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| The Electric Vehicle Future: Where is all the power going to come from? |
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| Dundarave:
Possibly I’m a complete idiot, but according to U.S. stats, in 2018 the United States alone used an average of about 391.40 million gallons of refined gasoline (or 9.32 million barrels) per day (https://www.eia.gov/tools/faqs/faq.php?id=23&t=10) According to Wikipedia, 33.7 kilowatt hours of electricity is equivalent to one gallon of gasoline, so the daily equivalent in gas would be 391.4 million x 33.7 kWh = 13,190 million kWh. That’s many millions of new kWh per day that would be needed to replace all the gas-powered vehicles with electric vehicles. Even if we take into consideration that gasoline is only 20% efficient in car engines, and we assume electricity in cars is 100% efficient (which it is not), that’s still 2,638 million kWh PER DAY of new electrical generation needed to replace gasoline. Even at 10% electric vehicle penetration, that’s 263.8 million kWh per day of new generation capacity needed according to my calculations. And this is just the U.S. alone (since the stats were easily available), let alone the rest of the world. I haven’t heard of any plans from any governments anywhere about building new capacity for electrical power to replace the energy currently supplied by automobile gasoline, except a few wind generator farms and solar power road experiments (lol). Am I missing something completely? What's going to happen to a nation's electrical demand when the adoption of electric vehicles gets beyond the novelty stage? |
| BravoV:
--- Quote from: Dundarave on February 14, 2020, 01:34:43 am ---.... Even at 10% electric vehicle penetration, that’s 263.8 million kWh per day of new generation capacity needed according to my calculations. --- End quote --- https://www.power-technology.com/features/the-worlds-biggest-solar-power-plants/ The ten largest solar power plants in the world Tengger Desert Solar Park, China – 1,547MW Sweihan Photovoltaic Independent Power Project, UAE – 1,177MW Yanchi Ningxia Solar Park, China – 1,000MW Datong Solar Power Top Runner Base, China – 1,070MW Kurnool Ultra Mega Solar Park, India – 1,000MW Longyangxia Dam Solar Park, China – 850MW Enel Villanueva PV Plant, Mexico – 828MW Kamuthi Solar Power Station, India – 648MW Solar Star Projects, US – 579MW Topaz Solar Farm / Desert Sunlight Solar Farm, US – 550MW Example of 850 megawatts one. |
| maginnovision:
--- Quote ---The Palo Verde nuclear power plant in Arizona is the largest nuclear power plant in the United States with three reactors and a total net summer electricity generating capacity of about 3,937 MW. --- End quote --- |
| edy:
A lot of gas is spent idling in traffic. Ideally the efficiency of an electric will mean little to no electricity usage when standing still. Regenerative breaking should help also provide a bit of boost. Most of the energy will go directly into movement and not lost as heat or just keeping the engine idling. Still it is a lot of electricity but better than burning fossil fuels... it should come from clean energy as much as possible (hydroelectric, wind and solar would be most ideal). Also one thing we need to change drastically is the size of vehicles and materials used. Smaller cars, lighter materials. A lot of waste in single-occupancy vehicles going to and from work. As much as carpooling helps, most people will still be lone drivers. Yes I know safety and all... but something the size of a smart car for daily commuting and cheap as possible so many people can afford to have one. Then have a larger sedan or mini SUV for family trips. Then there's Twike: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twike It is going to take more than just electric cars... we need to solve congestion and parking issues as well, perhaps graduated working schedule start and end times, more telecommuting, changing urban sprawl and development. The future needs better planning and modifying our behaviours. |
| digsys:
"At the upper reaches of our atmosphere, the energy density of solar radiation is approximately 1,368 W/m2 (watts per square meter). At the Earth's surface, the energy density is reduced to approximately 1,000 W/m2 for a surface perpendicular to the Sun's rays at sea level on a clear day." The future is up to you :-) |
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