Barron’s October 3, 2021, 8:00 AM EDT|Feature|”Tesla’s Must Say U.S. Electricity Production Needs to Double to Power Transition to EV Vehicles” by Al Root
Image from visualcapitalist.com
Read Barron’s for all the details and see the Tesla YouTube video of Elon Musk’s interview CodeCon 2021 28SEP2021
Summary offered by 2244
For America to fully convert to EV, according to Elon Musk, electric generation will need to double to meet the challenge of moving from gas pumps to electric plugs. Having said that good-news, there’s more good-news in that the transition can happen to a degree in parallel with consumer adoption. “It will take a generation to make a dent in the personal transportation fleet.” A generation being defined as 20-30 years. With 276 million cars in the U.S. now and 1% being electric, if by 2030 half of new car sales are EV then 15% will be EV or about 50 million. Such a level “won’t challenge the grid.” So no concerns about rolling blackouts.
We would be more challenged If we achieved 90% EV by 2040. That would then be about 66% of what we generate today. Beyond challenges to power generation we will need more infrastructure for the centralized grid including more power lines, more distribution substations etc. and so Musk points to “local generation-at the home level-is part of the solution.” “That’s why Tesla also sells solar roofs and battery back-up power systems to residential customers.” It’s clear that where there’s strong demand, there is a chance for revenue and profit for companies in this emerging space. Good for business.
Figure from rff.org