a bit of EV scepticism??

[oil pan 4]

$50 hot water heater timer.
Problem solved.

[NeilBlanchard]

Almost every EV and/or EVSE has a way to time when the car gets charged.

[cowmeat]

I set up the charging schedule on my Volt right after I got it, and since then I just plug it in as soon as I get home and walk away. The car knows when I'm going to leave in the morning from the schedule I set up, and it starts to charge it late in the evening so that the battery is fully charged and warmed up when I get ready to leave the next day.
I assume every EV out there does this.

The downside is that as EVs become more mainstream we will eventually lose the super-low rates we currently see from charging during the off-peak hours overnight. The more cars charging at night, the more the overnight demand will rise on the grid, and that will directly affect the cost of charging at night

[jamesqf]

Originally Posted by oil pan 4

$50 hot water heater timer.
Problem solved.

Solar hot water heater on roof, power goes to cars instead.

Smart car-charging network, that talks to grid and charges when there's surplus power (cheap) if you don't need the car until morning.

[seifrob]

Viewed from perspective of an average in-block-of-flat living European I shall correct it: $50 timer and 300 meters of extension cord. Our cars do not live with us. They usually stay in parking lots (or everywhere else possible). As said, major infrastructure changes are needed.

[Xist]

Wait, so pipe hot water and use it to heat your roof?

[redpoint5]

Originally Posted by cowmeat

The downside is that as EVs become more mainstream we will eventually lose the super-low rates we currently see from charging during the off-peak hours overnight. The more cars charging at night, the more the overnight demand will rise on the grid, and that will directly affect the cost of charging at night

That's probably not accurate, or at least only a temporary problem.

Primary generators are cheap to run, which is why off-peak energy is so cheap. There will always be an off-peak, since by definition it's the low demand part of the day. If demand rises for off-peak energy, primary generating capacity will be expanded.

Peaking generators are more expensive to run, and this is why peak rates are higher than off-peak. It wouldn't make sense to always be using peaking generators to supply off-peak energy.

There was a pilot test done in SF where EV owners installed an app on their phone. Through the app, the utility could ask the customer if they were willing to delay charging during peak demand.

It would be relatively simple to develop a system where consumers input charging parameters relating to how much time they need to charge a vehicle, and what hours it will be connected to the grid. The utility could then balance the demand by scheduling charging to both meet the needs of the customer, and place a steady draw on the grid. The customer could override the utility if needed, but there would be incentives to participate, such as lower energy rates.

If anything, EVs should help balance grid consumption which would reduce production costs.

[thingstodo]

Originally Posted by NeilBlanchard

Extracting oil and transporting it, and refining gasoline - takes a lot of electricity.

Yes. It's hard to get good numbers.

But it is a substantial amount of electricity

[roflwaffle]

Originally Posted by thingstodo

Yes. It's hard to get good numbers.

But it is a substantial amount of electricity

It's way more natural gas than electricity, but the idea's the same. We can use the natural gas to extract/refine petroleum, or we can use it to generate electricity.

[Xist]

How much natural gas needs to be burned to power the conversion to gasoline?