Vehicle to Grid Demonstration at ETI

AC Propulsion to Showcase Vehicle-to-Grid Technologies
at the Electric Transportation Industry Conference

Dec. 12, 2001
Sacramento, CA

AC Propulsion today unveiled an electric vehicle fitted with technology that enables wireless dispatch of its unique bidirectional battery charger. With this new drive system technology, electric drive vehicles will be able to deliver high quality AC power to the grid or to stand-alone loads. Applications for this capability include battery diagnostic discharge capacity tests, backup power, and most promising, the prospect of vehicles becoming an integral and valued element of the electric power grid.

The vehicle introduced today is a Volkswagen New Beetle EV Concept developed by AC Propulsion. The vehicle is part of a research project supported by the California Air Resources Board and Volkswagen AG to demonstrate how an electric vehicle can be used to deliver power and energy ancillary services to the California power grid. "Most vehicles sit idle about 23 hours out of every day," said Alec Brooks, Chief Technology Officer of AC Propulsion. "If the power system in an electric or hybrid vehicle could be deployed to provide valued services to the power grid during otherwise idle times, a new income stream could be generated. The value created could go a long way toward offsetting ownership and operating costs."

The vehicle will be demonstrated at the Electric Transportation Industry Conference this week, both at the ETI exhibition on Wednesday and Thursday, and the ride and drive at the California Fuel Cell Partnership on Friday. In the exhibit hall, the vehicle will demonstrate a form of real time grid ancillary service called regulation. The vehicle's wireless communication will receive power dispatch commands from the California ISO, which manages operations on most of the power grid in California. These dispatch commands will be used to modulate the power level drawn by the vehicle's on-board battery charger.

The vehicle is powered by the new AC Propulsion second generation AC150 drive system. Like all AC Propulsion drive systems, the charging system is integrated with the propulsion electronics, providing a 20 kW on-board fast charger at very low cost and weight. AC Propulsion president and CEO, Tom Gage, stated "with our new Gen-2 AC150 drivetrain, we've added a bidirectional AC power interface. This capability creates exciting new opportunities for vehicle-to-grid applications and improves the prospects for commercialization of all types of electric drive vehicles."

AC Propulsion is a California corporation dedicated to creating electric vehicles that people want to drive. Founded in 1992, the company develops, manufactures and licenses technology for electric propulsion systems with integrated grid power connection capability. AC Propulsion has patented several key technologies for electric drive vehicles, and is developing technologies and business models for vehicle-to-grid systems that will transform the automotive and distributed power generation industries.

www.acpropulsion.com

Contact Tiffany Mitchell (909) 592-5399

©2002 AC Propulsion Inc., All rights reserved.