3 ms·

And the elephant in the third room is electromobility. 1MWh charges a Tesla Model S with a 100kWh battery 10 times, giving you 5400km of range. If two people

• LeifCarrotson 9y ago
  That elephant is not in the room yet. It's waiting at the Supercharger station a couple hours out on the highway, and won't be here for a quite some time. While that's changing with the Model 3 and the responses of other auto manufacturers, few people own or can afford a Tesla Model S. The elephant that's currently in the room is gasoline-based mobility. 5400 km in a gasoline-powered vehicle at 20 mpg or 14 liters per 100 km is 756 liters or 167.8 gallons of gasoline, and at 33.7 kWh per gallon, that's 5.655 MWh. The commutes multiply the energy consumption by more than a factor of 5. You shouldn't feel good about turning off an LED bulb and using a lamp instead if you also enjoy driving to work in your pickup truck.
• Reason077 9y ago
  "If two people in a household are commuting 135km/day each for 20 days/month in a Tesla Model S, electrical energy consumption of the household doubles." This is a big problem if everybody wants to charge at peak times. But most people charge overnight. Smart chargers and smart grids will ensure that loads get balanced and there isn't a huge spike in demand at 7PM when everyone plugs in as they get home from work. In a future where grids are supplied largely by renewables and nuclear, EVs will benefit the grid by soaking up excess supply at off-peak times. When they're plugged in, they're effectively storage batteries on wheels.