Re:For some electric vehicle owners, recharging now more cos...
by jillesvangurp on Tuesday February 14, 2023 @03:06AM
(#34786742)
High gas prices are great for renewable energy providers. They drive up overall electricity prices without increasing their cost. So, that means huge fat returns on investment. Same for homeowners installing solar and batteries in their houses of course.
It's bad news for gas energy providers, however. They basically get less competitive the higher the prices get. Also, there's the notion of shutting down expensive generation when there's a surplus of cheaper renewable energy. More renewables means this happens more frequently. This is why coal, and increasingly gas plants as well, are having a hard time in the market. They basically get forced into a secondary role where hey only spin up to full capacity if there's a shortage instead of operating at peak capacity most of the time.
Of course the reason gas prices are trending up is increased exports of LNG to Europe. This is likely to continue for the next few years.
The consequence for EV owners is that road side charging is going to be expensive but there may be much cheaper ways to charge the car at home or at anywhere you can leverage non grid, renewable power directly. Even road side chargers can reduce their dependence on grid pricing by supplementing grid energy with e.g. solar and batteries. They'll be competing on charging cost for vehicle owners. The higher the cost, the greater the incentive for vehicle owners to detour to cheaper chargers.
It's bad news for gas energy providers, however. They basically get less competitive the higher the prices get. Also, there's the notion of shutting down expensive generation when there's a surplus of cheaper renewable energy. More renewables means this happens more frequently. This is why coal, and increasingly gas plants as well, are having a hard time in the market. They basically get forced into a secondary role where hey only spin up to full capacity if there's a shortage instead of operating at peak capacity most of the time.
Of course the reason gas prices are trending up is increased exports of LNG to Europe. This is likely to continue for the next few years.
The consequence for EV owners is that road side charging is going to be expensive but there may be much cheaper ways to charge the car at home or at anywhere you can leverage non grid, renewable power directly. Even road side chargers can reduce their dependence on grid pricing by supplementing grid energy with e.g. solar and batteries. They'll be competing on charging cost for vehicle owners. The higher the cost, the greater the incentive for vehicle owners to detour to cheaper chargers.