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You realize that they only charge at night currently because that's when there's lots of extra grid capacity. Right?

• tomcam 5y ago
  I do. That means increased load during the day, which means increased storage requirements at night. We don’t have much reserve at night in most places, especially those dependent on renewables. Germany is learning this the hard way.
  • seanmcdirmid 5y ago
    Why would charging at night increase loads during the day? Given coal or nuclear, you can’t really ramp them down at night, and even hydro and gas (on demand), you still have to consider the grid’s finite capacity (overloading it during a hot summer during the day can cause fires).
    • tomcam 5y ago
      Agreed. Does Texas have a lot of coal and nuclear?
      • seanmcdirmid 5y ago
        20 and 10 percent respectively. Enough to create a decent surplus capacity for night time charging. Given Texas is a big believer in dynamic electricity rates based on supply and demand, you’d just need to check the night time rates.