Can The Grid Handle Electric Cars?
Electric cars are gaining traction, but can our power grids handle the surge?
My latest video dives into the surprising challenges of large-scale electromobility. We'll explore the massive infrastructure upgrades needed, the workforce training required, and see why the switch to electric vehicles might be even more complex than the Apollo missions!
If you're curious about the future of transportation and a sustainable future, this video is a must-watch.
If you would prefer to read about it instead, there is a transcript below the video.
Can The Grid Handle Electric Cars? - Video Transcript
Will we be ready for electromobility on the large scale?
Towards the end of this video, I will present a number of surprising conclusions.
Yes! Power grids can handle the number of electric vehicles, but expanding electric vehicle systems will be a complex issue. Neither power generation, nor power grids have the capacity to supply all electric vehicles with the power they will need.
In the EU and the UK, all cars will need 800 terawatt hours of electricity every year, which amounts to 25% of the present power produced in Europe. This is the power generated by 75 nuclear reactors, or 240,000 wind turbines.
The expansion of infrastructure needs to start immediately, but projects can't be ready by 2035.
Elon Musk has said that to change all vehicles in the United States to electric, power generation will need to double and investments will be needed in all parts of power grids. American drivers drive twice as far every year as European drivers do, and in the US, 4000 terawatt hours are generated at present, which amounts to the generation of 360 nuclear reactors or 1.2 million wind turbines.
Governments will need to develop strategies for infrastructure expansion. To do this, electromobility strategists and architects will be needed, roles that virtually do not exist at present.
The inevitable conclusion is that countries will not be able to expand infrastructure rapidly enough to facilitate to ban the sales of new fossil fuel cars from 2035.
Large scale training programs will be needed and hundreds of thousands of people will need to take part in the change.
400,000 Americans were involved in the Apollo program for nine years. The present change will be more complex and of a larger scale than the Apollo program.
Government agencies like NASA will be needed to coordinate the different activities that will be necessary to reach the goal.
My goal is to help as many people as possible understand the change to electromobility and the sustainable future.