EV's... Rolling Blackouts in 115 F. Heat

[HenryMac]

So this will all get better as more and more folks plug in their new electric vehicles... right? Infrastructure, you know it's a top priority.. right?

California Residents Urged to Conserve Power Amid Heat Wave

I know a guy who lives in Arizona. He said it was 115 F yesterday. Probably a few of you folks here stewing in your own juices from that too.

What happens when your electricity goes out and the air conditioning in your house therefore won't run... and neither will the air conditioning in your car / truck because your car is electric too?

There's an old adage about having all your eggs in one basket that applies here...

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[cfhgarza]

Why would the cars air not work?. It has its own battery pack.

Generally you charge over night during non-peak hours. You could technically use the EV battery as a backup for the house so you wouldn't be effected by the rolling blackouts.

 

[AzScorpion]

It's been 115+ here for the past 5 days which was a record for this time of year. Last year we broke every record on the books with 53 days of 110+ degree days! These rolling blackout happened last summer in CA too so it's no surprise they're happening again. I'm all for it over time but our whole grid is archaic and needs a severe update to be able to withstand EV powered vehicles. IIRC CA wants to be fully green and EV by 2030? It's nice in theory but I think it'll take a lot longer than that for such a large state that's so mismanaged.

 

[HenryMac]

Why would the cars air not work?. It has its own battery pack.

Generally you charge over night during non-peak hours. You could technically use the EV battery as a backup for the house so you wouldn't be effected by the rolling blackouts.

The point is... your gasoline powered car has the ability to run the air conditioning for many more hours than your electric car would.

 

[Trigganometry]

It’s so hot in Arizona…

 

[Dahveed]

The point is... your gasoline powered car has the ability to run the air conditioning for many more hours than your electric car would.

While that may be true, the whole point is to be able to do so without polluting.

It's been proven many times over that over the life of the vehicle an EV is cleaner than a ICE even if that electricity comes from less-than-clean generation methods.

Like it (or believe it) or not, we've fucked this planet up. Probably beyond repair at this point.

 

[dtech]

It's been 115+ here for the past 5 days which was a record for this time of year. Last year we broke every record on the books with 53 days of 110+ degree days! These rolling blackout happened last summer in CA too so it's no surprise they're happening again. I'm all for it over time but our whole grid is archaic and needs a severe update to be able to withstand EV powered vehicles. IIRC CA wants to be fully green and EV by 2030? It's nice in theory but I think it'll take a lot longer than that for such a large state that's so mismanaged.

https://www.cnn.com/2021/06/08/weather/hoover-dam-lake-mead-water-level-drought/index.html

it's going to impact electrical generation at Hoover Dam as energy consumption continues to rise in the Southwest. Get used to more rolling blackouts.

 

[AzScorpion]

https://www.cnn.com/2021/06/08/weather/hoover-dam-lake-mead-water-level-drought/index.html

it's going to impact electrical generation at Hoover Dam as energy consumption continues to rise in the Southwest. Get used to more rolling blackouts.

We've never had them here...yet. But we do get our power from the Palo Verde Nuclear plant.

 

[CB750F]

While that may be true, the whole point is to be able to do so without polluting.

It's been proven many times over that over the life of the vehicle an EV is cleaner than a ICE even if that electricity comes from less-than-clean generation methods.

Like it (or believe it) or not, we've fucked this planet up. Probably beyond repair at this point.

I hate to say this but the planet is fine, a little speed bump, maybe, but were not.
Mother nature will wipe us clean & some other being will take our place in a
few 100 thousand yrs.

 

[Langwilliams]

people that swear the current technology for green energy/vehicles is saving the planet never factor in the enormous mining effort to get all the minerals in those battery packs an control circuits an the toxic waste when their life cycle ends. Solar might be ok in AZ an CA since the largest demand is during the summer when the days are the longests...but here in OH the demand for heat in the winter is high an the sun only shines for about 4 hours a month.

Technology is improving but isn't where it needs to be for a mass change over. I'm not aware of any charging stations on the free way on the route I take to visit family out of state. I don't look for them but I also don't see them advertised.

 

[DeathRanger]

Yes, their will be issues ahead for electric vehicles and their mass adoption.
Battery recycling will be huge and needed, and is in the works, to recover the useful materials from a battery. Technology is improving to not require precious minerals. Old batteries are extremely useful in lots of situations for years after they are no longer effective in a vehicle.

Electricity can be generated in numerous ways at a local level.
Oil will always come out of the ground from other countries.

Getting oil requires enormous drilling, mining and shipping effort to get a liquid out of the ground, then refine it into a useful liquid, so it can be burned up in an internal combustion engine while spewing toxic fumes into the air. Literally anything is better than this.

 

[egilbe]

Yes, their will be issues ahead for electric vehicles and their mass adoption.
Battery recycling will be huge and needed, and is in the works, to recover the useful materials from a battery. Technology is improving to not require precious minerals. Old batteries are extremely useful in lots of situations for years after they are no longer effective in a vehicle.

Electricity can be generated in numerous ways at a local level.
Oil will always come out of the ground from other countries.

Getting oil requires enormous drilling, mining and shipping effort to get a liquid out of the ground, then refine it into a useful liquid, so it can be burned up in an internal combustion engine while spewing toxic fumes into the air. Literally anything is better than this.

you mean like burning coal and oil to power electric generation plants that feed the grid with inefficient AC that needs to be converted to DC to power your "green" vehicle? Yeah, that sounds better.

For the record, the US is a net exporter of petroleum products. Over 50% of the oil in this country to sold to other countries.

 

[mtbikernate]

I won't really even consider solar on my house unless it's wired this way:

solar feeds into a battery system. battery system powers the house. when batteries are topped up, power from the panels feeds into the grid. batteries will also charge from the grid if solar isn't sufficient. a system like this could also take a micro wind turbine to supplement the solar (wind howls up my valley at times and could really generate some power, and this tends to be in the wintertime when the panels would be generating less, so net positive for me).

I can't get a straight answer from any of the solar companies about whether wiring the system this way will work with any of the incentives from the power company. my neighbors have solar, but no battery, and their panels actually just feed straight into the grid. their house actually isn't powered by them. sure, it lowers their bills, but those panels do nothing for them if the power goes out.

with something like this, I'd totally charge an EV and put a minimal demand on the system.

 

[CB750F]

Things are moving at a good speed.
How many gas stations were around when the Model T came out?
Recycling the batteries is here, a company can now recycle 95%
back to something like 95% pure original material. You will be able
to charge your vehicle in less then 15 mins. Yes. the grid is a problem now
but it can be fixed. yes, we will use gas/coal/oil for now & pollute
to charge our vehicles but this will pass too, I hope.
We need oil/coal/gas, that will never stop but if it can be reduced, I'm
all for it.

https://www.greencarcongress.com/2021/06/20210611-atlis.html

Found the site for the recycling,
https://www.lithionrecycling.com/

 

[egilbe]

I won't really even consider solar on my house unless it's wired this way:

solar feeds into a battery system. battery system powers the house. when batteries are topped up, power from the panels feeds into the grid. batteries will also charge from the grid if solar isn't sufficient. a system like this could also take a micro wind turbine to supplement the solar (wind howls up my valley at times and could really generate some power, and this tends to be in the wintertime when the panels would be generating less, so net positive for me).

I can't get a straight answer from any of the solar companies about whether wiring the system this way will work with any of the incentives from the power company. my neighbors have solar, but no battery, and their panels actually just feed straight into the grid. their house actually isn't powered by them. sure, it lowers their bills, but those panels do nothing for them if the power goes out.

with something like this, I'd totally charge an EV and put a minimal demand on the system.

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