Californians were told Wednesday not to charge their electric vehicles during peak hours, just days after the state said it would stop selling gas-powered cars, as the aging electricity grid struggles with a fearsome heatwave.
If only there were some non=grid manner of being able to fuel up transport…..
Build electric cars with diesel generators in the back.
Simple, really.
If your EV runs out of battery, just use your private jet, geez.
There are reports that if the price rises in electricity keep on going as they are, that the cost of charging a EV car will be more expensive that fuelling a diesel car.
SBML, a simple pricing action will fix that. They’ll put up the price of diesel.
So the great milk float mis-selling scandal looks like it will arrive a few years earlier than expected.
Popcorn time!
There’s not enough popcorn in the world, Mark.
Everybody with electric cars must not charge them at the same time as everybody with electric cars.. So, who’s going to volunteer to charge them at 8am lunchtime in order to go to work at 2pm?
The entire Civil Service, jgh. And they’ll be claiming the working-from-home recharging allowance.
39 million petrol/diesel road vehicles, 25 million homes heated by gas/oil. Where is the juice going to come from?
OH NO! We’ve reached Peak Popcorn!
@JuliaM
Bloody Putin no doubt!
Yarp. Here in Blighty, my fellow EV drivers have suddenly stopped being extremely obnoxious about ICE drivers now that electricity costs are headed way above petrol and diesel prices. Until recently it was very common for them to smugpost memes about the cost of fuel and how dirty and backwards petrol stations are.
I think a lot of people – and by that, I mean the majority of the population earning under ~£100k – are going to severely restrict their travels for the foreseeable, because even if you do own the most fuel efficient car in the world, petrol is still dear and you still have to pay your rocketing electricity bills for the house.
The second order effects (dearieme, is this an inflection point?) of this contraction in discretionary spending will hit the economy like a second piano falling on its head very shortly after the first. We’re looking at the British High Street – which wasn’t exactly healthy to begin with – simply dying in real time, faced with the double whammy of rising costs and falling sales. The more traditionally expensive retailers – thinking of you, Marks & Sparks – may simply go bust as middle class customers flock to Lidl and Primark.
Dunno if this will be enough to derail the boom in EV sales we’ve seen this year (moderated by chronic supply chain issues), but it probably will – you’d be daft to buy a new car in the current economy. You’d be daft to buy anything – except tinned food and other essentials – in this economy.
Sooo, options..
Keep the petrol car and hope it lasts my lifetime.
Get a new/used petrol car which is nice and make it last my lifetime.
Go diesel, because as long as there are trucks there will be diesel.
Wait until EVs are cheap and make sense for my usage profile. Currently they do not.
Hope that reality eventually prevails. I don’t know what the car companies are going to do if everyone keeps their petrol cars rather than go EV. Especially if there is no generating capacity or money for a charger but petrol is still for sale.
Rhoda – well, maybe we’ll find out why Cubans are still driving clapped-out bangers from the 1950’s.
rk,
What’s the used EV market like? Have you looked?
My assumption that the depreciation will be massive because of the uncertainty of when a hugely expensive new battery will be needed, but I haven’t given it a great deal of thought.
Will the last person leaving California please close the windows and turn off the lights? Thank you.
This is predictable, every year about this time a high sets up over the Great Basin. That means that the usual sea breeze off the Pacific doesn’t happen, idling wind power. It also spins up high clouds from Mexico, so solar stops working. It also makes it hot in the interior states, so they don’t want to share their dirty brown electrons because California isn’t making enough of those lovely green ones.
Dennis, on your second request at 12.20, there won’t be any leccy to power the lights in the first place.
Same as blighty ……..
Mohavie, in the same manner that the wind goes AWOL for weeks at a time over Germany during October, November or December every year. The search term ‘Brennholz’ has been trending in the fatherland for a while now….. The EU is going to become a very interesting place this winter.
BiND
Funnily enough, I was looking earlier. The used EV market is pretty screwed up too. My local Nissan shop is selling a new Leaf Tekna for about £32k and a 2019 model for £25k.
A couple of years ago I saw a 4 or 5 year old BMW i3 for about £8k at the same place.
Most of the interior of California is pretty hot all summer. The coast tends to be quite balmy, and the summer coastal fog in July and August make the first 20 miles in from the coast very pleasant. However, June near the coast can be quite hot and early September is always blazing hot. We’re expecting temperatures topping 100F, and I’m about 15 miles in from the coast. You’d think this could be planned for, especially by a party that believes in bureaucratic planning, but for the last few year’s it’s always a crises.
@ Steve: if discretionary spending stops rising and starts falling the phenomenon is called a “turning point”. If the function is continuous and differentiable the turning point is characterised by the first derivative equalling zero.
By contrast an inflection point, recognisable by a change in concavity (or, if you prefer, a change in convexity) occurs where the second derivative is zero.
In modern American English, however, “inflection point” means ‘I am a blithering boob blustering bollocks’.
In olden days it was spelled ‘inflexion point’. I approve: economical of paper and ink.
Earlier this year, the used car market was screwed up because of the lack of new cars, because of the lack of chips. I think it’s catching up with itself, however.
. . . now that electricity costs are headed way above petrol and diesel prices.
If things stay that way then a generator to run the home makes sense.
. . . the majority of the population earning under ~£100k – are going to severely restrict their travels for the foreseeable . . .
Can’t say I’ve noticed much of a change in driving habits yet; it’s still a race between the speed cameras on the motorways. For myself, I just sit on the inside lane at about 57 -58 mph (essentially lorry speed) with radar cruise control set to long distance and with lane assist. It’s quite relaxing in a way, watching the mad world go by. It doesn’t make a big impact on journey times but it certainly does on mpg. Not that I travel that much.
Dearieme – thank you
PJF – Can’t say I’ve noticed much of a change in driving habits yet
Me either, but it’s still summer. I reckon there’ll be a lag between the Dawning Horror (still mostly theoretical, we’re not at £6000/annum leccy bills yet) and people adjusting their behaviour.
Petrol prices, while high, aren’t the worst we’ve seen. It’s when energy price inflation starts to take serious bites out of the average person’s finances that we’re likely to see knock-ons. At the moment it’s mostly pensioners and the poor who are suffering, but being close to the poverty line always means they’ll be first to experience economic pain.
I see that EV buses don’t work very well in Alaska – and ain’t it late summer there?
Otto,
As Chris says, the used car market is wired at the moment. Not only is there still a chip problem there’s also supply chain problems. Tje base vehicle for my new motorhome has been sat at a dock in Italy for 4 months with apparently no delivery date in sight.
I don’t suppose EVs have been around long enough for a buyer to get “battery shock” after 6 months when their old one dies.
(Pun intended 🙂
“There’s not enough popcorn in the world, Mark.”
That’s because huge amounts of crops now go to the Biofuel industry…
“My assumption that the depreciation will be massive because of the uncertainty of when a hugely expensive new battery will be needed, but I haven’t given it a great deal of thought”
Over the last few days US blogs & independent media sites have been posting a dealers quote to replace the battery pack on an 8 year old EV – $29k!
Rhoda: Go diesel is my chosen option. I’ll probably change my 10 year old car for a newer one in the next couple of years, but that will also be a second hand diesel without an EU speed limiter.
For many years the superior fuel economy of diesel has more than compensated for the price differential to petrol in the UK. It’s probably about even at the moment with a much larger differential. But I don’t think that will be the case long term.
Similar in UK – no new homes / businesses (and EV charging) in West London for 10 years as grid can’t supply
Yet “all immigrants welcome”
For myself, I just sit on the inside lane at about 57 -58 mph (essentially lorry speed) with radar cruise control set to long distance and with lane assist. It’s quite relaxing in a way, watching the mad world go by. It doesn’t make a big impact on journey times but it certainly does on mpg. Not that I travel that much.
Half an hour on a 150 mile trip is significant in my book.
@Chris
+1
And on a London – Edinburgh ~420 mile drive it’s a very significant time
This sums him up
Not that I travel that much
Thus, we all must do what Mr Twat wants as it dooe not impact him… Until