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The major benefit of electric cars will come when a proper smart grid environment exists. The biggest problem with many renewables is their inconstant nature -
by timthorn 14y ago
The major benefit of electric cars will come when a proper smart grid environment exists. The biggest problem with many renewables is their inconstant nature - windfarms will produce electricity when the wind is blowing, which might not be when the power is actually needed.
EVs provide a mechanism to store that excess power generated; cars can know to recharge their batteries faster when more power is available to the grid.
- notdonspaulding 14y agoWhile it's true that a smart grid environment could provide additional benefits, the major benefit of electric cars is, and will continue to be, the increased energy efficiency on a personal level. The biggest problem with renewables is that they're less convenient. Gas is an extremely convenient energy storage mechanism. You put it in a tank, and it stays in a more or less usable state for decades. We don't have usable batteries that do that yet (Edison NiFe batteries notwithstanding).