Electric Cars Won't Strain the Power Grid 438
thecarchik writes "Last week's heat wave prompted another eruption of that perennial question: Won't electric cars that recharge from grid power overload the nation's electricity system? The short answer is no. A comprehensive and wide-ranging two-volume study from 2007, Environmental Assessment of Plug-In Hybrid Vehicles, looked at the impact of plug-in vehicles on the US electrical grid. It also analyzed the 'wells-to-wheels' carbon emissions of plug-ins versus gasoline cars. The load of one plug-in recharging (about 2 kilowatts) is roughly the same as that of four or five plasma television sets. Plasma TVs hardly brought worries about grid crashes."
What if... (Score:5, Funny)
Yeah, uhuh, that's logic (Score:3, Funny)
TV's weren't a problem. So 5 times as many won't either.
Why are people so short-sighted. If you're running out of power now, needing way more won't help.
That said, as I said before, capitalist societies solve enormous problems quickly, and don't big problems at all.
Re:Is this future tense? (Score:2, Funny)
Re:This sort of thing can only be good for wind/so (Score:5, Funny)
What a great idea. And they could market it under a clever name like "time-of-use" [google.com]or something equally catchy.
Better comparison please (Score:5, Funny)
The load of one plug-in recharging (about 2 kilowatts) is roughly the same as that of four or five plasma television sets.
Sorry, I don't understand this idea of power rated by plasma TVs. Could you please give that in terms of the number of slow cookers required to have the same draw as one EV charge?
Re:No problem, long as they charge at night (Score:4, Funny)
With a long extension cord, it's already a perk.
Re:No problem, long as they charge at night (Score:3, Funny)
You need a flywheel the size of the Library of Congress to do any grid scale peak power. Flywheels work best in data center UPS applications, replacing a room full of batteries.
finally an analogy we can ALL understand...