Ford has given a completely new dimension to the Hybrid car marketing race, by announcing technology that allows drivers to communicate with the nation’s electric-power grid and makes charging the batteries of vehicles as cheap and convenient as possible.
The intelligent charging concept announced Tuesday is key for all auto makers that are pursuing electric vehicles in a variety of forms, from plug-in gas-electric hybrids to fully electric cars and trucks that use no gasoline.
The idea is that as soon as you plug in your car, the battery systems talk directly to the grid through the utility companies’ smart meters, which will have wireless networking. You, the owner, can then use the in-dash touch-screen computer to choose when your car should recharge, which will also change the utility rate, depending on how much electricity costs at a given time.
In early August, San Diego Gas & Electric announced it is testing a mobile smart charging device for plug-in electric vehicles that was developed by Juice Technologies. And a company called GridPoint has been delivering the “smart grid” software that local utilities will require to support the adoption of plug-in vehicles.
The Sync system represents one of the largest deployments of vehicle intelligence to date, though so far it’s primarily been used to give drivers online vehicle “Health Reports” and software upgrades, as well as to control car stereos and mobile phones with voice commands.