We can perform a multitude of services on your vehicle, including auto repair and hybrid service. If your hybrid battery seems to be wearing down, you can bring your vehicle to Rod's Japanese Auto Care in Whatcom. Most hybrid batteries run for around eight years. This makes hybrid vehicles 20%-35% more fuel-efficient than traditional vehicles.Ī hybrid vehicle cannot run without a functioning battery. When the driver presses the brake pedal, the electric battery recharges. The vehicle can switch seamlessly between power sources, so seamlessly, in fact, that the driver isn't even aware of the transition. An electric engine become much more functional when a gas-powered engine is added to it these two components combine to produce the best efficiency and reliability.Ī hybrid vehicle utilizes a 12-volt lead-acid battery and gasoline like a traditional vehicle while also pulling energy from an electric battery. They offer a very impressive fuel economy, and this is because of the hybrid battery that powers the car. Hybrid vehicles offer the best of owning an electric car and a car run on fuel. Every major car maker, including Acura, Audi, BMW, and Buick, offer hybrid vehicles in their lineups. The battery is rechargeable and provides enough power to keep even a large vehicle running. Once its reliability is increased though, Washington residents could eventually see battery storage projects popping up as the utility shifts away from fossil fuels.As you may know, a hybrid vehicle combines the functionality of a gas-powered motor and an electric hybrid battery. In total, the utility which serves the Eastside and other areas of the state has some 3,500MW of capacity.ĭooley said there were no specific plans on how the Glacier battery project could be expanded. However, it has about 800MW of renewable wind energy as well as hydroelectric energy. It currently pulls about 28 percent of its portfolio from coal and 21 percent from natural gas. PSE relies heavily on fossil fuels, which have the benefit of being able to generate energy any time of the day. That means that nearly a quarter of electricity used in the state must be converted from fossil fuel to alternative forms of power. The majority was generated by hydroelectric dams, which is a renewable resource.ĭuring its last session the state Legislature voted to require all of Washington’s power grid to use clean energy by 2045. Energy Information Administration, there were nearly 116 million MWh generated for use in Washington state in 2017, with some 92 million MWh being sold. Power needs to either be shipped quickly across wide stretches of the country, which would require upgrades and integration of public and private grids, or stored to be used later.Īccording to the U.S. The wind only blows when it blows, and solar energy can only be collected during the day. One of the problems facing renewable energy is it is only generated during specific times of the day. If the battery programs are successful and ultimately expanded, it could provide a way to better store renewable energy for grids in the Pacific Northwest. The batteries in Glacier are essentially double-wide electric bus batteries, Jusak said. The batteries are manufactured by BYD, a lithium-ion battery producer in China which makes most of its money making the batteries for electric buses. Each container holds thousands of battery cells within larger batteries. The technology itself is intricate, with internal computers constantly monitoring 13,000 points within the four shipping containers. The project was completed in 2016 and tests are continuing to boost reliability above 90 percent, at which point PSE may look at ways to expand the program to other regions within its service area. It’s designed to serve as a short term backup power source for the town center of Glacier, which has a single 55kV power line running to it. The project, known as the Glacier Battery Storage Project, was created in 2016 and funded partially by $3.8 million in grants from the Washington state Department of Commerce, as well as $7.4 million from PSE. “This is definitely a pilot project,” Jusak said outside the containers. In a matter of seconds, the intake of energy from the power grid can be reversed and sent out to power the town center of Glacier during outages. The batteries are charging, and within a few minutes the four containers have charged from 38 to 40 percent. On a rainy day in the foothills of Mount Baker, engineers from Puget Sound Energy gathered at a pilot project located just outside of the tiny town of Glacier.Īs rain pattered against the exterior of four large shipping containers, inside Paul Jusak, a Puget Sound Energy (PSE) controls engineer, pushed a few buttons an a built-in computer and the thousands of battery cells inside the containers hummed to life.
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