California electric grid operator confirms electric vehicles should not be charged during shortages

American Experiment ^ | 07/14/2021 | Isaac Orr

[DFG]

The abject failure of Califonia’s energy policies is becoming more apparent every day. The Golden State has taken the lead in shutting down reliable coal, natural gas and nuclear power plants and jumping feet first into a grid powered largely by unreliable wind and solar.

California is also seeking to ban the sale of new gasoline and diesel-powered vehicles in the state by 2035, even though this would require Californians to be even more reliant upon an unreliable power grid.

An overreliance on wind and solar has resulted in a grid that is so unreliable that the California grid operator, the California Independent Systems Operator (CAISO), has resorted to asking Californians to reduce their electricity consumption, which Center of the American Experiment has confirmed means not charging electric vehicles.

California ISO @California_ISO California, it’s almost time! #FlexAlert today, July 12, from 4-9 p.m. Now is the time to:

• Set thermostats to 78 degrees, if health permits • Unplug unused electronic devices • Turn off unnecessary lights

[Empire_of_Liberty]

Funny that you say that. I was thinking that I may miss the warmth I was getting in the winters.

I have also recently gotten into vintage Aladdin kerosene lamps, however, and have discovered that they put out a tremendous amount of heat, while operating. I use them in the winters. They have to be put away the rest of the year.

[frank ballenger]

Yep! Some of us have known this all along. The whole point is to get rid of cars....

Exactly right.

Probably 2012 or so Futurist Magazine (nonfiction) had an illustrated feature based on "You don't need to own a car, you need to have a ride somewhere." This was speculation about our time now.

Showed rows of nested shell like vehicles at a city location. You pay for a ride with one and go to your destination---a little like a tiny Smart car or a compressed shape golf cart. None shown were with a 2nd or 3rd or 4th passenger. Guess romance will be dead by that future.

[kaktuskid]

They also buy power from the Palo Verde Nuclear Plant in Arizona

[libertylover]

There you go, thinking ahead again.

[Zathras]

And the first thing they did was buy power from AZ.

[DuncanWaring]

I still don’t understand how the electric car manufacturers haven’t designed a generator that’s able to recharge the batteries as the car drives.

---

What do you think a Prius is?

[roadcat]

I wonder what percentage of households in America own ONLY electric cars. An ICE car could be rented for convenience on long trips.

A one-car household should not own only an electric car. We own an electric car, but also have an ICE car and ICE truck. The electric is good for short daily hops around town, very little cost to use (after two years the service checkups are about $35 to check tires and brakes). But the ICE truck is necessary for hauling heavy stuff for long distances, and the ICE car for long out-of-state trips. Practically all the EV owners I see around the neighborhood also have multiple cars (meaning the others are ICE/gas).

[roadcat]

Hybrid vehicles do that a little. When you apply the brakes, the brakes charge the battery. Basically the momentum you're losing by slowing down is energy that's being "rerouted" into charging the battery. But that's re-using a little bit of energy from a process that doesn't happen often (braking).

I know what you intended to mean. But EV cars also use the brakes to recharge their batteries. They also use momentum/inertia to recharge. Of course that's recapturing some of the energy expended to move the vehicle in the first place. We have an EV, and our latest service check after two years (at the extremely low price of $35 total) showed almost no brake wear because of stopping the vehicle by using the momentum to recharge the batteries.

[Tell It Right]

That's good to know. Do all EV's do that or just a few? I had heard that the brake-to-electricity mechanism of hybrids was one of the things that requires frequent maintenance. Even if I heard it correctly, I'll admit it's a bit dated and may not apply to new EV's anyway.

We have a lot of solar on our house. It produces about 70% of all of the electricity we consume. Plus, there's almost 3 hours per day on average when my batteries are fully charged. Since I work from home a lot I've given thought to getting an EV to capture that otherwise wasted power (I'm not on a buyback plan with my power co).

[Nuc 1.1]

Virtually no one in America will be able to afford a car by 2034 and I think a lot sooner.

[Nuc 1.1]

Class D fires generally have to burn themselves out.

[Nuc 1.1]

Dims are trying to destroy the country.. solar and wind power are just one of many vectors.

[Nuc 1.1]

No heat engine is 100% efficient.

[Nuc 1.1]

Computers in cars and appliances stay set by using a trickle of electricity even when shut off. If you park your car at an airport for a three week vacation, the car battery will likely be dead when you return due to that small but prolonged discharge. If you disconnected one of the battery cables before you left, the battery would be ok when you got back but the car would have forgotten everything that had to be set or learned.

[fremont_steve]

I don’t about that. My new solar system plus 44kwh of batteries only cost about. 60K. In other words..you are exactly right! The only good news is I can go off grid in a practical sense if I have too to charge my EV.

[smvoice]

Gee, maybe they can hook up their cars directly to the wind turbines... LOL
I have no pity for these fools

[Vaduz]

From La to Vegas the desert looks like where they go to die.