REV has been selected by SAIC to provide electric vehicle (EV) conversion technology and integrated vehicle to grid (V2G) and vehicle to site (V2S) networking solutions under the Aloha Micro Grid program for the U.S. Army’s Tank and Automobile Research, Development and Engineering Center (TARDEC). REV is to supply the U.S. Army with two REV 300ACX V2G-capable electric vehicles for the project. These state of the art electric vehicles will have built-in connectivity to REV’s AutoGrid™ Network. The REV vehicles will act as dynamic energy storage devices on the power grid, together acting as an extension of the power plant whenever they are plugged in. With REV’s AutoGrid™ connected to TARDEC’s military micro-grid, the network will demonstrate and validate various scenarios for energy efficiency including frequency regulation, spinning reserves, load shedding, peak shaving, and harnessing wind and solar energy.
“Our unique capabilities in both electric vehicles and energy network technology help enable vehicle-to-grid,” said Jay Giraud, founder and CEO of REV. “Together with SAIC we can meet the requirements that the Department of Defense has to increase national security by creating a virtual power plant from as many as 200,000 non-tactical electric vehicles by 2015. So demand is there, and we’re prepared to scale quickly.
REV’s AutoGrid™ Network
The AutoGrid™ Network is a core component of the forthcoming energy internet that accesses the untapped energy in electric cars with the electricity grid to support renewable power generation. The ability to control energy into and out of electric vehicles will be used to help reduce facility energy costs, generate new revenue and increase resilience and reliability of the national power grid with ancillary services, and provide backup power during grid outages. With 20 different services available, the AutoGrid™ offers unparalleled flexibility, prediction and control for micro-grids, utilities and grid operators alike. It combines cloud-based energy control applications that talk to onboard vehicle systems to assess the battery charge levels and driver requirements and then control charging and discharging accordingly. TARDEC will evaluate how the AutoGrid™‘s algorithms predict and optimize the excess capacity available from a fleet of electric vehicles and how it dispatches this excess power while managing each vehicle’s driving needs in real-time.
Military Micro-grid Capacity to Experience Over 700% Growth by 2017
– Pike Research Forecast
“The US military has become one of the strongest proponents of micro-grids, which offer a secure power supply for both fixed base and mobile operations,” according to George Frazier, Vice President for Landforce Systems at SAIC. “Micro grids, when integrated with distributed energy storage from V2G-capable electric vehiclesoffer the ultimate security since their ‘fuel’ never runs out when supplied by renewable energy such as solar or wind. REV’s AutoGrid will accelerate the adoption of electric vehicles by providing consumers with monetary incentives for allowing utilities to use their vehicles’ excess energy storage capacity when the vehicles aren’t being driven, and by making the use of renewable power generation easier.”
As the world’s largest energy consumer, the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) is focused on increasing its access to clean, safe and resilient sources of energy. TARDEC’s plan for alternative energy systems is focused on saving money and lives by reducing dependence on foreign oil and improving the efficiency and performance of its operations around the world. The DOD’s plan to purchase up to 200,000 grid-tied electric vehicles will provide a significant boost to the advancement and adoption of vehicle-to-grid technology.
REV is a private company that has developed the AutoGrid Network, a cloud-based energy asset management system that synchronizes the stored energy of electric vehicles with the fluctuating needs of the electrical grid to enable EV’s to participate in the commodity electricity marketplace. With REV’s intelligent networked energy control technologies, the aggregated excess energy of EV’s will act as a virtual power plant that can increase the adoption of renewable energy on the grid and decrease dependence on volatile, finite sources of fuel. With REV’s sophisticated solution, all this is possible without compromising the vehicles’ performance, capabilities or lifespan.
