United States’ National Science and Technology Council’s Policy Framework for the 21st Century Grid to be reassured. With such strong statements as, “a 21st century electric system is essential to America’s ability to lead the world and create jobs in the clean-energy economy of the future”, you can feel the commitment the US government has to this technology. Furthermore it goes on to say that “the Administration has made unprecedented investments in clean-energy technologies and grid modernization” having “invested more than $4.5 billion for electricity delivery and energy reliability modernization” and recommendations for further investment to follow. We think Jay is onto something here and we’re not the only ones. According to Jigar Shah, CEO of the Carbon War Room and founder of Sun Edison, “REV is at the frontier of a major shift in the automotive industry. Distributed, rolling energy storage will be a game-changer”.

In a recent meeting with Jay he explained the current state of the electricity industry and why smart grid technology, and especially vehicle to grid technology, is so lucrative. As it stands right now in order to supply electricity to a municipality, a utility company must generate and distribute electricity when needed. Whether it be hydro, nuclear, solar, or wind, an independent systems operator is always monitoring and managing the demand for electricity. This can be very challenging and lead to either a surplus or shortage of energy. The fluctuating demand on the grid can be very expensive and lead to overwhelmingly complex logistics. Hence the need for a smarter, more cost effective way of delivering electricity to the end user. REV has been hard at work developing exactly that.

REV is developing a technology that will bring to market vehicle-to-grid capabilities that will allow a network of electric vehicles to actually store electricity and in times of need, sell the energy stored in their batteries back to the utility company faster and cheaper than any other option. Why is this? It is not easy to turn on or off a coal fire plant or wind mill. In the case of hydroelectricity, any dam has a limit which leads to a surplus of electricity. These options are not flexible with how they produce and distribute their electricity. If you have a surplus of electricity sitting in an electric vehicle however, with the right technology the grid could source its electricity from these vehicles in times of fluctuation. With a big enough network the strain on each individual vehicle would be so insignificant that the owner of the vehicle would not be affected. Furthermore, the REV technology that is being developed right now will actually have special intelligence built into it so it knows when it is a good time to pull electricity from the vehicle. Considering that by 2020 electric cars will store more total energy than the US grid presently produces, you can see the potential for this technology to be in high demand in the near future.

As highlighted in the California Energy Storage Alliance’s whitepaper, Energy Storage – a Cheaper, Faster, & Cleaner Alternative to Conventional Frequency Regulation, an added bonus to this technology’s value proposition is it will also lead to the adoption of more clean/renewable energy production from wind and solar farms that are currently not as reliable as other energy sources. With a push towards renewable energies becoming so apparent “back up” solutions will be needed to allow this transition to actually occur. REV’s technology will be able to provide insurance to the grid which will ultimately permit renewable energy sources to become major providers.

To learn more about REV’s networking technology, please visit their website.

If you have any specific questions about the technology please contact Jay Giraud at REV Technologies.