Quote:
Originally Posted by twobjshelbys
Yep, change all the kilowatt equivalent of a gallon of gas or diesel and change it to a three prong plug and see how fast the circuit breaker blows at Hoover Dam...
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It's a lot, but not as bad as I would have guessed.
2.8 trillion miles - Miles traveled by car in the US per year
.3 - kilowatt-hours used by the worst Tesla to travel a mile
840 billion - kilowatt hours consumed if all cars were electric
3.8 trillion - kilowatt hours consumed in the US per year
22% - additional power consumption added to the infrastructure if all cars were electric.
Sure, that would bring the grid down if it were done in the next five years. But 22% is not an overwhelming increase. Now, where is that 22% coming from? Natural gas, coal, nuclear, solar, wind? Coal has plummeted to half of what it was in 2010 (20%). Natural gas is skyrocketing to 40%, so that doesn't help at all. Nuclear is at 20% and somewhat steady. Renewables are growing quickly, but not quickly enough at 20%.
With coal and natural gas representing 60% of electric generation, that's not a good thing. There would need to be a significant improvement in renewables to have this work. Not only that, but it would have to be renewables that are available at night because that's when most people would charge cars. That's a major roadblock.