02-10-2020, 12:50 PM
(02-10-2020, 08:08 AM)Ron Ricco Wrote: “You are just burning coal in that thing.”
Actually dad, mostly no. In your (his) state the majority of electricity production is from natural gas with single digits produced from coal. Many states are less and have a very nigh percentage from renewables.
“The grid can’t handle all those electric cars.”
The average person drives less than 40 miles a day. Most EV’s are going to be charged at home and at night when demand is down. A person can easily charge off a standard 110v (5-6mph) to replenish their daily commute. A 240v (same as your clothes dryer) will give you 20-40mph. Think about it. Your whole neighborhood is running their AC all day in the summer, you don’t think you can plug in an EV at midnight when demand is half or less without straining the grid?
Personally, I am quite a big believer in electric cars. But they do pose a lot of challenges, and the grid thing is indeed a challenge. A big one.
But quickly on the coal thing. It's 27.5% for US in 2018, the official 2019 data is not out yet. So yes, it might be less than 10% for you but it's still a third for most. And as you are aware, natural gas is the main source at 35.2%. Fossil fuels totalled 63.6%. Now these might be slightly lower now, that is 2018 statistics, but statistically for the average person it's going to be almost 2/3rds from fossil sources.
Then there is the grid. Sure, the main grid can take the additional electricity flowing through.
But how about the actual production? Now a regular Tesla model 3 takes 50kWh to charge from zero to full. Obviously you won't be charging it from zero to full every night, but let's say that you use up 1/3 per day. So 16kWh. That is in the same ball park with the 40 miles/day.
Now, I do live in a small apartment in the city. Tiny apartment even. We are two people, doing the regular human stuff. It's hot 24/7/365 here but the AC really isn't running that much, I turn it on when I feel it's too hot. The electric fan is on basically 24/7. My TOTAL electricity consumption is between 200 and 250kWh per month. The higher end of that range comes to about 8kWh per day. Half of what it takes to charge the 33% of a Tesla model 3. You can always check your own bill to see what you are using, it's probably a lot more than me.
For the record, I would estimate an AC unit to use 1-2kW per hour. That is a pure estimate.
Now a few people here and there, it won't make a difference. But a lot of people charging? Yeah, it brings up the consumption in a major way. It definitely has the capacity to push up peak loads, even though the majority of people will charge at night. (but how many will actually do that instead of just plugging it in when you get home from work?)
Then there is the fact that there are people who live in apartments instead of their own houses. A lot of people. Where do you charge? That's right, probably need a charging station built into the parking lot. That is just a small extension of the grid, and millions of these need to be made. It is not cheap to rip open a parking lot to put the wires in. Some forms of this are already taking place in Europe, and it's a step in the right direction, but it's not a cheap step.
Then of course you have the ridiculous amount of 3rd party charging stations that need to be built for those longer distance trips. But that is not an issue, the free market will find a way when the demand is there.