Widespread adoption of electric vehicles will bring both challenges and opportunities for utilities, and the ability to coordinate charging is one key to success. So far, the industry has seen a mix of projects testing how resources may work together: charger-rooftop solar, charger-storage and charger-demand response projects. The eMotorWerks-LO3 collaboration is another step forward, and includes a series of charger+microgrid projects that the companies say will explore "high-value use cases for local energy markets." The companies say they view the project as a key component of a "broad service portfolio for utilities," which will also give consumers more control over their energy use. LO3 Energy CEO Lawrence Orsini said utilities should see EV charging as another option to "efficiently match local energy supply and demand," and the partnership with eMotorWerks could help to enable "more transactions among other microgrid participants and EV drivers." LO3 and eMotorWerks say their program will be aimed at "price-responsive consumers with a flexible charging schedule who would like to leverage EV flexibility to save on their energy bills." Also targeted: EV fleet managers looking for predictable costs. EV adoption has remained relatively low, but utilities are preparing for the impacts of more vehicles charging on their systems. Bloomberg New Energy Finance believes EVs will represent 28% of global light-duty vehicle sales sometime shortly after 2025. And the Edison Electric Institute, which represents U.S. investor-owned utilities, projects 7 million of the zero-emissions vehicles will be on U.S. roads by 2025 — up from about 1 million today. A recent analysis from Morningstar concluded electric vehicles will be one of three areas pushing electricity demand higher through 2030, along with cannabis cultivation and data centers. Morningstar expects demand from EVs to make up 1.7% of U.S. electricity demand by the end of the next decade.
New York-based, blockchain-backed LO3 Energy is partnering with Enel subsidiary eMotorWerks to integrate the latter's JuiceNet electric vehicle (EV) charging platform with one of LO3's energy marketplaces. The move will enable EV owners to identify and use local, renewable energy to charge their cars via a microgrid. The companies said their collaboration was targeted to "price-responsive consumers" who wanted to reduce their energy bills by taking advantage of flexible charging, as well as EV fleet managers seeking "predictable costs".