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LETTEROFTHEMONTH
POWER TO THE PEOPLE!
IF IT’S AROUND...
WHERE IS ALL the electricity going to
come from to charge EVs? Using an EV that
has a 40kWh battery, here’s what I’ve
calculated, assuming: an average household
uses 6000kWh/annum (16.5kWh/day); an
average daily commute of 44km; and
an average available distance of 240km.
Given this, you’ll need to recharge your battery
every five days, requiring 2900kWh over a year.
ARENA is predicting that sales will be around
615,000 EVs per annum. By the year 2030 we
could have 2,000,000 EVs in Australia with
additional energy requirements of 5800gWh
(5,800,000,000kWh)! The average household
uses peak electricity in the early evening – not a
good time to charge the EV!
Charging EVs during off-peak times would
help distribute the load. However, this would
require an enormous effort by the government
to build the infrastructure to generate the
required renewable energy.
Chris Groothoff, email
Your broader question is valid, Chris, even if the
calculation of the likely size of the national EV
fleet in 2030 doesn’t stack up, nor the power
demand, as a decent proportion of those EVs
will be small-battery hybrids. However, part
of the off-peak charging solution may lie with
Cloud-connected chargers, which automatically
start the recharging process (within a prescribed
period) when demand is at its lowest. And
don’t dismiss the growing take-up of
domestic solar with battery storage – EdWIN!
We reckon Chris deserves
a reward for pushing the
Casio into overdrive,
so enjoy your next 12
issues of Wheels on
us, champion.LETTER OF THE
MONTH PRIZEYOUR SAY
WHERE IS ALL THE ELECTRICITY GOING TO
COME FROM TO CHARGE EVs?
GO AHEAD, TELL US WHAT YOU REALLY THINK
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