I think “time of use” metering will solve the problem. Make power cheap enough at night and very few will charge their cars during the day.

New electronic remote-reading meters make it fairly easy to achieve.

I changed the link; I hadn’t realized the one I posted before had a paywall.

The article is about how night charging will challenge the grid.

They’re going to need more capacity for sure, and if they’re all-in on solar power they’re going to need backup sources for cloudy days.

If EVs become common enough to increase energy use by 25% for night charging, then they are common enough for someone to monetize this. Tesla's charging stations, for example, are available around the USA, and have "fast" charging. They've also tried to place them in areas with other services (coffee shops, groceries, etc.). If you're running errands, you can stop for a charge (30 minutes to add about 200 miles to a Tesla) while you get your groceries, grab some coffee, run into Target.

Also, availability of charging stations on city streets and parking lots (including employer parking lots) is increasing and will only continue to increase. Same with adding chargers to apartment parking areas, which will give at least some people (who don't work 8-5) the opportunity to charge at other times besides overnight.

Not to say that capacity isn't an issue, but I think the concern about time of day strain might be overblown.

A release from Stanford, includes a link to the study.

Better summary than the WaPo article. And they mention Nina's point about charging cars at work.

https://news.stanford.edu/2022...me-night-not-way-go/

I've read that in Europe they are installing charging stations on street light poles. Switching from old technologies to LEDs means the circuits have plenty of extra capacity.

Could work here and cities could make a little $.

Just charged a Tesla yesterday. At a Tesla Fast Charger it took almost half an hour for 300 miles of power.

I drive to and from Tucson two or three times a year.
From Alamosa to Espanola there is some great scenery and little else for 114 miles.
This gap gives me "range anxiety".
Have been doing the trip with a drive of seven hours to Albuquerque followed by another seven hours to Tucson. That leaves no time for charging.

We’re going to have to build a lot more nuclear power plants to keep up with the electrical grid demands if EV car sales take off in a big way. And it looks like they will. I doubt that more wind and solar stations will be enough to keep up with demand.

I don’t know if filling up an EV car’s batteries will ever be as fast as filling up an ICE (Internal Combustion Engine) car gas tank. EV car owners should carry a 480 Volt DC generator in their trunk. That’ll recharge an EV car’s batteries up in minutes instead of hours. Well no because it’s not possible. 480 Volt electrical service can only be acquired for commercial and industrial usage.

My dentist used to have an analog 480 Volt X-ray machine. There was a sticker on it that said so. Her dental office is located in a building for medical/dental professionals so the building could get 480 Volt electrical service. I don’t know if her building’s parking lot behind the building can take advantage of the building’s 480 V service and have 480 V car rechargers.

So why aren’t gas stations installing electrical recharging stations for EV cars? Not a single gas station in my area has one. You’d think gas stations would be the first to install them. But they’re not. My guess is that gas stations haven’t gotten around to it yet. Or maybe gas station owners don’t like the idea of cars parked on their lot for hours getting a slower 110 V/220 V electrical recharge when a gas tank fill up takes only minutes. I think 480 V recharges batteries faster but it wears out a battery faster than a slower charge. A high turnover of cars means more profit for the gas station owners.

There is a tesla charging station behind a nearby gas station/convenience store.
There is another Tesla charging station about two miles away near an outlet shopping mall. The Starbucks next to the charging is closing.
I see a lot of Teslas.

quote:

Originally posted by CHAS:
There is a tesla charging station behind a nearby gas station/convenience store.
There is another Tesla charging station about two miles away near an outlet shopping mall. The Starbucks next to the charging is closing.
I see a lot of Teslas.

And you’ll no doubt see more.

Tesla isn’t the only company installing charging stations
as fast as they can. At least 20 other companies are in the biz and you can be sure that there are startups in the works.

It’s not hard to do (it mostly involves wrangling with power companies) and the potential profit is substantial. Several of the players are gas station operators (Shell, BP) who see the handwriting on the wall and major hotel chains are getting in early as well.

Lots of money to be made. The power companies will catch up.