Possibility Doesn’t Pay The Bills. GM will follow Ford in marketing that the vehicles are capable of vehicle to grid (V2G). The theoretical use case of V2G, especially in aggregate, is really interesting. The actuality of getting vehicles to discharge the right amount (so that drivers can get home) is much more complicated. But this is all in the name of nothing at all if grid operators don’t start actually paying for the resources even on a standby basis. Some of the most expensive power plants in the Country run less than 10 times per year while solar has been saving the grid during this last run of heat waves without getting paid for the resilience.
Shortsighted Economics of Innovation. I’m saddened to see Proterra file for bankruptcy protection. It is my hope that the company will be acquired or recapitalized, logically by an OEM. Proterra is the national interest for large vehicle electrification, maybe a few years early. I had the pleasure of meeting former CEO, Ryan Popple, and interviewing him for the SolarWakeup podcast prior to his untimely passing. Let’s all root for the next chapter in Proterra’s future.
- New York Times: G.M. Will Add Backup Power Function to Its Electric Vehicles
- Utility Dive: Constellation Energy CEO ‘disappointed’ to see peers opposing EPA’s power plant carbon rule
- Reuters: Tesla’s finance chief Kirkhorn unexpectedly steps down
- PV-Tech: Solar added 2.7GW of capacity in Q2 2023 in the US, half of all clean power installs
- Energy Storage News: Grid-scale battery boom as US quarterly installs go up 32%, pipeline grows 45% year-on-year
- Canary Media: Proterra, biggest EV bus maker in the US, files for bankruptcy protection
- PV-Magazine: Community solar to exceed 6 GW in 2023
Opinion
Best, Yann