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Not so sure this move to EVs is the best thing going forward, unless we really solve the power/energy distribution thing, that is. Yes, we might partially solv

Not so sure this move to EVs is the best thing going forward, unless we really solve the power/energy distribution thing, that is. Yes, we might partially solve the power generation issue as solar cells are getting cheaper, we get better at reining in wind-power costs, maybe even getting back to nuclear etc, but imo getting that power from point A (generation site) to points B to Z (consumers) reliably and in abundance is a not-solved problem. Case in point me, as I’m writing this comment. I’ve decided to spend the middle of this week at my parents’ house in the East-European countryside doing wfh (I’ve got the vaccine and I finally feel safe about seeing them in direct contact) but I just had to turn off the light in my room just now because it was flickering. Judging by what I can read on the local FB group this is a usual thing. My parents live 30-40 km away from the country’s only nuclear plant, so while power generation is not an issue reliable power distribution is indeed a big issue. While this may be anecdotal I venture to say that this example is not singular, that is if you go outside the big populous cities (where, I agree, while still present this sort of issue is less prevalent). I’m also curious about who’s going to pay fir building that reliable power-distribution network we will need? The car companies aren’t going to do it, neither the big oil majors.

plantain 5y ago
You pay for it when you buy electricity (usually as a fixed component of the price per kWh). Electric cars will consume large amounts of electricity, and that will fund the upgrade of the grid proportionally. That said, if bi-directional charging becomes commonplace, the grid will probably get substantially simpler - you can burst off your car or your neighbors car in peak hours, 4-9pm.
- paganel 5y ago
  > Electric cars will consume large amounts of electricity In the meantime poor communities who won't be able to afford EVs just yet will remain stuck on using the old and unreliable networks, hence increasing the societal and economic disparities. As things stand right now most of the poor in the US and Western Europe can still afford a car, a $1000 or 2000 euro beater but one that still works. In the future they won't probably afford SH EVs and they won't have a reliable network to charge them. Again, this sort of worldview is pretty much absent from the minds of people making this top-down decisions.
yunohn 5y ago
I’m not sure why this means we can’t switch away from fossil fuels for energy production? Sure, we may have to fix distribution of electricity in some places, but that will be necessary regardless of the shift to electric.
- paganel 5y ago
  > I’m not sure why this means we can’t switch away from fossil fuels for energy production? Because the network won't hold the new extra energy consumption. Like I also said, this problem is not obvious enough for people who live in affluent and mostly populous communities (like most of us here, or like the stakeholders from the article), hence why it's not discussed that often in relation to the switch to "green energy". There was something of try to address this in the first (or second? not sure) Obama mandate, the whole "smart grid"thing, of which I've heard not that much lately, and over here in Europe Merkel tried something similar in Germany in late '00s - early 2010s but she failed spectacularly.
  - yunohn 5y ago
    Obviously, the transition to electric won't be overnight. The best way to handle this is to improve the grid simultaneously, which is what most countries are doing regardless.

plantain 5y ago

You pay for it when you buy electricity (usually as a fixed component of the price per kWh). Electric cars will consume large amounts of electricity, and that will fund the upgrade of the grid proportionally. That said, if bi-directional charging becomes commonplace, the grid will probably get substantially simpler - you can burst off your car or your neighbors car in peak hours, 4-9pm.

paganel 5y ago
> Electric cars will consume large amounts of electricity In the meantime poor communities who won't be able to afford EVs just yet will remain stuck on using the old and unreliable networks, hence increasing the societal and economic disparities. As things stand right now most of the poor in the US and Western Europe can still afford a car, a $1000 or 2000 euro beater but one that still works. In the future they won't probably afford SH EVs and they won't have a reliable network to charge them. Again, this sort of worldview is pretty much absent from the minds of people making this top-down decisions.

yunohn 5y ago

I’m not sure why this means we can’t switch away from fossil fuels for energy production? Sure, we may have to fix distribution of electricity in some places, but that will be necessary regardless of the shift to electric.

paganel 5y ago
> I’m not sure why this means we can’t switch away from fossil fuels for energy production? Because the network won't hold the new extra energy consumption. Like I also said, this problem is not obvious enough for people who live in affluent and mostly populous communities (like most of us here, or like the stakeholders from the article), hence why it's not discussed that often in relation to the switch to "green energy". There was something of try to address this in the first (or second? not sure) Obama mandate, the whole "smart grid"thing, of which I've heard not that much lately, and over here in Europe Merkel tried something similar in Germany in late '00s - early 2010s but she failed spectacularly.
- yunohn 5y ago
  Obviously, the transition to electric won't be overnight. The best way to handle this is to improve the grid simultaneously, which is what most countries are doing regardless.