The Oil Drum

Dont get me wrong i entirely agree that plug in hybrid and electric vehicles powered by renewable power is the way to go. I disagree that as the as these vehicles come on to the market that electric generation capacity will be ridiculously overstrained. The vast majority of vehicles will be recharged overnight, a time when power demands are much lower than daytime when A/C etc. is all going. Thermal power plants (eg coal and gas) cant just turn an and off at the blink of an eye. So currently large amounts of potential electricity are wasted at night keeping plants warm for peak demand, This is called spinning reserve. As a result introduction of electric vehicle charging at night could significantly increase plant efficiency without leading to many capacity problems.

Longer term, introduction of centralized AND distributed renewable generation will provide the power. One of the "problems" often cited with renawable power is intermittency, seems to me charging EV and PHEV vehicles is a bloody effective way to store this energy when its available without touching peak demand.

Rob Melbourne Australia