3 ms·

Not true at all. You can charge an EV at 5miles/hr on a standard 15A circuit, the same amount of power drawn by a hair dryer. You can generate that much power f

Not true at all. You can charge an EV at 5miles/hr on a standard 15A circuit, the same amount of power drawn by a hair dryer. You can generate that much power from 4 or 5 solar panels. 5 panels per EV deployed near where the EV charges will unburden the edges of power grid and not force any upgrades in the feed lines. High power charging stations are another matter, but the grid is sized for peak load, with a bit of coordination I don't see those being much of an issue either.

theshrike79 4y ago
Panels + a few hundred kWh of batteries for chargers might even turn a profit even if no cars ever charge there. Charge the batteries when electricity is the cheapest, sell it back during peak load.
- sitkack 4y ago
  I have been thinking of this, a 3kw roof top solar kit should be included with the purchase of a new EV, even make the EV rebate/discount contingent on installing roof solar if you can. OR ... if your believer in the market, purchase a roof solar installation credit from someone else within X kilometers of your address. The goal would be to offset the load on the grid with edge solar, so that EVs are net positive on grid load.
bilsbie 4y ago
How come no one is selling something like a 5 panel slow EV charger?
Fatnino 4y ago
That's 60 miles of charge a day. And this isn't counting the losses sustained to charging range while the car is being used for actual work. 60 miles is bare minimum daily range for many folks.
- theshrike79 4y ago
  And also 60 miles is perfectly enough for many folks. If that's not enough, you can get a 240V connection for double the charging power.
- thrill 4y ago
  The average US driver does 40 miles per day. https://www.kbb.com/car-advice/average-miles-driven-per-year/ https://www.kbb.com/car-advice/average-miles-driven-per-year...
  - Fatnino 4y ago
    That number is garbage because it comes from miles driven per year. Most of the week I barely drive my car 10 miles total. And then on the weekend I drive 140 miles one way and back the same day. So while this use case just barely fits with this charging plan (assuming the car battery has the capacity to hold that much), if I just had to commute to work every weekday my weekend plans would be shot.
Xylakant 4y ago
The problem is more that the power grids were built under some assumption of average use per household. In germany, numbers of about 2kw/hour on average have been mentioned lately (two hair dryers). Adding significant sustained load to that upsets that calculation, and electric cars as well as switching to primarily electric heating (heat pumps) will require substantial investment into that infrastructure.

theshrike79 4y ago

Panels + a few hundred kWh of batteries for chargers might even turn a profit even if no cars ever charge there. Charge the batteries when electricity is the cheapest, sell it back during peak load.

sitkack 4y ago
I have been thinking of this, a 3kw roof top solar kit should be included with the purchase of a new EV, even make the EV rebate/discount contingent on installing roof solar if you can. OR ... if your believer in the market, purchase a roof solar installation credit from someone else within X kilometers of your address. The goal would be to offset the load on the grid with edge solar, so that EVs are net positive on grid load.

bilsbie 4y ago

How come no one is selling something like a 5 panel slow EV charger?

Fatnino 4y ago

That's 60 miles of charge a day. And this isn't counting the losses sustained to charging range while the car is being used for actual work. 60 miles is bare minimum daily range for many folks.

theshrike79 4y ago
And also 60 miles is perfectly enough for many folks. If that's not enough, you can get a 240V connection for double the charging power.
thrill 4y ago
The average US driver does 40 miles per day. https://www.kbb.com/car-advice/average-miles-driven-per-year/ https://www.kbb.com/car-advice/average-miles-driven-per-year...
- Fatnino 4y ago
  That number is garbage because it comes from miles driven per year. Most of the week I barely drive my car 10 miles total. And then on the weekend I drive 140 miles one way and back the same day. So while this use case just barely fits with this charging plan (assuming the car battery has the capacity to hold that much), if I just had to commute to work every weekday my weekend plans would be shot.

Xylakant 4y ago

The problem is more that the power grids were built under some assumption of average use per household. In germany, numbers of about 2kw/hour on average have been mentioned lately (two hair dryers). Adding significant sustained load to that upsets that calculation, and electric cars as well as switching to primarily electric heating (heat pumps) will require substantial investment into that infrastructure.