In LCOE (Levelized Cost of Energy) terms new coal plants aren't cheap, in fact they are much more expensive than solar and wind [1]. New combined cycle gas plants are cheap, but the global natural gas price spike has changed the opex situation considerably, so LCOE will trend upwards.
EVs are actually a great match for intermittent renewables since they provide their own storage, and are therefore time dispatchable. They are also usually charged overnight when wind is typically available and demand is lowest.
1. https://www.lazard.com/media/451905/lazards-levelized-cost-o...
> They are also usually charged overnight when wind is typically available and demand is lowest.
There are also other overnight carbon free sources of energy like hydro.
https://5b.co/news/2022/1mw-in-1-day-5b-smashes-its-speed-re...
They have a system whereby a solar array is concertinaed off a truck.
At that rate 4 x 660 MW, equivalent to a coal power station, could be deployed in 66 person-years. 130 people could not build a coal power station with 4 large generating sets in 6 months.
Suncable is expecting to complete the Australia-Asia Power Link by the end of 2028, starting construction in mid-2023. It will involve installing 3.2GW in 5.5 years, which is a rate of 1.5 to 1.6 MW/day.
According to Google 178 GW of solar modules was produced in 2020, which is 487 MW/day and capacity is growing exponentially, so production of modules probably won't be a bottleneck going forward.
Electric vehicles charging at home will draw a lot of power when solar panels aren't providing any power.
Lithium batteries are almost completely recyclable now but aren't for reasons: include[ing] technical constraints, economic barriers, logistic issues, and regulatory gaps[2]
Recycling batteries would be one of the great steps forward in environmental progress. It would also reduce dependency on cobalt mining, which is currently done in Congo where your concerns about "destructive mining and crazy foreign policies" are fully justified.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_lithium_p...
[2] https://cen.acs.org/materials/energy-storage/time-serious-re...
Half of all new Tesla’s now use Lithium Iron batteries which are cobalt-free and have improved safety.
Thats likely to change.. its only mostly sourced here because we have the skills and infrastructure AND its fairly easy to get to.
the industry is already looking at many other places around the world that have easy to get to resource bodies but not the skills and infrastructure. Those last two are very easy to transfer and build. Lithium mining also wont slow down if Hydrogen goes gangbusters (I'm bullish on Hydrogen)...
https://maartensteinbuch.com/2015/01/24/tesla-model-s-batter...
Quote:
On average the batteries have 91% remaining at 270.000 km (170,000 miles). If the linear behavior would continue, then the ‘lifetime’ (still 80% capacity left) can be calculated as follows: 91-80 = 11% times 50.000 km = 550.000 km, plus 270.000 km, gives 820.000 km (510,000 miles)! Note that a ICE car has a average lifetime of 220.000 km (140,000 miles)… And remember: if an ICE fails after say 300.000 km, you have a problem. The battery in a Tesla EV after the suggested 820.000 km (ok, lets take 500.000 km, still great!) still has 80% capacity left!Not really the same thing, but anecdotally my hybrid Camry just ticked over 220k km the fuel efficiency is a good way to check (NiMH) battery performance over those 10 years.
when we first got it, we got about 4.6lts per 100km. in the middle there it blew out to about 6ltrs for a while but discovered the injectors were screwed, replaced them (au$2800) and ever since we've been hovering around 4.8 to 5.2 (depending on weather for heating and cooling requirements).
https://people.com/human-interest/tesla-owner-blows-up-his-c...
https://electrek.co/2021/09/13/tesla-battery-pack-replacemen...
Tesla tried to charge $22,500 for new battery pack when a $5,000 repair did the trick
While Tesla recently started opening up some of its diagnostic tools to third parties, the automaker still has a lot of limitations when it comes to powertrain diagnostics. Electrified Garage uses some hacks to get past that and figure out what is wrong with the pack. In this case, they detected some voltage imbalances in 2 of the 16 battery modules:
So how much did it cost? The modules were $1,500 each, for a total of $3,000. Another $750 in parts for contractors and fuses, with the main one being upgraded to the ones introduced in the Model S Ludicrous.
With diagnostic and labor, it came up to about $5,000, or about 75% less than Tesla was quoting for a full battery pack replacement.Do they really, though? Per https://ihsmarkit.com/research-analysis/average-age-of-vehic... the average age on cars on the road now is 12.2 years.
Subaru and a Highlander. Not particularly valuable but they get the job done for my family and I for A-to-B.
Outside of Silicon Valley, I see a lot of old cars on the road.
Averages are averages, medians are medians, and anecdotes are not data.
In the US, and I imagine Canada and other European nations, we talk about putting solar on an individual house scale and, at best, earning 'credits' to give back to the grid if we have a surplus. Often times there are locations that can't push more energy into the grid from solar because the local grid can't support it.
Nations without this historical infrastructure don't need to be limited by the infrastructure created to support coal and gas plants as a distant and centralized building. They can build solar power plants next to cities or towns and potentially build a decentralized grid. This is analogous to cell phone service vs. land line service. Without the legacy infrastructure, cell phone adoption is much quicker and easier.
Battery technology is also seeing an exponential drop in price [3].
[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swanson%27s_law
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Experience_curve_effects
[2] https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/jun/23/most-new...
We are already well equipped to recycle and otherwise dispose of worn out combustion vehicles. I don't think anybody expects electric cars to accelerate the need for that - existing cars will continue get used by the increasingly less affluent until they are worn out, just like they do now. They aren't going to all just get scrapped tomorrow because electric cars become more common - they will continue to age out of the fleet, just like they do now.
This stinks of fake news to me.
At least for locations with air conditioning systems this seems false. Hvacs require more inrush (start capacitors) and run energy (run capacitors) - and coordinate very poorly with neighbor and industry use (during the heat of the day)
Electric Cars require none of it, 90% of use cases can charge 1-3 nights a week off of a standard 120v 15 amp circuit.
It's also possible to coordinate both your hvac and Bev to not turn on at the same time and to deprioritize for your utility or rate plan.
Just like the grid adapted to the growing use of HVAC, it will have to adapt to the growing use of electric cars.
[1] https://californiamobilitycenter.org/latest-california-mobil...
It's definitely not investigative journalism.
https://www.nerc.com/news/Pages/California-Mobility-Center,-...
The main thing bothering me currently is just the battery tech. I would prefer something that didn’t involve destructive mining and crazy foreign policies like oil and lithium do. But, wants are infinite and technology and resources aren’t.