What Will Power EV's?

[Clean_Machine]

Over the next 10 or so year I hope and expect the number of electric cars on the road to explode. My concern is what will power these cars? As of right now, it seems that nuclear is the only source that can be implemented to create the amount of electricity needed to handle that without putting the country in the poor house.

With the events in Japan this sounds a bit scary, but I came across a great article today written by the power workers of Ontario that explains the differences between CANDU reactors developed in Canada, and the Japanese technology. It turns out they are safer than I might of thought. Check it out, very informative. There are a ferw more in the section as well that are really good. Enjoy!

http://www.abetterenergyplan.ca/#/news/accident-here?

[xcel]

Hi Clean Machine:

May I suggest that you begin reading the Thousands Killed in Aftermath of Japan Earthquake thread for a more detailed overview of the types of nuclear reactor and their component parts. A PWR can melt down but chances of radioactive release are slimmer than from a BWR.

Also, if you believe that emergency diesel generators are 100% infallible, you need to work in a nuclear plant that has severe duty monthly testing to find out that they are not perfect and having two or three per unit for redundancy just in case one does not start or fails to pick up an Emergency Bus or the output breaker fails to close-in or the EDG cannot maintain its rated output for the duration.

Nuclear is a great answer with the Gen IV designs ready to go, they are only getting safer but believing there is no risk is going a bit too far.

Wayne

[Oainac]

Hopefully more renewable energies like large scale solar or tidal.

[herm]

Since the vast majority of BEVs will be recharged at home at night, then baseload power will be the most likely source used. I would guess coal and nuclear in most places in the US, obviously wind will be used if it happens to be blowing at that time but not solar

[ItsNotAboutTheMoney]

Originally Posted by herm

Since the vast majority of BEVs will be recharged at home at night, then baseload power will be the most likely source used. I would guess coal and nuclear in most places in the US, obviously wind will be used if it happens to be blowing at that time but not solar

At night baseload stations are shut down where possible: coal stations are cheap to run, but daytime use is so much higher that most capacity becomes redundant and therefore it's a waste to run them all. At the margins demand could still be provided by peakers. So initially they're more likely to be charged using natural gas (or wind) unless you're in a nuclear area, as I believe nuclear stations don't shut down the way coal stations do.

As ownership increases and the demand smooths out it would make baseload use more likely. However, the potential for renewables is that in an area with wind power it could still be economical for balanced wind to be used on nights where good winds are predicted and obviously, if available wind power increases it becomes more predictable overall.