How Much Electricity Will Electric Cars Use?
JULY 27, 2017
tags:
Electric Cars
By Paul Homewood
There have been various attempts to estimate the amount of electricity needed for electric cars.
So let’s get it straight from the horse’s mouth.
Below is the spec for the Nissan Leaf, showing electricity consumption of 150Wh/Km.
https://www.nissan.co.uk/vehicles/new-vehicles/leaf/prices-specifications.html
Actual performance is always much worse than manufacturers say, whether petrol or other. We also know that electricity consumption will rocket when heaters, lights, windscreen wipers and so on are turned on.
It would not be unfair to add 30% onto Nissan’s figures, giving 195 Wh/km.
Assuming an average annual mileage of 12000 miles (19200 km), we get 3.74 Mwh.
With about 30 million cars on the road, that would total 112 TWh a year.
Total electricity consumption last year was 304 TWh, so there would be an increase 37%.
Assuming the cars were recharged throughout the day at the same rate, they would increase demand by 12.8 GW.
However, it is more likely that, at best, charging would have to take place during just 12 hours, either overnight or early evening. In that case demand would double to 25.6 GW.
It’s all a bit back of fag packet stuff! But it’s a good base to start from.
Many drivers would want a much bigger car than the Leaf, and many would do higher mileage. On the other hand, others could do less.
And to complicate matters, we’re not sure where we stand with hybrids. The Tory manifest specifically stated that all cars must be zero emissions by 2050, which eventually rules out hybrids.
However, it seems likely that they will be seen as a halfway house in the meantime.
It is only my view,
but given the problems with charging, particularly for those with no off road parking, many drivers will simply use their hybrids as conventional cars, simply filling up with petrol. While this will help with electricity demand, it will do little to help with CO2.
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