UCI and Kia Motors study electric vehicles, power grids

Kia Motors of America is providing six electric cars to University of California, Irvine’s Advanced Power and Energy Program as part of an initiative to study the role of auto batteries in advanced electrical grids. “The rapidly evolving coupling of vehicles and the electric grid requires planning based on informed decisions supported by the market-based, systems analyses provided by the Kia/APEP program,” said APEP director Scott Samuelsen, UCI professor emeritus of mechanical & aerospace engineering. Researchers will use the cars in an effort to develop, demonstrate, and evaluate software algorithms to better manage energy demand and the impact of battery electric vehicles on the nation’s power grid.