That's a good point.
Charging EVs presents a new load to the power grid.
... The vast majority of electric vehicle owners currently charge their cars at home at night. However, a new study finds this might gravely burden the grid as more EVs hit the road. Instead, a much better strategy in the future is a greater emphasis on daytime charging, scientists say.
The number of electric passenger cars, delivery vans and other light-duty vehicles may reach more than 300 million worldwide by 2035, an order of magnitude increase when compared to 2021, according to energy market analyst firm Bloomberg New Energy Finance. In California alone, cumulative sales of EVs reached 1 million in February, accounting for about 6 percent of the state's cars and light trucks.
The drive toward EVs and renewable energy is ultimately designed to lower fossil fuel use and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. However, the campaigns pushing both these shifts are largely uncoordinated. In the new study, researchers examined what effects of growing EV ownership might have in the long term on power grids based more and more on renewable energy.
California plans for 50 percent or 24 million of its light-duty vehicles to be electric by 2035. The scientists investigated the effects this might have on the whole U.S. portion of the Western Interconnection grid, which covers 11 states with more than 75 million people, because California depends heavily on electricity imports from the other western states. Their models included an increase in solar and wind generation 3.5 times and 3 times 2019 levels, respectively.
Currently, more than 80 percent of electric vehicle charging, and as much as 93 percent, takes place at home, mostly in the evening, according to the National Renewable Energy Lab in Golden, Colo. The researchers found this strategy could increase peak electricity demand by up to 25 percent if half of all cars are electric by 2035, and by 50 percent if all vehicles go electric. ...
