Electric cars and the cabling for my street

[David_M]

Idle query: I live on a street of about 30 houses, built in the late 70s early 80s and so far there is one Tesla on it.

If / when we all have electric cars and all have powerful chargers installed, when we all plug them in one evening are the cables that run under the street going to melt?

I have no idea how much extra capacity was built into the infrastructure all that time ago - anyone know?

[anonymous-user]

Nowhere near enough I think! My street and wiring are much older and we consistently have problems around here with exploding cabling due to the current families are drawing from the network (probably clear from that description that I’m not an electrician).

I suppose it will be more than a decade before there’s a significant problem for most people- I think the risk of all the charging cables would get us here first- terraced London street.

[Xaero]

David_M said:

If / when we all have electric cars and all have powerful chargers installed, when we all plug them in one evening are the cables that run under the street going to melt?

At least we won't need to salt the roads when it gets cold anymore.

[A1VDY]

The cabling and subsequent massive job of digging up the pavements and roads all over the UK are secondary to where exactly is all this power coming from.
Millions of cars on charge every day especially evenings are going to result in more than a few melted cables..

[anonymous-user]

Xaero said:

David_M said:

If / when we all have electric cars and all have powerful chargers installed, when we all plug them in one evening are the cables that run under the street going to melt?

At least we won't need to salt the roads when it gets cold anymore.

You'll find the cats all run over because they've been kipping on the toasty road.

[Mouse Rat]

A1VDY said:

The cabling and subsequent massive job of digging up the pavements and roads all over the UK are secondary to where exactly is all this power coming from.
Millions of cars on charge every day especially evenings are going to result in more than a few melted cables..

It's vica versa. Power Generation isn't the problem. The problem is as the OP has raised. The size of transformers off the grid and cables to houses and various locations.

For example to charge something like a Porsche Taycan to 80% in 20 -30 mins you need around a 200kw of power.

An estate of 100 homes will be fed off a 200kw supply.

[TheRainMaker]

What happens if you all had your ovens on at the same time or tumble dryers or electric heaters etc etc.

You are probably going to be fine.

[dmsims]

Mouse Rat said:

For example to charge something like a Porsche Taycan to 80% in 20 -30 mins you need around a 200kw of power.

An estate of 100 homes will be fed off a 200kw supply.

How is this relevant to home charging ?

[Throttle Body]

I imagine that quite a bit of re-cabling will be required, but this shouldn't be a big deal. After all, we saw cabling installed under the pavements of most towns and cities in the 1990s just to supply TV.

[jjwilde]

TheRainMaker said:

What happens if you all had your ovens on at the same time or tumble dryers or electric heaters etc etc.

You are probably going to be fine.

Don't spoil their fantasy.

[mikeiow]

David_M said:

Idle query: I live on a street of about 30 houses, built in the late 70s early 80s and so far there is one Tesla on it.

If / when we all have electric cars and all have powerful chargers installed, when we all plug them in one evening are the cables that run under the street going to melt?

I have no idea how much extra capacity was built into the infrastructure all that time ago - anyone know?

No where near enough, is the short answer.
https://www.speakev.com/threads/home-charge-can-of... illustrates the issues are already starting to arise.....
Sure, the energy network will be upgraded eventually.....but I predict many will have troubles ahead.

[Throttle Body]

While they are replacing the cables in the street, they might as well install kerbside charge points too for people who don't have a driveway.

[Mikehig]

It is going to be an issue and not just because of demand from EV charging. Indeed, as that is likely to take place during off-peak times, the extra load may be within limits for some time.
The fun will start when the big domestic loads - hot water and heating - are also electrified, starting in 2025 if not before. As I understand it, extensive upgrading will be required, starting with each domestic incomer and working back through the local cabling, low voltage transformers, etc., but I'm not an electrical engineer.

[off_again]

Interesting question and I really dont know what the answer is though.

Charging times have got better over time and L2 chargers can and do draw a lot, their impact isnt that bad. You will be surprised as to how effective an L2 can be, and with a little planning you can usually manage almost all scenarios. Have that filled with more accessible public charging (the expensive bit) to allow longer distances and its a change in behavior, but not unattainable.

Just checked my electricity provider - when on charging (L1 120v charger here) I am drawing around just over 1kWh for the i3. Thats less than the aircon for my house. However, I also live in Northern California and we recently had requests to lower consumption over an 8 day heatwave period. Would the grid have supported everyone charging their cars at the same time? Yeah, probably not! But if we took the weather out of it, not a problem at all.

Its not as if the globe is getting warmer or anything..... oh wait.... damn....

[anonymous-user]

TheRainMaker said:

What happens if you all had your ovens on at the same time or tumble dryers or electric heaters etc etc.

The national grid turns on the gas on demand power stations, which still provide about 40% of electricity for the UK.

There are currently about 400k electric cars on the road, about 2% of the total amount of vehicles, 32 million.

Wonder where all the on demand electricity for all the future electric cars on the road will come from, hint it ain't unicorn farts..

Edited by anonymous-user on Thursday 19th November 02:35

[SWoll]

dmsims said:

Mouse Rat said:

For example to charge something like a Porsche Taycan to 80% in 20 -30 mins you need around a 200kw of power.

An estate of 100 homes will be fed off a 200kw supply.

How is this relevant to home charging ?

Quite.

[aestetix1]

People panicked about digging up the pavements when they installed cable TV, somehow the world didn't end.

Power wise it will need to be designed to share out power so as not to overload the local system, a problem that was solved long ago. Most people will want to schedule charging for overnight when electricity is cheap anyway.

[jjwilde]

Looks like the national grid will have to issue that pamphlet again explaining to low IQ people that there is no issue. I mean anyone can use something called google to find this out.

But let's not spoil the circle jerk fantasy that the grid will collapse and the 'wires under the street' will melt.

[kambites]

You're only talking about 7kw per house, and even then sensible people will set their cars up to start charging at least after everyone has finished cooking dinner if not after everyone is in bed because the lower grid load will lead to lower prices.

Anyone who wants more than 7kw at home is probably going to have to pay (a lot) for it.

[otolith]

kambites said:

You're only talking about 7kw per house, and even then sensible people will set their cars up to start charging at least after everyone has finished cooking dinner if not after everyone is in bed because the lower grid load will lead to lower prices.

Anyone who wants more than 7kw at home is probably going to have to pay (a lot) for it.

bUt wHAt iF i SuDDeNly neEd tO drIvE 300 MilEs aT no NoTiCe?