EV Sales Leave Chargers Playing Catchup

[UncleDave]

Interesting graphic. I’d like to know how much of that generation comes from outside California?

It's listed under imports. Current -5MW so exporting outside the state.

https://www.caiso.com/TodaysOutlook/Pages/supply.html#section-imports-trend

 

[simple_gifts]

That's the free market, right? I mean since we don't want to spend government dollars subsidizing electric car adoption.

Right, gov't subsidized the demand for microchips in the early days and we know what a dud those were......

 

[Trav]

Your power outages due to storms happened before widespread EV adoption so that was completely unrelated to grid being overloaded and more with power infrastructure being affected by natural forces. Not sure how this applies.

Correct. Now add a bunch of EV's into the mix. Ev vehicles are a pipe dream, without people being forced by phoney regulations, browbeaten, incentivised, threatened and conned most people really do not want one.

 

[JeffKeryk]

Speaking of subsidies that we love to hate, here's Bloomberg's fossil fuel numbers:

 

[PandaBear]

The theoretical simplicity has not always equated to improved real-world reliability - just look at CVT's, for instance. As a group, worse than your traditional stepped gear automatic.

As for ECM's (and modules), it really varies. The Japanese have been very good - domestics/euro, not so much; those still get replaced very regularly.

It is all about the implementation. Prius being both electrical and gasoline inside, being the most reliable vehicle produced, means it is all about how you build it.

Worst reliability? High end European gasoline vehicle, as well as some exotic EV like Nissan Leaf (ok it is durability of the battery due to poor cooling design), and Nissan vehicles with CVT (Juke? Cube? Rogue? I forgot which one).

 

[PandaBear]

You mean like some areas of CA where when too many people run their AC there are rolling brown outs and black outs?
3" of heavy wet snow will and has taken my power down for a whole day in the middle of winter, an ice storm took it out for 18-24 days, thankfully a large automatic generator saves me but not everyone can afford such a machine or they live in an apartment/condo.
The grid here is very unreliable, the electricity expensive at 37c kWh, you cant tie peoples transportation into this Mickey Mouse crap.

This used to be the case before massive solar adoption, the rolling blackout used to happen from 1pm to 7pm. Now with the massive solar adoption it is the cloudy spring time they have problem with the grid being oversupplied with solar and have to fire up the gas plant to ramp up for the duck curve. The current summer problem is now around 4pm to 9pm. Rooftop solar + AC is actually something I endorse, but it is all about $ in the end. I wouldn't recommend heat pump to replace gas furnace though, electricity is still 5x the cost of gas and it is not 5x more efficient. I'd still burn fire for heat from gas instead.

One thing about EV is work place charging happens usually before 4pm and can soak up solar output to charge the EV. Gasoline is also not always priced reliably. Refinery fire happens once in a while and summer/winter blend switch also cause price to go up, along with the usual wars, storm in the Golf of Mexico, etc. The biggest problem with electricity is still the wild fire during dry season. All it take is some wind and PG&E will shutdown some powerline and rural people would go dark for a few days. I wouldn't recommend living in rural without some sort of backup, at least one gasoline car in the family and don't rely on all EV is my recommendation.

I'm not sure about the Southern California but in Bay Area we also have "spare the air" day because of smog, and we were told not to burn wood because the air is too polluted, and we were discouraged to drive if possible. So yeah, pick your poison.

 

[demarpaint]

This used to be the case before massive solar adoption, the rolling blackout used to happen from 1pm to 7pm. Now with the massive solar adoption it is the cloudy spring time they have problem with the grid being oversupplied with solar and have to fire up the gas plant to ramp up for the duck curve. The current summer problem is now around 4pm to 9pm. Rooftop solar + AC is actually something I endorse, but it is all about $ in the end. I wouldn't recommend heat pump to replace gas furnace though, electricity is still 5x the cost of gas and it is not 5x more efficient. I'd still burn fire for heat from gas instead.

One thing about EV is work place charging happens usually before 4pm and can soak up solar output to charge the EV. Gasoline is also not always priced reliably. Refinery fire happens once in a while and summer/winter blend switch also cause price to go up, along with the usual wars, storm in the Golf of Mexico, etc. The biggest problem with electricity is still the wild fire during dry season. All it take is some wind and PG&E will shutdown some powerline and rural people would go dark for a few days. I wouldn't recommend living in rural without some sort of backup, at least one gasoline car in the family and don't rely on all EV is my recommendation.

I'm not sure about the Southern California but in Bay Area we also have "spare the air" day because of smog, and we were told not to burn wood because the air is too polluted, and we were discouraged to drive if possible. So yeah, pick your poison.

Interesting. Don't worry about fire for heat, if the powers that be get their way you'll be heating, cooling, cooking, barbecuing, driving, you name it all by electric. Supplied by a flawed antiquated grid. Light a fireplace, BBQ, or a wood stove, my bet is people will be getting fined for that in the not so distant future. Clean and green. LOL The transition has to be smooth, and well thought out. IMO it is everything but that as it stands now. @Trav nailed it, it's currently a pipe dream.

 

[Surestick]

Interesting. Don't worry about fire for heat, if the powers that be get their way you'll be heating, cooling, cooking, barbecuing, driving, you name it all by electric. Supplied by a flawed antiquated grid. Light a fireplace, BBQ, or a wood stove, my bet is people will be getting fined for that in the not so distant future. Clean and green. LOL The transition has to be smooth, and well thought out. IMO it is everything but that as it stands now. @Trav nailed it, it's currently a pipe dream.

I feel like the problem isn't the "powers that be" "forcing" everyone to electricity as a source of energy, it's the "powers that be" not doing something about the antiquated grid.

People want clean energy, transport, etc. they just don't want to (or can't afford to) pay for them so raising taxes or energy rates to pay for upgrades is a non-starter politically.