Texas nexus on Electric Vehicles

The auto show at the State Fair of Texas was not an iota less fascinating than the one for livestock. Spanning across 30o thousand square feet, it’s an orgy of cool cars – 2011 models of Chevy, Cadillac, Buick, GMC, Hyundai, Nissan, Ram and Toyota. Chevy Volt was probably the cynosure of the exposition.

I had the opportunity to attend both the VIP Reception (sponsored by Chevrolet) and the Panel Luncheon (sponsored by TXU Energy). It was reassuring to see how sincere Texas dignitaries are about Electric Vehicles and how effectively market participants are interacting with one another to make EV an early success in Texas.

As I touted in my last blog, two things have to go hand-in-glove to make EV justifiable to the cause – (1) high renewable portfolio standards (2) consumer incentives for off-peak charging. Texas is on track for both.

By the next few years, Texas will have more than 20,000 MW installed capacity of wind power; and Texas is building about $5 Billion worth of transmission lines (CREZ) from West Texas and the Texas Panhandle to the population centers. TDSPs (Transmission & Distribution Service Providers) in Texas are currently deploying 6.5 million smart meters, - which will provide the platform for dynamic pricing. Because of high night wind, off-peak energy will be greener.

Hail Texas! Here I come.

BTW – here’s Andy’s commentary on the panel discussion: http://smartgridsecurity.blogspot.com/2010/09/blazing-ev-and-v2g-trails-at-texas.html

Valuing Electric Vehicles...

Electric Vehicles have compelling value propositions in the US market. First, it can direct the dough away from OPEC to the pockets of US electric utilities. Second, it can create some cool jobs. Third, it will reduce demand for gasoline to further jack down oil price.

However, most people will not buy Electric Vehicle thinking – “Aha, let me bolster the US economy. Hey OPEC, you like the pinch, yeah?” Some of those saintly folks will buy EV because they are deafened by the carbon cry of our moribund planet, - and some of my miserly buddies will do it to save on fuel cost.

Well, emission continues: not through the tailpipes, but through the plant chimneys. Until renewables become a dominant mix in the generation portfolio, EV will only make just a little sense from the environmental standpoint.

But I think my cheap buds are wiser. EV, even in its diapers, can drive you up to 40 miles for less than 2 dollars. With dynamic pricing, this cost may go down to as low as 32 cents. If you are in Austin and you never have to drive more than 40 miles a day, your monthly fuel cost will be about $10. Pretty neat, indeed!

Coffee is not green

The buzz around greening has reached a point when it has become outright annoying. A year back, words like “environmental sustainability” and “carbon footprint” carried a lot of weight. If you could spit out those words in any coherent or even semi-coherent construct, people would look back at you as if you were a returning messiah. Now, - sigh!

I think “greening” is rapidly losing its cool as it has been taken as a silly excuse by many companies to reduce their OpEx. It's all about their green business case. It’s almost like – if you love your wife, give me a dollar.

If you are a habitual habitant of Sheraton, you must have seen those green tags tacked against your pillows. Well, at first sight, I was damned impressed. I get a $5 green coupon if I refuse a day’s room service. Cool! I went for it, with a simmering pride that I can save the planet a tiny bit through my towels and linens. Behold, the upshot – no coffee in my room! They did not replenish coffee in my room for green sake! I thought it was only about washing and drying, - what does coffee have to do with greening, anyway? Coffee is not green, it’s plain coffee!

I’d be curious to know Sheraton’s activity based costing for room cleaning. That’ll tell me their green business case.