A new report out of the US asks if electrical grids can handle the predicted surge in electric cars. In fact it’s a question that hangs over the shift to a greener economy overall and with no easy—or cheap—answers.
Certainly electrical vehicles will be a challenge. Global EV sales volumes are forecast to more than double in the coming years, hitting 29M by 2027, but they have to reach 100% by 2035 if the world has any hope of hitting net zero emissions by mid century.
That’s something like 700 or 800M electric cars on the road, a huge jump from now. And its impact on our electrical grids will be just as big.
The new US research was sobering. While it said all that charging would need to be accommodated with upgraded networks—and a lot of investment—it also found ample opportunity for EVs to add value to the grid.
A lot of things are still uncertain though. For a start EV charging can cause unexpected and rapid swings in demand which can lead to overheated wires, transformer stress, equipment degradation and possible outages.
Areas with high volumes of unmanaged EV charging are also more likely to experience power outages, meaning utilities will need the ability, skills and technology to calculate which locations can accommodate EV charging.
Some argue that electric cars can help the grid by creating opportunities for EVs to enhance grid resilience, and energy reliability and security, particularly via off peak charging, the growth in vehicle to grid technologies, easier energy storage, and more ubiquitous smart metering systems. Of course that means big money, regulatory fixes and motivated consumers, none of which generally come easy.
Australia, which has dragged its heels on electric cars but still saw sales rise 2.9% in the last year, will need to adapt faster than most. Thankfully we are now seeing our national and state governments beginning to act to modernise utilities, boost capacity and stimulate charging infrastructure.
Electric cars are clearly the future, but we need to put the work in now to get us moving.
Cheers, John Fennell