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Originally Posted by C1ay
According to the last row of this chart for the contiguous U.S., current generating capacity minus current demand yields an estimated 16% margin. That, combined with the fact that rolling blackouts are not uncommon during peak demand times, leads me to believe that the only way current generating capacity would be sufficient is for very carefully managed demand control that makes power available to loads when the excess is available for use.
I would also point out that the same chart lists total generating capacity at 915,292 megawatts and it would be my guess that our total passenger car energy consumption far exceeds 16% of that amount. |
An important footnote for the available margin is noted:
Quote:
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[4] Capacity Margin is the amount of unused available capability of an electric power system at peak load as a percentage of capacity resources.
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I could not find an estimate there, but I would guess this means there is a larger margin during non-peak times.
Even if it were not though some rough calculations give us a better picture.
915,000 megawatts is 915,000,000 kilowatts, 16% of this is about 137,200,000 kilowatts. A heavy vehicle uses a 35 kwh pack.
So that is about 4 million vehicles.
Certainly not the entire light vehicle fleet, but a very healthy number.
And again, I suspect the off peak margin of available electricity is much more, few vehicles will need a recharge every day and they will get more and more efficient as time goes by.
Yes, work needs to be done, but we need to improve the national power grid anyways, do we not?
If used completely each day
