Transcript:
As more people buy EVs, charging them could strain the electric grid – especially if everyone charges at times when electricity use is already high.
Cody: “Typically, electricity demand is at its highest when people are getting home from work, turning on the lights, cooking dinner, running laundry.”
Kendall Cody is with a startup called WeaveGrid. She says when demand is high, utilities sometimes need to turn on backup power plants, which often use dirtier fossil fuels. And it’s expensive.
So WeaveGrid developed software that utilities can offer to customers who own EVs to optimize the times when they charge.
Cody: “They’ll plug in … and we’ll basically shift the time that that car is charging to sometime – usually in the middle of the night – sometimes in the middle of the day when there’s a lot of solar power available … so that the car is charging when there’s not a lot of strain on the electric grid … or when there’s a lot of renewable electricity availability, either like the wind is blowing or the sun is shining.”
WeaveGrid is partnering with utilities in Alabama, Georgia, Maryland, and elsewhere to offer the platform to drivers – and help accelerate the transition to a cleaner transportation future.
Reporting credit: Sarah Kennedy / ChavoBart Digital Media
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