4 ms·

Currently all BEVs charge at their maximum rate the moment they are connected to the charger. Which almost always happens in late afternoon or early evening. I.

by skgoa 8y ago

Currently all BEVs charge at their maximum rate the moment they are connected to the charger. Which almost always happens in late afternoon or early evening. I.e. the exact time when the energy usage is at a peak already. While there are many ideas regarding how this load can be pushed into the dead of night, nothing concrete has even been proposed, yet. So I wouldn't dismiss this issue that quickly, especially when we are talking about a (theoretical) rapid adoption of BEVs.

mrhappyunhappy 8y ago
Ummm, a timer to allow charging at certain time only? Seems pretty simple to me.
- skgoa 8y ago
  A simple timer isn't enough. You would want the chargers to be networked, so that the power company can optimize the load. That's not impossible, but it also doesn't exist, yet.
  - robjan 8y ago
    The UK power grid (which this article is talking about) is being converted to a smart grid. All new electric meters report their usage continuously which can be used to discover usage patterns. I imagine that chargers would also be connected to smart meters.
    - makomk 8y ago
      As it currently stands, most of the installed base of smart meters can't even communicate to electricity companies other than the one that originally installed them, so I'd say that's a long way off.
davidgould 8y ago
> Currently all BEVs charge at their maximum rate the moment they are connected to the charger. This is not remotely close to true. Most BEVs have timed and/or location aware charging. My own Spark EV for example (a very low end BEV) can be scheduled to charge during certain hours each day of the week. I use this because our electric utility has lower rates from 11PM until 7AM. So no matter when I plug it, the car waits for the cheap electric rate period.
- skgoa 8y ago
  "Can" and "does" are not the same, though.
  - davidgould 8y ago
    Well, mine both can and does because the utility makes it worth while. Your original claim was "all". Generally this problem is easily solved by adjusting pricing to encourage the desired charge times. Certainly there may be a few holdouts who don't take advantage, but a few is not a problem.
PuffinBlue 8y ago
> Currently all BEVs charge at their maximum rate the moment they are connected to the charger. Which almost always happens in late afternoon or early evening. I.e. the exact time when the energy usage is at a peak already. Citation needed. What is actually true is that all BEV apart from (I think) the Renault Twizzy have charge timers built into the car. There are already financial incentives to charge overnight with specific EV tariffs and some electricity suppliers will do the charger installation that talks directly to the provider via smart meter tech to charge at the best rate cost wise and grid wise. Equally, people don't just come home every single day and recharge thair car. I know this directly as my last neighbour has a Nissan Leaf and charged it every 4 or 5 days and did so overnight.

by skgoa 8y ago

mrhappyunhappy 8y ago

Ummm, a timer to allow charging at certain time only? Seems pretty simple to me.

skgoa 8y ago
A simple timer isn't enough. You would want the chargers to be networked, so that the power company can optimize the load. That's not impossible, but it also doesn't exist, yet.
- robjan 8y ago
  The UK power grid (which this article is talking about) is being converted to a smart grid. All new electric meters report their usage continuously which can be used to discover usage patterns. I imagine that chargers would also be connected to smart meters.
  - makomk 8y ago
    As it currently stands, most of the installed base of smart meters can't even communicate to electricity companies other than the one that originally installed them, so I'd say that's a long way off.

davidgould 8y ago

> Currently all BEVs charge at their maximum rate the moment they are connected to the charger. This is not remotely close to true. Most BEVs have timed and/or location aware charging. My own Spark EV for example (a very low end BEV) can be scheduled to charge during certain hours each day of the week. I use this because our electric utility has lower rates from 11PM until 7AM. So no matter when I plug it, the car waits for the cheap electric rate period.

skgoa 8y ago
"Can" and "does" are not the same, though.
- davidgould 8y ago
  Well, mine both can and does because the utility makes it worth while. Your original claim was "all". Generally this problem is easily solved by adjusting pricing to encourage the desired charge times. Certainly there may be a few holdouts who don't take advantage, but a few is not a problem.

PuffinBlue 8y ago

> Currently all BEVs charge at their maximum rate the moment they are connected to the charger. Which almost always happens in late afternoon or early evening. I.e. the exact time when the energy usage is at a peak already. Citation needed. What is actually true is that all BEV apart from (I think) the Renault Twizzy have charge timers built into the car. There are already financial incentives to charge overnight with specific EV tariffs and some electricity suppliers will do the charger installation that talks directly to the provider via smart meter tech to charge at the best rate cost wise and grid wise. Equally, people don't just come home every single day and recharge thair car. I know this directly as my last neighbour has a Nissan Leaf and charged it every 4 or 5 days and did so overnight.