Mobile chargers could keep EVs running

subscribe

Electric vehicles are expected to stream onto the roads over the next few years, but some drivers may be put off by fears that they could be left stranded if their battery runs out of charge.

Zafer Sahinoglu at the Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratories in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and colleagues, think they have found a way to prevent this. They are developing a network of portable charging stations, which can be moved to wherever the demand for recharging is greatest.

To determine where the stations are needed, in-car sensors would monitor the level of charge in the battery and periodically report this to a central operations centre, which would flag areas where most cars run low on juice. The stations can then be deployed wherever the low-charge "hotspots" are at that time. Just five mobile stations would be needed to cover 100 electric cars on a 100-kilometre stretch of highway, the team says.

The roaming stations could be charged up from the mains at night, and then discharge their electricity to cars during the day, they say, reducing the load on the electricity grid at peak times.

Related News

powerlines

EDF and France reach deal on electricity prices-source

PARIS - State-controlled power group EDF and the French government have reached a tentative deal on future nuclear power prices, a source close to the government said on Monday, ending months of tense negotiations.

The two sides agreed on 70 euros per megawatt hour (MWH) as a reference level for power prices, the source said, cautioning that details of the deal are still being finalised.

The negotiations aimed to find a compromise between EDF, which is eager to maximise revenues to fund investments, and the government, keen to keep electricity bills for French households and businesses as low as possible.

EDF declined to…

READ MORE

Why rolling back European electricity prices is tougher than appears

READ MORE

Pickering nuclear station is closing as planned, despite calls for refurbishment

READ MORE

adani-electricity-power-supply-cuts-in-mumbai

Adani Electricity's Power Supply Cuts in Mumbai

READ MORE

substation

Attacks on power substations are growing. Why is the electric grid so hard to protect?

READ MORE