California Supercharger Queues

[PixelpeepZ4]

DaveCWK said:

Isn't this reported every year around Thanksgiving? I agree with what a previous poster said in that it's just the equivalent of an M5 services bank holiday rush.

There is a serious point though; A big fuel station like Beaconsfield services on the M40 has I think around 30 pumps; theoretically capable of delivering a total *quick maths* 769GWh of 'energy' if all the petrol pumps were running constantly; ~20 times the current demand on the national grid.

EV charging density isn't that scalable really - Lifestyle change will be mandated with the EV uptake.

The first proper EV service station which opened in Braintree recently is completely self-sufficient with solar and battery storage, no strain on the grid at all.

the good news is these can be built anywhere, with no grid requirement. So previously undeveloped land, wasteland etc can now be utilised.

https://gridserve.com/braintree-overview/

[rxe]

PixelpeepZ4 said:

The first proper EV service station which opened in Braintree recently is completely self-sufficient with solar and battery storage, no strain on the grid at all.

the good news is these can be built anywhere, with no grid requirement. So previously undeveloped land, wasteland etc can now be utilised.

https://gridserve.com/braintree-overview/

For rather a lot of the year (i.e winter when you’re lucky to get a few % of rated capacity) that’s marketing bullst. Even in the summer, outside daylight hours, its still bullst. Their 6 MWh battery would last about 10 seconds with that sort of energy demand.

[Mikehig]

PixelpeepZ4 said:

The first proper EV service station which opened in Braintree recently is completely self-sufficient with solar and battery storage, no strain on the grid at all.

the good news is these can be built anywhere, with no grid requirement. So previously undeveloped land, wasteland etc can now be utilised.

https://gridserve.com/braintree-overview/

You need to go and read up on the detail. It is not self-sufficient. It gets power from Clayhill solar farm via the grid using a "sleeve" agreement. It also draws power from the grid when solar is not working or the battery is running low - which will be much of the time in winter.

[ZesPak]

Mikehig said:

You need to go and read up on the detail. It is not self-sufficient. It gets power from Clayhill solar farm via the grid using a "sleeve" agreement. It also draws power from the grid when solar is not working or the battery is running low - which will be much of the time in winter.

I understood it as net-neutral over the year.
Which would meant that they put a lot of surplus on the grid in the summer and then pull that "back" over the winter, much like our solar panel agreements are now.

[Mikehig]

ZesPak said:

Mikehig said:

You need to go and read up on the detail. It is not self-sufficient. It gets power from Clayhill solar farm via the grid using a "sleeve" agreement. It also draws power from the grid when solar is not working or the battery is running low - which will be much of the time in winter.

I understood it as net-neutral over the year.
Which would meant that they put a lot of surplus on the grid in the summer and then pull that "back" over the winter, much like our solar panel agreements are now.

Yes. there's a lot more to it than just the charging station: the financial structure is clever. Buying the Clayhill solar farm in Essex gives them electricity at cost and the "sleeving agreement" effectively cuts out the middlemen in getting the power to the site. Direct-selling their solar electricity at mid-20s pence/kWh is far better than anything they could get on the market. That agreement also gives them access to grid power when the solar is not working.
Clayhill has a deal with EdF to provide storage and work with EdF's trading arm, PowerShift, to arbitrage power prices. It will also provide balancing services to the grid using its storage. These operations will probably be quite lucrative, if Tesla's experience in Oz is any example. In addition it will generate renewable certificates which can be sold to other companies to "green" their power.