California’s study suggests that the most potent and simplest tool to smoothly integrate electric vehicles is controlling when they charge. A 2012 study by the Imperial College of London, for example, suggests that energy storage, including electric vehicles, can reduce curtailment of renewables by more than half. Without an additional local source of energy consumption, utilities can "curtail," or effectively shut off, clean power production from local solar arrays. The study’s authors modeled a scenario where 10% to 30% of Oahu vehicles were electric, and predicted an 18% to 46% reduction in curtailed generation when vehicle charging was controlled to match local power production. Many states encourage the installation of solar energy generation and even microgrids, miniature versions of the electric grid that can operate when the larger grid goes dark. However, smart inverters for solar arrays can automatically turn off power production when the grid goes dark. Although there are many potential solutions (the linked report from the Regulatory Assistance Project is particularly thorough), electric vehicles can help smooth the curve. Eventually, these batteries need to be disposed of, and though these folks are under the dubious impression that driving electric vehicles is saving the earth, they're really just shifting the problem from dependency on petroleum to dependency on highly toxic, not-easily-disposable batteries.
These stations also would need to install pumps for natural gas, in addition to those for gasoline. We’ve got plenty of food to get us through the weekend, we can wait until Monday or Tuesday to restock; some people need the supermarkets’ dwindling supplies much more than we do. So their environmental benefit-dubious for now, until more power plants get off coal-is not very worrisome. So don't think "golf cart"; these cars have power and pick-up. A 2011 study from the Pacific Northwest National Laboratories found that if one in eight cars were electric, the additional storage capacity would allow the Northwest grid to handle 12% more wind energy. A 240-volt Level 2 charger with a capacity as high as 6.6 kilowatts per car significantly reduces the number of vehicles needed (as few as 27) to join the market. If a community is served by a distribution line with a maximum capacity of 1 megawatt and it’s running near that limit, the utility may consider an expensive hardware upgrade. As noted above, electric vehicles may also offer a resiliency benefit to existing "microgrids" - homes. May 02, 2022 ·
While many residents in some places, such as Cape Cod, take a NIMBY (Not In My Backyard) view of wind farms, the opposite is true in much of the rest of the country-including the ranch country that extends from Texas north through the Dakotas. While the California calculation includes the federal tax credit, the benefits are expected to persist even when that incentive expires because of falling electric vehicle and battery costs. By harnessing the federal electric vehicle tax credit alone, participants brought $1.8 million into the local economy - a huge gain, considering Boulder County estimated the program required just 165 hours of staff time and $650 in out-of-pocket expenses. State pollution regulators want to finance more electric school buses, among other things, with part of the $47 million Minnesota will receive from the federal Volkswagen settlement. The 50,000 megawatt-hour gap between daytime and nighttime demand could accommodate over 7.5 million electric vehicles on Level 2 (240-volt) chargers without building a single new power plant.
The following chart, from the Rocky Mountain Institute, shows how optimized electric vehicle charging increases daytime electricity demand by over 200 megawatts (nearly 14% of peak demand) in Hawaii, allowing for more solar production. An August heat wave in Texas, for example, sent hourly electricity prices on the grid well over $1 per kilowatt hour on several occasions, more than ten times the usual price. Electric vehicles represent a new source of electricity demand that can absorb this excess production. Which one is best remains a source of disagreement. On one hand, that’s great news for utilities. 1 most loved electric vehicle, solar energy, and battery news & analysis site in the world. The Hybrid Battery Cost mn is then disassembled and subject to a complete reconditioning process. And then there’s the driving. Daimler Trucks, the parent of Freightliner, plans to have its electric 18-wheeler in production in 2021. Its homepage proclaims: "The road to emissions-free driving is going to be driven with battery electric vehicles." How fast that plays out in Minnesota is up to Minnesotans, said MnDOT’s Sexton: "There’s all these choices that we have to make." Jennifer Bjorhus is a reporter covering the environment for the Star Tribune.