OnStar utility grid
As electric cars start to trickle into the market and public charging infrastructure grows, their drivers will need to know the best times to charge, the best places to charge on longer journeys, and the exact amount they will pay for the electricity they use.
That will require automakers, utility companies, and consumers to develop new ways to manage and offer a new set of data to those drivers. And that’s where new energy-management tools come into play.
OnStar is hoping to be one of the leaders in this field, announcing at the recent DistribuTECH utility industry conference plans for a new set of smart energy management technologies that will help electric car owners and utilities plan better and save money.
Using the Chevrolet Volt as its example vehicle, OnStar is working on four new tools aimed at both vehicle owners and the utility companies that supply the energy to run the cars. They include the Demand Response, Time-of-Use Rates, Data Gathering and Vehicle-to-Home Integration Technology programs.
Below is a video that helps explain some of the technologies OnStar has planned.
[GM]
