Branko Terzic, former commissioner at FERC and the Wisconsin PSC, and former CEO of Yankee Energy System, Inc.
The electric power industry is not new to the desire to have electric cars added to the grid.
A hundred years ago, legendary automobile manufacturer Henry Ford and equally legendary inventor and electric power industry founder Thomas Edison, two friends who fished and camped together in late life, considered manufacturing electric cars. They even developed a prototype jointly.
Check out this interview with Ford in the New York Times of January 11, 1914:
“The fact is that Mr. Edison and I have been working for some years on an electric automobile which would be cheap and practicable. Cars have been built for experimental purposes, and we are satisfied now that the way is clear to success.
The problem so far has been to build a storage battery of light weight which would operate for long distances without recharging. Mr. Edison has been experimenting with such a battery for some time.”
Together they built one proto-type model.
But Ford’s plan to design and mass produce electric automobiles in 1914 with Edison failed, due to inadequate power from Edison’s nickel-iron battery design (referenced by Ford in the interview). And the reality that the readily available lead-acid battery was too heavy for vehicular use as an exclusive source of energy in transportation.
Today, some commentators believe that, in spite of the success of Tesla, the battery issue remains with us. There are limitations with both nickel-metal hydride batteries and lithium-ion batteries.
Still, Tesla moves ahead with new models and increasing sales. All of the major manufacturers of automobiles have electric vehicle models and prototypes in play.
There is even a Formula E race car circuit established with Audi, Citroen, Renault and Jaguar entering cars in the 2016-2017 season. See you at the races!
Public Utilities Fortnightly features the top writers and opinion-leaders in utility regulation and policy such as Branko Terzic. See his column “Innovation and Capital Recovery” in the November 2016 issue.
