#EVcharging #ElectricInfrastructure #GreenEnergy #SustainableTransportation
ππ As the world continues to shift towards a more sustainable future, the demand for electric vehicles (EVs) and the infrastructure to support them is rapidly increasing. One of the key components of this infrastructure is the EV charging station. However, despite the obvious benefits of EVs and the necessity of charging stations, there is still some debate about the amount of electrical infrastructure needed to support them.
Some people complain about the amount of electrical infrastructure that is needed to build a new EV charging station, but they don’t expect every gas station to have its own oil refinery. This complaint is often based on misconceptions about the actual energy requirements of EV charging stations, as well as a lack of understanding about the overall benefits of transitioning to electric transportation.
In this article, we will explore the true energy needs of EV charging stations, debunk the myths surrounding their impact on the electrical grid, and highlight the numerous benefits of embracing this shift towards sustainable transportation.
## Debunking Myths About EV Charging Station Energy Requirements
### Myth #1: EV Charging Stations Require Excessive Amounts of Energy
– The truth is that most EV charging stations are actually quite efficient in their energy usage.
– For example, a Level 2 charging station, which is the most common type for public use, typically delivers around 240 volts and 30 amps, resulting in a power output of 7.2 kilowatts. This is roughly equivalent to running a few large appliances in a home.
### Myth #2: EV Charging Stations Strain the Electrical Grid
– While it is true that adding a large number of EVs to the grid could potentially strain it, the reality is that the current demand for EV charging is still relatively low.
– Additionally, advancements in smart grid technology and time-of-use pricing are helping to balance the load of EV charging across the grid, mitigating any potential strain.
## The Benefits of Embracing EV Charging Stations
### Environmental Impact
– EVs produce zero tailpipe emissions, helping to reduce air pollution and combat climate change.
– Using renewable energy sources to power EV charging stations further reduces their overall environmental impact.
### Economic Advantages
– EVs have lower fuel and maintenance costs compared to traditional gasoline-powered vehicles, saving drivers money in the long run.
– Investing in EV charging infrastructure can create jobs and stimulate economic growth in local communities.
### Energy Security
– By reducing our reliance on oil and gas, EVs and the infrastructure to support them can enhance energy security and independence.
## Conclusion
In conclusion, the energy requirements of EV charging stations are often misunderstood and exaggerated. The truth is that the benefits of transitioning to electric transportation far outweigh any potential strain on the electrical grid. By embracing the shift towards EVs and investing in the necessary infrastructure, we can create a more sustainable, economically prosperous, and environmentally friendly future for generations to come.
So let’s stop complaining about the electrical infrastructure needed for EV charging stations and start embracing the potential for a greener, more sustainable future. After all, we don’t expect every gas station to have its own oil refinery π±π.
I mean, can the electricity be delivered by truck like petrol can?
I suppose it could with huge and very expensive batteries they can interchange?
You only need a small percentage of the gas / charging stations with EVs. People charge EVs at home.
You can top off a tank in a few minutes. Good luck charging the same throughput of vehicles in a reasonable amount of time and space. Home charging is where EV make the most sense but a lot of people donβt have access to that
Ev chargers pull 150 kw to 350kw per hour, that is equal to about more than 100 homes, 1 home pulls 1.5 to 2.5 kw per hour. So if every American needs to charge their electric cars, imagine how much power would cost with demand so high. We would nuclear power plants in almost every city to support the demand for this power.
I’m not all gloom and doom, huge fan of tec advancements, but this is interm tec, leading to somthing else. It’s not done yet.
This should be an ELI5 for OP
This is why the electric chargers are put in buildings already built. So 100km of copper cable don’t have laid out.
Also, EV’s are charged at home.
Super chargers 72 to 250 kwh. Yup I thought the same thing when I saw this.
Ur home charger isn’t a tesla super charging station, your home would require 3phase power to pull that kinda power.
Idk this seems both slightly entitled and ignorant without meaning to be.
This analogy doesnβt make sense. No one expects gas stations to have oil refiners because the gas is shipped there and stored in tanks at the location. That isnβt possible with EV charging stations. So the power grid needs to essentially be rebuilt in order to handle the amount of power these vehicles are going to require when more people start using them. Not to mention, the amount of coal that we will have to burn to charge them all routinely.
We’ve had gas stations for the better part of a century.
The conversation and discourse about EV charging stations is because we’re racing against time to make this happen in a short period of time.
That’s why. It’s not like every city had a gas station the second Ford rolled out a model t
It’s just oil propaganda. Disregard it
Almost every major gas station in Saskatchewan (prairies of Canada with only about 1 million people but the 30% larger than california) has EV charging stations in their lot while still maintaining their existing gasoline pumps.
The infrastructure isnt hard or complicated to add. It just needs to be added and major oil companies are already doing it. One example being Coop refineries, which owns the Coop brand gas stations. Most of their stations already have 2+ EV charging stations to go along with their dozen gas pumps.
Outside of that there are also charge station companies popping up and placing independant stations at places like malls and such.
So yeah the only reason people are complaining about ‘the infrastructure’ is because they think change is hard and scary. Meanwhile the oil companies and new electric charging companies are already adapting to the new automotive market.
Why would you expect them to have a refinery? You expect them to receive deliveries, just like you expect an EV station to have power delivered to it from the grid.
Many charging stations, especially the rapid chargers, require surprising amounts of infrastructure to be built. Sometimes as much as a miniature substation… especially if the surrounding grid is at capacity. You also have city regulations and ordinances to conform to, and might even need land sales and platting of small lots. It isn’t as simple as adding a few outlet, otherwise it would be done already. That said – it isn’t at scale of a refinery – unless the grid for the area is maxed and more capacity needs to be generated.
It also has to be profitable to the provider. You would be amazed what the price tag can be to build some stations, and it depends on lots of factors. Sometimes it just doesn’t make financial sense to do. Source: I work in this industry
Wait you think that EV charging stations generate their own electricity?
2 obvious things OP somehow missed:
1. Gas stations have existed for a long-ass time. The necessary infrastructure is already in place. You don’t need to build it up or make sure its there to open a new one.
2. Refineries don’t need to be *anywhere near* the station. You can put a refinery wherever and the only thing you need to get gas to a station is a road which exists anyway because the cars filling up at the station already use it. YOu can drop a gas station on any building lot where a building would normally go and trucks will be able to get to it to supply gas. You can’t just drop a charger anywhere and assume that there are electrical lines designed for that level of load run to support it.
Also this feels needlessly snarky and hostile. You know who is leading the charge on EV fast-charge infrastructure in a lot of places? Gas companies. They know EVs will eventually win and they know that they are in the best position to capture the market share since people already go to them for fuel in their existing ICB cars.
Lmao this is a very strange equivalence
This argument makes *zero* sense.
Thatβs not a shower thought. Itβs a pooptime thought.
Bad analogy, gas stations use trucks to move the gas from refinery to gas station. Between the refinery and gas station there is no infrastructure as the trucks use already existing roads.
A gas station is a giant tank buried into the ground that turns the area into a toxic Superfund site.
An EV charging port is literally just a power outlet. They can be built anywhere, including parking lots, parking garages, streetside, home driveways, you name it. They can be powered in-situ with rooftop solar panels, or over the grid from a dam or nuclear powerplant or windfarm, or even from *other EV’s* that are charged and parked nearby. The mass of EV’s plugged into the network creates a backup energy reserve.
Renewable energy is in an exponential growth curve, we *will* have the generation capacity to charge every EV. Brownouts aren’t caused by the grid, they’re from powerplants being overdrawn. Renewables will make electricity so cheap and so abundant that brownouts will become a distant memory.
Anybody who complains about the infrastructure needed for EV’s is just ignorant of their potential. They’ll see soon enough.
The infrastructure, designs, setups and everything has been refined (pun intended) over the past 100 years.
This has βthrowing soup at the Mona Lisaβ vibes
You are very ignorant lol
No no no. You’re missing the point. Petrol has a huge energy density that has to be compensated for in the grid based on huge EV uptake. Where does that come from?
Neither is environmentally friendly just which is less?
EV power can come from water and the sun and doesnt pollute while it burn so its the better choice.
Way back in time gas stations were ran by the oil companies.
(Yes, I am that guy right now. Achkchually)
Yeah… cause that’s not how oil and gas works. That’s the whole point.
We don’t have enough clean energy production to power an all electric vehicle world, which means we need to use dirty power and the inefficiency inherent in transmission to power electrics. Makes it a bit of a green herring…..
Gas stations having gas delivered to them isnβt exactly the same as plugging into the grid. It has infrastructure with capacity monitoring in place already. The problem with EVs on the grid is the electric infrastructure isnβt caught up yet. Even if we had enough generation thereβs still the distribution system. I think all of that should be upgraded regardless of the future or EVs though.
Gas doesn’t lose energy on the way to the station.
giggling while my honda ruckus gets 100+ mpg
I’m not understanding the comparison? You ship gas to a gas station.
You still have to drastically improve electrical infrastructure to build out a ton of chargers.
The complaint should the utterly mind boggling amount of effort to mine, process, fabricate, and install the absolutely fucking massive amount of minerals, metals, equipment, and processing plants for the stunningly huge amount of additional infrastructure for the changes needed on the scale to equalize, at current levels, ICE/O&G energy distribution.
Politicians are lying to you. Environmentalists are lying to you. The above effort cannot be done quickly, cheaply, easily, or βcleanlyβ. Solar and wind are not the future. Nuclear should be, but again – environmentalists and politicians are lying to you.
The above effort will also fuck with your cost of living. You think itβs high now? βGreen techβ competes for all the same resources needed for all the other goods and services you need/want.
Good luck.
Because you can’t very well truck electricity out to a charging station, now can you?
You donβt understand that delivering massive amounts of electricity needed for fast charging cars is not particularly cheap, and the skill set is not common.
My workplace installed a charging station in our parking garage. For 4 cars. Because thatβs all the power lines running to the garage can support without tens of thousands of dollars in other upgrades.
Itβs also difficult to repair broken charge stations because working around that much electricity is extremely dangerous and requires special training. For gas station repairs, where there are hundreds in a city, there are lots of techs with the skills. The same cannot be said of techs for charge stations currently.