IdaD wrote:
Reisender wrote:
IdaD wrote:
If we're going to transition ground transportation to electricity, we're going to need to generate a lot more of it and beef up the grid to handle the extra workload. It isn't simply a matter of adding charging stations. I have no idea how much fossil fuel goes into ground transportation or how that energy would translate to electricity but it's probably significant. I would also say that unless that extra electricity comes from green energy, I'm not sure we're netting out much benefit. Although I suppose there's some value in beginning the transition.
On the BC Hydro website they indicate that if every personal vehicle in the province were to magically become electric overnight the grid load would increase by 19 percent. So space that out over a few decades and it’s not such a big deal. There are still new Dams coming online in the next few years that would cover that easily... for BC at least.
Jmho. Not an expert.
Does the 19% include commercial or is that just personal vehicles? An 80,000 lb or more semi is going to chew up a lot more juice than a typical small EV. I would agree that over time it's still doable, but it's a a big process to not just generate that much more electricity but also distribute it. I live in the northwest US so I benefit a lot from hydro but I also don't see that as a very viable long term green energy source given the environmental concerns associated with it.
I don't know. Its kind of vague. I doubt it includes heavy trucks.
