A simple calculation for the average PH'er
Discussion
If every vehicle on the roads was replaced overnight with an electric powered only equivalent, how many more power stations would we need to meet the demand for electricity? You may use a calculator, additional marks will be given for spelling, grammar and not hijacking the thread for your own nefarious reasons
None.
The power grid is designed to cope with peak demands such as the entire nation watching the World cup final and then putting the kettle on straight after. Demand at nigth is low in comparisin as the majority of people don't tend to use much electricity overnight. So a lot of extra cars charging overnight would not cause any capacity problems.
The power grid is designed to cope with peak demands such as the entire nation watching the World cup final and then putting the kettle on straight after. Demand at nigth is low in comparisin as the majority of people don't tend to use much electricity overnight. So a lot of extra cars charging overnight would not cause any capacity problems.
Devil2575 said:
None.
The power grid is designed to cope with peak demands such as the entire nation watching the World cup final and then putting the kettle on straight after. Demand at nigth is low in comparisin as the majority of people don't tend to use much electricity overnight. So a lot of extra cars charging overnight would not cause any capacity problems.
I've been led to believe that power stations are more efficient when working nearer to capacity and so charging at night should in theory reduce the cost of wholesale electricity. The power grid is designed to cope with peak demands such as the entire nation watching the World cup final and then putting the kettle on straight after. Demand at nigth is low in comparisin as the majority of people don't tend to use much electricity overnight. So a lot of extra cars charging overnight would not cause any capacity problems.
In a perfect world...
mike-r said:
I've been led to believe that power stations are more efficient when working nearer to capacity and so charging at night should in theory reduce the cost of wholesale electricity.
In a perfect world...
Cost efficiency will definitely be highest at maximum capacity. The cost of running a power plant will be split into fixed and variable costs. Fixed costs are the same no matter what rate you operate at, variable costs vary. So the harder you run the cheaper each kW of electricity is to produce.In a perfect world...
Devil2575 said:
None.
This is the simple answer, in terms of overall capacity. If every private passenger vehicle mile was powered electrically, it would take up roughly half the current overall slack in the grid. The more complex answer depends on when cars were charged and how much down-time power stations require for maintenance.
Devil2575 said:
None.
The power grid is designed to cope with peak demands such as the entire nation watching the World cup final and then putting the kettle on straight after. Demand at nigth is low in comparisin as the majority of people don't tend to use much electricity overnight. So a lot of extra cars charging overnight would not cause any capacity problems.
big assumption that everyone wants to charge overnight and not use their carThe power grid is designed to cope with peak demands such as the entire nation watching the World cup final and then putting the kettle on straight after. Demand at nigth is low in comparisin as the majority of people don't tend to use much electricity overnight. So a lot of extra cars charging overnight would not cause any capacity problems.
i do hope everyone does this as petrol will become very very cheap and i will be able to afford to run a big V8 that does 12mpg
Dave Hedgehog said:
big assumption that everyone wants to charge overnight and not use their car
Not everyone. Just the majority as is the case now. Past a certain time the roads get very quiet and there's no reaqson to suggest this would chamnge.A minority of cars being charged during the day are unlikely to have an impact as the grid is sized to cope with big spikes in usage, such as 10 million people all putting the kettle on at the same time.
There are 34.5 million licenced vehicles on UK roads. The UK's annual electricity output is 393 Terawatt Hours. Lets keep the maths easy and say it's 1Twh per day.
A Nissan Leaf consumes 24KwH to charge fully, so....the UK's electricity output could theoretically charge 41,666,666 Nissan Leafs. So on the face of it, there is plenty of capacity.
There are so many problems with the demand, assumptions I have made, maths etc it's untrue. But I think the answer is theoretically, yes. Might need to think about our domestic energy needs minds
A Nissan Leaf consumes 24KwH to charge fully, so....the UK's electricity output could theoretically charge 41,666,666 Nissan Leafs. So on the face of it, there is plenty of capacity.
There are so many problems with the demand, assumptions I have made, maths etc it's untrue. But I think the answer is theoretically, yes. Might need to think about our domestic energy needs minds
Dave Hedgehog said:
big assumption that everyone wants to charge overnight and not use their car
i do hope everyone does this as petrol will become very very cheap and i will be able to afford to run a big V8 that does 12mpg
I cannot see the government decreasing the tax in this scenario. If anything they'll probably increase it. You will also lose the economies of scale the fuel companies have at the moment so I can only see it going up in price substantially.i do hope everyone does this as petrol will become very very cheap and i will be able to afford to run a big V8 that does 12mpg
Devil2575 said:
Dave Hedgehog said:
big assumption that everyone wants to charge overnight and not use their car
Not everyone. Just the majority as is the case now. Past a certain time the roads get very quiet and there's no reaqson to suggest this would chamnge.A minority of cars being charged during the day are unlikely to have an impact as the grid is sized to cope with big spikes in usage, such as 10 million people all putting the kettle on at the same time.
mike-r said:
I've been led to believe that power stations are more efficient when working nearer to capacity and so charging at night should in theory reduce the cost of wholesale electricity.
In a perfect world...
...until you factor in the loss of government revenues from fuel duty, VAT and reduced VED. In a perfect world...
In comes a new energy duty for power used between 10pm and 6am...
king mental.alock said:
Dave Hedgehog said:
big assumption that everyone wants to charge overnight and not use their car
i do hope everyone does this as petrol will become very very cheap and i will be able to afford to run a big V8 that does 12mpg
I cannot see the government decreasing the tax in this scenario. If anything they'll probably increase it. You will also lose the economies of scale the fuel companies have at the moment so I can only see it going up in price substantially.i do hope everyone does this as petrol will become very very cheap and i will be able to afford to run a big V8 that does 12mpg
What happens when its World Cup Final Night,
everyone has driven home from work, in a hurry to make sure they don't miss kick off, used lots of their battery power doing this....
They get home, plug the car in, turn the TV on and settle down for the match, they also turn the refrigerator up a little to chill their beer properly.
The match ends and they flick on the kettle.
BANG
everyone has driven home from work, in a hurry to make sure they don't miss kick off, used lots of their battery power doing this....
They get home, plug the car in, turn the TV on and settle down for the match, they also turn the refrigerator up a little to chill their beer properly.
The match ends and they flick on the kettle.
BANG
Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff