[masterofuniverse]

One of Siemen's chargers states that it can let the power company throttle the charge. What does that mean and does PG&E in Bay Area supports it? See charger description below:

The Power of Throttling
All the conveniences of a powerful smart level II EV charger with the ability to optionally lower the rate at which power is provided to your EV are now rolled into the VersiCharge SG charger. You have the ability to control the rate of charge at your fingertips through the apps or let your power company control it for you in areas where available.

 

[masterofuniverse]

And I meant San Francisco's Bay Area.

 

[csnyder]

We just got that from our utility (Consumers Energy in MI) for our home A/C unit, though I doubt that their system would integrate with EV chargers. I'm planning to use the Pacifica's built-in charging schedule to charge when rates are cheapest.

 

[Shygar]

I'm no expert but it seems if you let the power company throttle your power, they could decide to not send you enough power to charge your car in the event of peak demand or requiring emergency power. I looked into the PG&E A/C unit throttling, but in the end I didn't want to be caught without the AC running on a hot day.

 

[csnyder]

The way ours works, the throttling reduces the run time of the A/C compressor, but doesn't shut it off altogether. I imagine that they could do something similar for EV charging: reduce the charging rate without stopping charging altogether (not sure if it works that way, though).

 

[tomsaffell]

I would think that the times at which PGE would want to throttle (to reduce peak demand) are summer between 2pm and 9pm. At those times PGE charge $0.45/kwh (on EV-A plan), which is more expensive that running it on gas. YMMV.

So maybe it's not something that will actually happen?

 

[manoli]

I'm no expert but it seems if you let the power company throttle your power, they could decide to not send you enough power to charge your car in the event of peak demand or requiring emergency power. I looked into the PG&E A/C unit throttling, but in the end I didn't want to be caught without the AC running on a hot day.

The way the A/C throttling works with our local utility (and I'm assuming it its similar with PG&E) is they can remotely shut off your A/C's compressor for up to 10 minutes per half-hour if the grid is close to capacity. It's extremely rare. They are not going to throttle you at 2am when your vehicle is charging. Here's more info on how it works where I live.

If you're on PG&E's EV plan you can seriously benefit from a Tesla Powerwall. You can program it to recharge overnight when the rate is 10-cents/kWh and then have it power your house between 2pm-9pm when electricity is 45-cents/kWh.

 

[Shygar]

The way the A/C throttling works with our local utility (and I'm assuming it its similar with PG&E) is they can remotely shut off your A/C's compressor for up to 10 minutes per half-hour if the grid is close to capacity. It's extremely rare. They are not going to throttle you at 2am when your vehicle is charging. Here's more info on how it works where I live.

If you're on PG&E's EV plan you can seriously benefit from a Tesla Powerwall. You can program it to recharge overnight when the rate is 10-cents/kWh and then have it power your house between 2pm-9pm when electricity is 45-cents/kWh.

Yep, I'm a big fan of that. I'm looking to get the Tesla solar roof, supposed to be able to pre-order this month. Planning on 1 Tesla Powerwall with it, but I don't think 1 is enough to power a whole house. But at least if I power the lights and maybe the HVAC or refrigerator/stove then it should help.

 

[manoli]

Yep, I'm a big fan of that. I'm looking to get the Tesla solar roof, supposed to be able to pre-order this month. Planning on 1 Tesla Powerwall with it, but I don't think 1 is enough to power a whole house. But at least if I power the lights and maybe the HVAC or refrigerator/stove then it should help.

Correct... one is not enough if you want to be able to power your entire house and your central A/C in case of power outage. However, if you want to get away with one powerwall it can be wired to power your house minus the A/C during a power outage.