GM thinks EVs can help offset AI’s energy suck with vehicle-to-grid tech
GM thinks EVs can help offset AI’s energy suck with vehicle-to-grid tech
通用汽车认为电动汽车可通过“车网互联”技术缓解人工智能带来的能源压力
At an event in San Francisco today, General Motors made a series of announcements around EV batteries, energy storage, and grid resiliency in the face of growing electricity demand from AI data centers. The automaker announced that it would be activating new vehicle-to-grid capabilities for its current EV and home energy customers. It’s releasing a new commercial energy storage system strategy, anchored by newly developed sodium-ion batteries for industrial-scale grid applications. And it’s launching a new feature for EV owners that it says will help simplify public charging.
在今天于旧金山举行的一场活动中，通用汽车（General Motors）针对人工智能数据中心日益增长的电力需求，发布了一系列关于电动汽车电池、储能及电网韧性的公告。该公司宣布将为其现有的电动汽车和家庭能源客户激活全新的“车网互联”（V2G）功能。同时，通用汽车还发布了一项新的商业储能系统战略，该战略以新开发的钠离子电池为核心，旨在应用于工业级电网。此外，公司还推出了一项旨在简化公共充电流程的新功能。
Right now, millions of EVs are sitting idly in driveways across the country with a wealth of electrons stored in their batteries. GM is betting that even as EV sales cool down, public utilities will want to work with automakers to utilize those EV batteries as a potential solution to the energy demand crisis they face. It was also the latest effort by the largest automaker in North America to grab a piece of the multibillion-dollar energy generation and storage market, which it has been trying to do for nearly four years now.
目前，全美有数百万辆电动汽车闲置在车道上，其电池中储存着大量的电能。通用汽车押注认为，即便电动汽车销量增速放缓，公用事业公司仍将寻求与汽车制造商合作，利用这些电动汽车电池作为应对能源需求危机的潜在解决方案。这也是这家北美最大的汽车制造商在数十亿美元的能源生产和存储市场中分一杯羹的最新举措，而这一目标他们已追求了近四年。
“We see a future where electric vehicles, batteries that power them, and the country’s power grids work together,” GM’s chief product officer Sterling Anderson said in prepared remarks for today’s event.
“我们预见了一个未来，电动汽车、为其供电的电池以及国家的电网将协同工作，”通用汽车首席产品官斯特林·安德森（Sterling Anderson）在今日活动的预备发言中表示。
EVs are unique in their ability to send energy back to the grid, just as they pull it while charging. Many EVs are built with this bidirectional charging capability, enabling the two-way flow of energy. In essence, it treats high-capacity lithium-ion batteries not only as tools to power EVs but also as backup storage cells to charge other electric devices, an entire home, or even to send power to the electrical grid for possible energy savings.
电动汽车的独特之处在于它们既能在充电时从电网获取能量，也能将能量回馈给电网。许多电动汽车都具备这种双向充电功能，实现了能量的双向流动。从本质上讲，这不仅将高容量锂离子电池视为驱动车辆的工具，还将其视为备用储能单元，可以为其他电子设备或整个家庭供电，甚至可以将电力输送回电网以实现节能。
As AI data centers put more stress on the grid, GM thinks its hundreds of electric vehicles can help lighten the load. The automaker says that with bidirectional charging capabilities, EVs can send energy back into the grid during times of peak demand. As such, the automaker says it will release a firmware update to give its current vehicle-to-home system customers the ability to send energy back to the grid (vehicle-to-grid, or V2G). GM customers who already own the equipment will receive the update automatically.
随着人工智能数据中心给电网带来更大压力，通用汽车认为其数十万辆电动汽车可以帮助减轻负担。该公司表示，凭借双向充电功能，电动汽车可以在用电高峰期将能量回馈给电网。因此，通用汽车将发布固件更新，使其现有的“车到家”（V2H）系统客户能够将能量回馈至电网（即“车网互联”，V2G）。已拥有相关设备的通用汽车客户将自动收到此更新。
GM says there are currently over 250,000 bidirectional-capable Chevy, Cadillac, and GMC EVs on American roads today. Theoretically, their combined battery capacity is enough to power 120,000 homes for up to an entire week.
通用汽车表示，目前美国道路上共有超过 25 万辆具备双向充电能力的雪佛兰、凯迪拉克和 GMC 电动汽车。从理论上讲，它们合计的电池容量足以支撑 12 万个家庭使用长达一周。
GM is already testing this theory in two states. In Northern California, the company is partnering with PG&E to develop a localized fleet of 52,000 EVs for “grid balancing protocols,” which it says will be operational by 2030. And in Michigan, GM is working with DTE Energy to “stress-test” bidirectional charging using 30 of its own employees’ homes as real-world test cases. In addition to providing a benefit to public utilities, the automaker says EV owners could see a financial windfall too.
通用汽车已在两个州测试这一理论。在北加州，该公司正与太平洋天然气与电力公司（PG&E）合作，组建一支由 5.2 万辆电动汽车组成的本地化车队，用于“电网平衡协议”，预计将于 2030 年投入运营。在密歇根州，通用汽车正与 DTE Energy 合作，利用 30 名员工的家庭作为真实测试案例，对双向充电进行“压力测试”。通用汽车表示，除了为公用事业公司带来益处外，电动汽车车主也能从中获得经济回报。
“By injecting flexibility into a historically rigid system, V2G technology simultaneously can lower aggregate energy costs, create a potential financial return for the consumer, and enhance the systemic reliability of the broader grid,” Anderson said.
“通过为历史上僵化的系统注入灵活性，V2G 技术可以同时降低总体能源成本，为消费者创造潜在的经济回报，并增强整个电网的系统可靠性，”安德森说道。
But enabling V2G technology isn’t as easy as flipping a switch. In an open letter, GM Energy VP Wade Sheffer urged regulators to formalize V2G infrastructure, citing International Energy Agency (IEA) reports identifying V2G as the technology with the largest hourly flexibility to limit future grid investment costs. Sheffer said that the auto industry needs to work with government to educate the public to the benefits of V2G tech. And utilities must simplify the administrative process to allow their customers to seamlessly enroll in future projects.
然而，启用 V2G 技术并非像开关电灯那样简单。通用汽车能源副总裁韦德·谢弗（Wade Sheffer）在一封公开信中敦促监管机构将 V2G 基础设施规范化。他援引国际能源署（IEA）的报告指出，V2G 是在限制未来电网投资成本方面具有最大小时灵活性潜力的技术。谢弗表示，汽车行业需要与政府合作，向公众普及 V2G 技术的好处。同时，公用事业公司必须简化行政流程，以便客户能够无缝参与未来的项目。
GM says it’s also working on new industrial-scale solutions, partnering with New York-based Peak Energy to develop and deploy sodium ion chemistry for energy storage systems. Sodium is seen by some as an improvement over lithium, both in terms of availability and stability. The material is more cost-effective to obtain and isn’t subject to the same safety hazards as lithium, which can catch fire under certain circumstances. They also perform better in cold weather than Li-ion batteries. Some major battery makers, like China’s CATL, believe that sodium-ion batteries could potentially replace up to half the market for lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries that now dominates the field.
通用汽车表示，公司还在研发新的工业级解决方案，并与总部位于纽约的 Peak Energy 合作，开发和部署用于储能系统的钠离子电池技术。在一些人看来，钠在可用性和稳定性方面均优于锂。这种材料获取成本更低，且不像锂那样存在在特定条件下起火的安全隐患。此外，它们在寒冷天气下的表现也优于锂离子电池。一些大型电池制造商（如中国的宁德时代）认为，钠离子电池未来有望取代目前占据市场主导地位的磷酸铁锂（LFP）电池高达一半的市场份额。
GM says sodium ion chemistry is a good fit for commercial energy storage, but not necessarily EVs, because it prioritizes “longevity, high cycle and calendar life, and intense cost-efficiency.” The automaker is also working with Redwood Materials to build energy storage out of US-manufactured batteries, as well as “second-life” EV packs from GM’s vehicles. For its EV batteries, GM is betting on lithium manganese-rich batteries, or LMR, to close the gap between the US and China.
通用汽车表示，钠离子电池非常适合商业储能，但不一定适合电动汽车，因为它优先考虑的是“长寿命、高循环和日历寿命，以及极高的成本效益”。该公司还与 Redwood Materials 合作，利用美国制造的电池以及通用汽车车辆的“二次生命”电池包来构建储能系统。对于其电动汽车电池，通用汽车则押注于富锂锰基（LMR）电池，以缩小美国与中国在电池技术上的差距。
Lastly, GM announced Energy Pass, a new feature that will appear across its suite of mobile apps. Energy Pass allows Chevy, Cadillac, and GMC EV owners to find, start, and pay for charging across multiple third-party charging operators, including Tesla, Electrify America, and IONNA. (The company says it also plans to add EVgo and ChargePoint.)
最后，通用汽车宣布推出“能源通行证”（Energy Pass），这是一项将出现在其系列移动应用程序中的新功能。通过 Energy Pass，雪佛兰、凯迪拉克和 GMC 的电动汽车车主可以在包括特斯拉、Electrify America 和 IONNA 在内的多家第三方充电运营商处查找、启动充电并进行支付。（该公司表示，未来还计划接入 EVgo 和 ChargePoint。）