Energy needs to be adapted to the massive emergence of electric vehicles

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    Electric cars are good for everyone. If you take Tesla cars, they are both safe (much safer than ordinary cars with ICE) and environmentally friendly (incorrect, but fashionable term, yes), plus they can be charged free of charge at some electric gas stations. In the future, as some business representatives and supporters of electric vehicles are sure, the whole world will switch to electric cars.

    But there might be a problem. The fact is that not all power networks can withstand such loads. We all at least once found ourselves in a situation where the electrical appliances included in the home network caused a blackout. The network simply could not stand the simultaneous operation of a washing machine, microwave, heating devices and a couple of little things. The same thing, only on a larger scale and with some reservations, can happen if everyone starts switching to electric cars.

    In general, while this problem threatens only those regions where citizens are accustomed to personal cars and often have not one, but two or three cars per family. Matteo Muratori, a researcher at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (Colorado, USA) made some calculations that made it clear that modern power grids are not too adapted to the dominance of electric vehicles. If such machines will spread rapidly, then in some regions there may be problems with energy supplies.

    In the study, Muratori estimated the share of electric vehicles from their total volume in different regions from 3 percent to 100 percent. In the USA, for example, this figure is lessand is only 0.9%. But this is the "average temperature in the hospital." If we take a smaller scale, we will see that in some regions of the country there are more electric vehicles than in all other regions. Particularly relevant is the problem of causing damage to the electrical networks for electric vehicles that are charged using a “fast” charging station.

    Muratori emulated changes in electricity demand for different states of America. For his work, he used data that can be obtained in the public domain. In addition, he decided to conduct a live study. So, he chose 200 households, which totaled a total of 248 cars. On the whole, if, say, a quarter of electric vehicles are replaced by electric cars, nothing bad will happen, although the region’s energy consumption will be higher with them than everywhere else.

    True, the moment when the owners of electric vehicles do not begin to use polls for fast charging. This is very convenient, since it is not necessary to wait for many hours next to the electric car until it is charged. But more energy is needed.

    The scientist calculated the changes that could occur if owners of electric vehicles use such charging stations. As it turned out, the problem is really relevant - this is not fiction. It is even more revealed if we take a smaller scale - say, only six households with 12 electric cars. As long as electric cars are charged in the usual way, there will be no problem. But if all drivers begin to use fast charges, then blackouts will begin.

    According to the scientist, you can solve the problem if you charge electric cars not all together, but separately, according to a specific plan. For example, this house charges its cars from 11 to 15, and the other from 15:00 to 21:00. In addition, the scientist believes that it is possible to use smart charging stations that can adapt the energy consumption for each electric vehicle.

    The same scientist says that the widespread use of electric cars can be problematic only at first, until the infrastructure is adapted for charging electric vehicles. Over time, everything will be changed and adapted, so that no one will notice any inconvenience. True, there is still a long time to this point, so the government and citizens of areas where there are a lot of electric vehicles, if there is every chance to talk and find common ground.

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