Electric cars to put neighborhood power grids to the test

redmondchad said on January 20, 2011 at 11:33 AM

@grumpy in auburn, Yes, several utilities presented graphs at the Washington Utilities Commission a couple of months ago. In WA there are two humps; one in the morning and one mid-to-late afternoon. By evening usage is down. Most EVs are on timers to start charging in the middle of the night.

redmondchad said on January 20, 2011 at 11:31 AM

@chevelle70ss, You certainly don't have to buy one. But my Tesla Roadster doesn't suck. My wife's RAV4-EV doesn't suck. They are very nice to drive, quiet, clean, and charging at home is much nicer than going to gas stations. There is almost no maintenance (our 8-year-old RAV has only needed tires and wiper blades). If there's a power outage, sure I can't charge. Of course, gas stations aren't pumping either. You can drive out of the outage area to get gas; but then, I can drive out of the outage area to charge.

waituhminute said on January 20, 2011 at 10:30 AM

Anyone on here like that old Seattle group Gas Huffer?

awol50 said on January 20, 2011 at 10:22 AM

Coal and hydro-power are far less expensive per btu at retail than petroleum gasoline or diesel fuel. That is the only reason these vehicles cost of "fuel" per mile is less than a conventional auto. I would be interested in seeing the true cost comparison of using electricity produced from coal (which is the most common method) on a btu per mile comparison of electric vs gasoline. My guess is that gasoline is the more economical choice when using that metric for comparison. And never mind the cost of a vehicle being twice as much. Only a fool buys one of these to "save money".

grumpy_in_auburn said on January 20, 2011 at 8:51 AM

Is it a known fact that electrical use in the evening is lower? I can understand commercial use is lower after the work day, but most homes turn on a big TV and lights from 6pm - bedtime. In my busy household we have run the washer, dryer and dishwasher at this time.

chevelle70ss said on January 20, 2011 at 8:30 AM

I will never buy one i think they suck, i will continue to pollute i dont care what gas costs. And what happens if the power goes out at your house for days on end, I will have to call into work and say i cant come in because my car is dead.

kendianne said on January 20, 2011 at 2:57 AM

Electric cars, even with their nearly worthless 600 pound batteries, take a LOT of electricity to charge. Most of them take about 15 KWH. Your house uses about 30 KWH a day, so if thousands of homes begin using electric cars, we are going to have a BIG problem. And when these batteries become better (a prediction that the Greenies love to make, even though it will never work) the electric cars will use a LOT more energy than any house, up to and including FIVE houses.. We are talking about not brownouts, but BLACKOUTS here. And the funniest thing is that we generate 90% of our electrical power with coal, nuclear and natural gas. Those who think that electric cars are "green" are only fooling themselves. My suggestion is to put the words "I am a sucker" on the front and back of every electric car. By the way, they cost DOUBLE what a standard car of equivalent value costs. What a sham.

think said on January 20, 2011 at 12:04 AM

...and good to see King 5 step-up and re-word the headline.

think said on January 20, 2011 at 12:04 AM

Drawing power during off-peak times will be a boon to the power companies...good for everyone.

uwskier20 said on January 19, 2011 at 10:03 PM

Snohomish County PUD surveyed its customers last summer with respect to their interest in EVs. They said that they and their infrastructure are ready for the additional load, but are considering peak and off-peak rates (something they may have already been considering for other reasons). I think most EV owners will charge during off-peak hours. The LEAF, for example, can be programmed to begin and end charging at a time specified by the owner. I would think that most utilizing this feature will elect to charge during the late hours, particularly if off-peak rates are offered, which could make the cost of operation even less ($2.40 for 100 miles of range is not too bad, and this is at regular power rates). The power draw is not too different from my clothes dryer (24A for my dryer, 30A max for the EV power supply). I think they might be over-hyping the concerns about power draw from these new vehicles.

younkerleafrep said on January 19, 2011 at 9:42 PM

It takes about 8 hours of charging on your normal in home unit to charge to full capacity. So the cost to charge will depend on how dead your battery is and what time you charge. Most people will charge their car at night when electricity costs less. The other nice part about this is that it will be less stress on the power grid, because less electricity is being used by the general public. As far as the car shorting out, Nissan has done a lot of work researching and developing this car to make it as safe as possible. There are front and rear impact sensors that will cut the power to the motor and prevent shocking. The battery is heavily encased and protected. The battery sits in the middle of the car where the frame is the strongest. There is more risk of gas leaking from a gas powered engine than electricity leaking from any of the battery packs. Nissan has put in MULTIPLE fail safes to prevent risk of electricution.

paulscott said on January 19, 2011 at 7:47 PM

As others said the title was a poor choice of wording. That said, the idea of EVs in Seattle is a good one. Of all the money being spent on gas by your residents, 90% leaves Seattle, and a full 60% leaves our country. All the money you spend on kWh stays local, with most of the money you used to spend on gas staying in your pocket. I believe the average cost for a kWh in Seattle is about 8 cents. That's like buying gas at about 50 cents/gallon. Think how your economy will be strengthened when those billions of dollars now being sent out of your state instead stay local and are spent on local goods and services. Lots of jobs will be created and your environment will be cleaner. EVs are going to transform personal transportation in our country. The sooner the better.

think said on January 19, 2011 at 6:52 PM

"Electric cars may increase neighborhood power consumption"...WOW...you think so? Are you sure it won't decrease power consuption? This headline warrants submission to The Tonight Show it's so ridiculous.

phil49 said on January 19, 2011 at 6:46 PM

So how much electricity does it take to recharge an electric car, cost as well as KW? During cold winters with high power consumption are we looking at possible brown outs as the cars batteries will drain faster and need more frequent charging? We live in a virtual water world in Puget Sound. What is the risk of an electric car shorting out when driven in several inches of standing water? Can shorting out in water endanger the occupants? How many volts and amps are running an electric car? Are they high enough to injure someone?

d8tabrazil said on January 19, 2011 at 6:37 PM

Electric cars "MAY" increase neighborhood power consumption. I hate to be technical and point out the obvious, but MAY should say WILL. Here, a case in point with logic: I'm stepping out the door right now, to buy a new electric car. I already have many appliances, gadgets and gizmos plugged in at my house. I am going to plug that electric car into an outlet. I just increased my power consumption AND the public power consumption. Funny how common sense works that way?