Test of an Electric Car That Pumps Electricity Into the Grid

A new electric car, now being road-tested in Boulder, Colorado, performs a feat that may one day revolutionize green automotive technology: It feeds energy back into the electricity grid. Xcel Energy, Inc. has converted a Ford Escape Hybrid into a vehicle that is charged not only through a socket but also through solar panels and a small wind turbine built into the car. But Xcel’s most promising advance — called V2G, or vehicle-to-grid technology — enables the car to feed electricity back into the power grid. Realizing that most hybrid cars pull into the garage with their batteries two-thirds full, Xcel designed a system that allows the owner to pump electricity into the grid at peak usage times during the evening and then recharge the battery in the middle of the night when demand is low and surplus power is available. The first driver of the V2G car is the chancellor of the University of Colorado. Other V2G hybrids will be added to the experiment in the coming months. The Xcel experiment is one of many now taking place with electric car technology.