Thinking about an electric car?
Your home may need a power boost
By Will Holford
Thinking about buying an electric car? You currently have a few options in the U.S. The two most common are the Chevrolet Volt and the Nissan Leaf. But before you buy, there are some questions you need to ask your car dealer and some things you need to know about your home’s electrical system.
Ask your dealer about the available charging options. Both the Volt and the Leaf have more than one. Some options might require modifications to your home’s electrical system. If that’s the case, you should have a licensed electrician inspect your home. If your electrical system needs work, it should be done by a licensed electrician, should meet national standards and be in compliance with all local building codes and permits.
According to Chevrolet and Nissan, the Volt and the Leaf draw a little more than three kilowatts when charging. The typical home, at any given time on a normal day, draws between four and six kilowatts.
The amount of energy your home uses determines what size transformer should be installed. Typically, Bluebonnet installs transformers capable of handling 10 kilowatts, 15 kilowatts or 25 kilowatts.
Adding three kilowatts to your home’s energy demand to charge an electric car is the equivalent of adding a barn or garage apartment. Your licensed electrician will be able to tell you what you need to do to handle the additional demand.
Before you buy an electric car, call Bluebonnet’s Member Service Center at 800-842-7708. The co-op will make sure your transformer can meet your energy needs.
As more and more electric cars hit the streets, will utilities be able to generate enough electricity to charge the cars and still provide power for everything else? Yes: according to the Electric Power Research Institute, 10 million electric vehicles would increase the nation’s demand for electricity by about .5 percent. That’s about one-third of the annual growth in demand for electricity without electric vehicles. It will be several years, maybe decades, before that many electric vehicles are on U.S. roads. Chevrolet will produce 16,000 Volts in 2011 and 60,000 in 2012. Nissan will produce 50,000 Leafs worldwide in 2011. It began selling the Leaf in December 2010 and has sold more than 4,000 in the U.S. so far.
Utilities and electric vehicle manufacturers and owners will have to work together to plan for the future. If several homeowners on the same street or in the same neighborhood buy electric vehicles and charge them at the same time, utilities will have to upgrade their electric delivery systems to ensure there is enough energy available.
Think of it in terms of water. As more homes are built in a neighborhood, the diameter of the water system’s pipes must be increased to provide enough water. If not, when everyone waters their lawns, or washes clothes, dishes and cars, the water pressure would drop or stop altogether.
Electricity is the same way. If electric cars are clustered on a distribution line or a transformer that isn’t large enough to provide electricity when needed, everyone on that line or transformer could lose power. That’s why it’s important for Bluebonnet members to let the co-op know when they have bought an electric car. That way, the cooperative can provide the energy for both car and home.
What does the future hold for electric vehicles and utilities? Will your car be able to provide power for your home in the event of a power outage? Will you be able to sell power from your vehicle to your utility in the event of power generation shortages? Perhaps, but answers are several years and several generations of electric vehicles away.