Living in an electric world

Photo: onenewsnow.com

We Cannot Reduce Strain On The Grid And Convert To Electric Vehicles

It is not possible to have our cake and eat it, yet the conflict between consuming less power and turning everything electric is fascinating. 

In taking a look at what it takes to charge an electric vehicle, I found research suggesting a standard Tesla model S requires approximately 130kwh (kilo watt hours) to charge from empty to full.

That is roughly equivalent to boiling water constantly in your kitchen kettle for 130 hours or three working weeks.

To supply this kind of energy more quickly requires a much larger supply that is not already available in many instances. 

Fast forward to a world where we are expected to have electric cars, electric planes, electric boats, electric trains, electric trucks, electric bikes and anything else you can think of electric and I foresee a massive problem. 

The infrastructure upgrades required to complete this forecast task is massive and the power required to “fast charge” a Boeing 777 (electric equivalent) will knock your socks off and make your hair stand on end at the same time.

I don’t get it when the push for these changes are coming from people wanting to “save the planet.” It seems we are being a little shortsighted or we are willing to travel through a landscape proliferated by nuclear power plants. 

Whatever the future holds, I did get a chuckle from seeing a Facebook post by a prominent member of the Green Party showing numbers for how his solar system at his house is giving more back to the grid than it is taking from it.

His suggestion was that we should all change to solar to reduce the strain on the grid.

You see, you can’t have your cake and eat it.

This article is written by or on behalf of an outsourced columnist and does not necessarily reflect the views of Castanet.