Posted on 11/28/2010 5:55:32 PM PST by Jet Jaguar
Imagine: It’s Friday evening, and the sun is down. You are rolling home in your environmentally responsible EV after an honest day’s work, emitting exactly zero greenhouse gases. You give a wave to your likewise electrified neighbor who’s bringing home the bacon to wife and family. You put the car in the garage and hook it up to the charger that nice electrician had installed. You shout “daddy’s home!” Suddenly, all hell breaks loose.
A huge fireball shoots into the sky as the transformer on the pole out on the street explodes. Down at the corner, another explosion. A block down, a substation throws angry arcs into the night, then goes up in flames.
Suddenly, it is pitch dark and dead silent. Minutes later, the silence is pierced by the sound of sirens …
This is the nightmare scenario that flashes through the heads and across the spreadsheets of managers at the nation’s electric utilities. While some of them already draw hockey stick graphs and count the money they will make from all those electric cars that will hit the road soon, others are very, very worried.
“Electric vehicles have the potential to completely transform our business,” says David Owens, executive vice president of the Edison Electric Institute, a trade group. He’s right. It could blow it up.
Not since air conditioning spread across the country was the power industry faced with such a potential surge in consumption. We all know what can happen on a hot evening when everybody comes home and turns on the A/C. This is nothing compared to what that Nissan Leaf or Chevy Volt can do to the circuitry.
“Plugged into a socket, an electric car can draw as much power as a small house. The surge in demand could knock out power to a home or a neighborhood,” explains Associated Press, here via The Toledo Blade.
The drivers of any market are fear and greed. So much for the fear.
Now for the greed part: Last year, Americans spent $325 billion on gasoline. Your friendly utility company would like to have a slice of that monster pie.
So as you are reading this, power companies are scratching their heads and are sifting through what little data there is to divine where the first pockets of EVs are most likely to appear. That’s where they will put in beefier equipment.
Utilities think they have enough plants and equipment to power hundreds of thousands of electric cars. The problem is in the grid. And in a phenomenon long known as keeping up with the Joneses, or what car makers and utilities now call “clustering.”
Thick pockets of EVs could suddenly crop up where
Generous subsidies are offered by states and localities The weather is mild, batteries perform better in warmer climes, but A/C cuts down on range in really hot ones High-income and environmentally conscious commuters live And if your electric company doesn’t do something now, this is where the transformers will go kaboom.
California cities including Santa Monica, Santa Barbara, and Monrovia could suddenly have several vehicles on a block.
Down South, Progress Energy Inc. plans for clusters in Raleigh, Cary, and Asheville, N.C., and around Orlando and Tampa, Fla.
Duke Energy is expecting the same in Charlotte and Indianapolis. The entire territory of Texas’ Austin Energy is expected to be an electric-vehicle hot spot.
But look at the bright side: “Sorry, can’t come to work today. We had rolling brownouts all night, and my charger was taken off the grid remotely. Better luck tomorrow, boss!”
The absolutely most nightmarish scenario? Nobody buys the EVs and the hefty equipment has been put in for nothing. You’ll read it in your electric bill, one way or the other.
I have no problem with government charging a road tax to users of electric cars. If those of us who use gasoline are subject to a road tax for the same reason then those who drive electric cars should also be expected to pay for the roads as well.
Unfortunately, all of us will be expected to pay for higher rates for power because of these toys. I doubt the electric companies will distinguish between EV charging and other types of electrical use.
Yes we should build nuclear plants.
One of the ironies here, is that the electricity to charge up all of these electric cars has to be generated somewhere. That somewhere in many parts of the country is a coal fired power plant. So fossil fuels may need to be used in much bigger quantities to generate power for millions of electric cars.
The enviro-liberals have a hard time with nuanced concepts like this, but, it’s quite possible that more greenhouse gases will be emitted if we had millions of electric cars. It just won’t be emitted by the cars, it will be emitted as fossil fuel power plants work to provide so much more electricity.
There are unintended consequences to many great ideas. The idea of a pollution free electric car is great on paper, but, we have to be realistic about all of the effects of having millions of electric cars being charged.
The points in the article, plus several made by posters already, are among many reasons that electric vehicles, however innovative, cannot directly substitute for fossil fuels. It is not, as some of the “greens” imply, a matter of switching to electric power and continuing “business as usual.” Once the cheap oil is gone, and with China gearing up it it is going fast, the more expensive, unconventional oil (think deep ocean, tar sands, etc.) will push gas prices well beyond three dollars a gallon. Efficiency of engines and reduced trip lengths (with accompanying changes in land uses) will be increasingly important.
By the way, it will be two decades before electric vehicles will have a major portion of the vehicle fleet, if only due to the life cycle of vehicles having grown to 17 years.
The same greenie wienies who are pushing electric cars are the ones fighting against coal, nuke-ya-ler, nat gas, and hydro power.
Where do they expect to get the power for those Lionel cars? I don’t know. Maybe they are going to shoot lightning bolts out their butts.
The power companies want to build more power plants and sell more juice.
Liberals think electricity comes from nowhere. Ask them how its produced and you’ll get a lot of blank stares.
Unfortunately, as part of our power company’s effort to “reduce green house gas emissions,” they have raised their rates for electricity. Effectively forcing their customers to use less. IMO it was an excuse to raise their rates.
As for electric cars...
There will probably be some kind of rebate because electric cars are “green.” Even though they use a ton more electricity. And the rest of us will be forced to pay for the upgrade to the grid while the greenies get their rebate.
I went to a trade show about three months ago on this - they (the utilities) want to install smart panels, outlets which they will control (if you sign up for the program) remotely at peak usage periods & those customers will get huge rate cuts while those that don’t sign up will see huge increases.
Part of the deal is to charge cars at night - no matter what time you plug ‘em in.
That means appliances that suck up a lot of power will get more favorable rate treatment when they’re run during off-peak hours.
That may be. But when they tie raising my rates to “reducing green house gas emissions” I am very skeptical. Nothing mentioned about increasing grid capacity. Just feel good reducing green house gases.
Liberals want us to pay more and get less. And they’re puzzled why the public rejects it.
Unfortunately, many maybe even most have fallen for the AWG lie and will only complain when they actually feel the pain of higher costs. Then again, maybe they won’t. Maybe they’ll buy electric cars thinking that electric cars will solve all of their problems.
A fool and his money...
Unfortunately, the rest of us are stuck with the consequences.
I like how these con artists are saying that people can save money by charging their cars at night during “off peak” periods. I would imagine that plugging in something that uses as much current as a small house every single night will change the definition of “peak” and “off peak.” Either way, the non-EV driving public will be screwed.
If liberals want to pay more for their electricity, color me happy. Just don’t ask me to foot the tab for them.
“will get more favorable rate treatment when they’re run during off-peak hours.”
Exactly - you play ball with them (allow them to shed load during peak hours, shut off dryers, ac, etc) and they’ll cut your rate, others will pay the full freight.
Well even if EVs don’t take off I think we’re going to see the smart grid take off in the next decade - the utilities will have programs for shutting off appliances house by house, block by block.
It’s happening now with new metering in some parts of the country.
But, but, but - that would make you a shill for the power companies!
(Sarcasm aside, there's so much green-red tape blocking the constructiuon of new power plants that it would practically take a special Executive Order to clear the path. The only more hamstrung development is a new oil refinery.)
The ‘problem’ is easily handled. Currently electric heat and air conditioning is classified as ‘interpretable’ requiring their service to be on a ‘ripple’ controller. When the base load reaches a predetermined level those items will be ‘rippled’ off. The electric car chargers will have to be on this same circuit.
The result is that your electric car will not get its charge on occasion. As the load due to these increases this will become more and more common. On those days you will have to walk to work or call the boss and tell him you are ill.
Eventually you will be fired and then won’t need a car at all!
How old is the neighborhood you live in?
How old is the power plant that supplies power to your house?
All of these factors could come into play if you (and/or your neighbors) want to charge an EV.
The article mentioned the transformer on the pole, and the substation down the street, but what about your breaker panel? Can it take another 50 amps of continuous load, over and above what you're already using? Most older houses have 100 amp (or even smaller) panels. With electric heat, AC, clothes dryer, and electric stove, you're already at max capacity. Plug in your car and she's gonna blow, cap'n. And how about the service wire that feeds your house (between the meter and panel)? Sure, you can upgrade, but that's at least $1500, directly to the homeowner.
Assuming your house panel will take the load, then you need to have the proper outlet in the right place (probably a 50A welder outlet in your garage). That's more $$ from your pocket.
Bottom line: If you're considering buying an EV, I suggest you consult an electrician first. You could face thousands of dollars in startup costs personally, besides the millions your electric company may have to invest.
This is a good point. Americans have an appalling ignorance of even rudimentary science.
Don't forget conversion losses. Converting fossil fuels to electricity involves a ~70% conversion loss. Trasmission lines have substantial losses as well.
It will take double the amount of fossil fuel to power EVs versus burning the fuel directly in an engine.
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