Electric Cars and the need for more generation
I have no doubt that Electric powered city cars are going to become the norm as a vehicle for local trips around town, with petrol and hybrid cars only used for longer distance travel.
However, before everyone rushes out and buys one, here is something to consider. If 80% of all vehicle mileage was replaced by electric vehicles, where would all the extra electricty come from?
A Mitsubishi iMiEV (which Meridian are showing off in Wellington) has a 18 kilowatt/hour charge for a 160km range.
Total passenger vehicles is over 2.5 million, average distance is 12,000 km per annum.
Say 80% replaced by all electric vehicles = 2,500,000 * 12000 * 0.8 = 24,000,000,000 km travelled
Assuming an average of 1kw/h per 10km travelled then electricty need is 24000 Gigawatt/hours -Total annual Electricty generation in NZ is 42705 Gigawatt/hours (source: MED).
So electric cars mean increasing electricty production by an additional 56% over existing production.
Or having to duplicate every hydroelectric dam in NZ. Or twenty times the number of windfarms. A massive capital expenditure cost for the next twenty years while electric cars filter through the car fleet that will have to be worn by all electricty users, whether they drive petrol, diesel, or electric cars.
You might think I'm over estimating the usage, but I've used a very conservative figure for the efficiency of electric vehicles - more efficient than Mitsubishi's claim, and for the smallest vehicle that is impractical for more than two passengers with any luggage.
And my figures are on top of the existing projected generation needs.
However, before everyone rushes out and buys one, here is something to consider. If 80% of all vehicle mileage was replaced by electric vehicles, where would all the extra electricty come from?
A Mitsubishi iMiEV (which Meridian are showing off in Wellington) has a 18 kilowatt/hour charge for a 160km range.
Total passenger vehicles is over 2.5 million, average distance is 12,000 km per annum.
Say 80% replaced by all electric vehicles = 2,500,000 * 12000 * 0.8 = 24,000,000,000 km travelled
Assuming an average of 1kw/h per 10km travelled then electricty need is 24000 Gigawatt/hours -Total annual Electricty generation in NZ is 42705 Gigawatt/hours (source: MED).
So electric cars mean increasing electricty production by an additional 56% over existing production.
Or having to duplicate every hydroelectric dam in NZ. Or twenty times the number of windfarms. A massive capital expenditure cost for the next twenty years while electric cars filter through the car fleet that will have to be worn by all electricty users, whether they drive petrol, diesel, or electric cars.
You might think I'm over estimating the usage, but I've used a very conservative figure for the efficiency of electric vehicles - more efficient than Mitsubishi's claim, and for the smallest vehicle that is impractical for more than two passengers with any luggage.
And my figures are on top of the existing projected generation needs.
posted by Michael at
7:03 PM
1 Comments:
There is a significant surplus of generation in NZ off peak. The right pricing plans would mean these cars are largely charged over night when there is already quite a lot of surplus generation, therefore not requiring significant increases of generation.
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Anonymous, at 1:29 PM
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