Where will electric cars get electricity from ?

Question

Electric cars sounds like a good idea. I like the quick start option.

But ...

It sounds like too good to be true, it takes about 6-10 years to build a power plant. California is short for electricity for a long time already. So where is the extra capacity going to come from to use in electric cars ?

Answer 1

My Grandad lived on a farm when they didn't have electricity. They had what they called a wind charger and the wind did blow but the lead acid batteries required constant maintenance .
I also have experience on solar panels in the Ecuadorian jungle. It was decided we needed a microwave and mobile repeater on top of one of the mountains and it would be some time before we could get a road up there . Well it is cloudy and we calculated our solar panels at 20% sunlight. That part was good but after about a year of good operation a small tornado tore all the solar panels off and throed them off the top of the mountain. It takes a lot of panels to generate enough power for low wattage repeaters. To be of any value to a car u would need to pull a trailer the size of a 18 wheeler,and they would need to be tied down good. Then there is the weight of the heavy batteries,it takes something to move that.

Answer 2

First of all, fully electric cars don't work the same way as gas powered ones so don't compare them. Gas powered engines use the power generated by the ignition of the fuel to create motion and hence move. Electric cars directly use the electricity stored in their batteries to directly power the engine, much like any other electric motor (eg: anything around you that is plugged in and has some type of motion or force like a vacuum or surely has an electric motor). If you want to know how an electric motor works, that's a whole different and a lot more complicated question I'd be happy to answer if you put up. Hope this helps

Answer 3

Good question. But, to start with, recognize that twhatever we do,it will be agradual transition. Electric cars will be on the market before the end of the decade--but only a few thousand a year at first--and then build up volume over time. So there's time to build new power generating plants.

But there are other options than just large (traditional technology) power plants. To take one example, solar power (I'll use this because its the one I know best--but here are others: wind, tidal, geothermal,etc).

In California, more power is already needed--and soon. But solar power can supply (estimates) up to 30% of the demand--and even more of the peakdemand (that occurs when its hot and sunny--when solar is at its most efficient). That's a BIG chunk of the power requirements. And it has the advantage that it can be buildt quickly--installing solar panels takes days, not years--and as market demand builds (its already rising rapidly) the scale of new power generation rises with it. Point is, we get the power starting more or less immediately.

The real key is going to be developing an infrastructure that "caters" to electric cars the way our oil/gas/service station industry caters to gasoline powered cars now. And that will take time--but again, it will be years before we have enough electric cars to matter, so in a sense its a "self-correcting" problem. Someof this infrastructure is already under development. Here's one model of how some of that infrastructure might work in practice (and, for the sake of arguement, assume its all solar power, weather permitting):

You've left your car plugged in to recharge sunday afternoon after the family got pack from church. So, Monday morning, its at full charge. But--bad news--the traffic is a mess, so by the time you get to work, you're down to half charge. No problem. The owner of the parking deck (enterprising soul) has installed sollar arrays on the roof--and plug-ins (with meters to tote up the fees) for customers. You park--plug in your car--and its recharged long before you get off work. And the rest of the week works pretty much the same. It's not a 100% solar system--but 80% of your power at home--and from your car--comes from solar panels--and while paying for those home solar panels was a push a few years before, they've long since returned the investment in lower energy costs. Between that ant the savings on transportation (even the electricity you buy from the parking concession is cheaper than gas used to be)--you pay half for energy you did in 2007.

Granted, this may take 20 years--but that--or something similar--is the way things are headed. Almost makes you feel sorry for the oil companies. Almost! :)

Answer 4

When electricity is generated, unused capacity goes to waste. There is no storage facility for capturing this unused capacity.

Even in states where there is a shortage, there are peak and slow times. The waste would come at the slow times (usually evenings).
Most electric car charging would occur in the evenings so that the car is charged for day usage, and this wasted capacity would be tapped into.

Many electric cars also have the ability to recharge using solar power. While you won't get a full charge in this manner over the course of a day (while your car is parked in the work parking lot), it will aid in reducing the power that it requires from the grid.

The reality of the situation is that by the time that electric cars impact grid power availability, the plants will have been built. This will take more than 10 years.

Answer 5

in a perfect world the electricity would come from Solar, aero-electric and hydro-electric production. How ever currently much of it will come from dirt burners and nuclear power. The big tech to watch and the one that shows most promise is that of the Hydrogen Fuel Cell. The chemical conversion of hydrogen to electricity shows alot of promise and will be a viable product in 10-15 years. GM already has a platform for a new car (series of cars) that utilizes this technology. besides something that many people haven't thought of is turning a car into a mobile turbine that can recharge its own batteries as it runs... far fetched I know but theoretically possible.

Answer 6

Luckily for California, there are not many electric cars running at this time. If electric cars catch on, they will have to build more power plants or buy extra electricity from other power plants in the region to power a lot of electric cars. Alternatively, homes could use solar power panels on their roofs to provide more electricity and use batteries to store it until the car could be recharged.