A simple calculation for the average PH'er

[M4cruiser]

wolfracesonic said:

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

We'd certainly need less roads if every journey was limited to 100 miles followed by an enforced 8-hour wait.

[sly fox]

Isn't there a more fundamental problem here- namely that the nation's demand for power is already expected to exceed supply by 2016?

We are 10 years away from new sources of Nuclear power, so there are going to be many electric powered cars stuck in garages in 2-3 years time- perhaps..

[kambites]

sly fox said:

Isn't there a more fundamental problem here- namely that the nation's demand for power is already expected to exceed supply by 2016?

Peak demand will exceed peek supply. Not the same thing at all (and indeed it already does in some extreme cases). Assuming everyone runs smart chargers, electric cars will have no effect on peak demand; if they do come up with a viable way to supply domestic electricity from car batteries in short bursts (I'm still not entirely convinced of the practicality, personally), they will actually help lower peak demand.

Edited by kambites on Sunday 2nd February 11:03