Questions spark over grid’s handling over surging Electrical Vehicle ownership

ABC NEWS (Australia)

As more cars are powered by electricity and not fossil fuels. Questions are being asked about the effect electrical vehicles are having on the electrical grid.

Transcript

00:00Life in the fast lane. Like a growing number of Australians, Peter Piotrowski drives an

00:08electric vehicle, or EV. One of the biggest attractions? Performance.

00:13It can't compete with that sort of instant torque.

00:20But there's a much bigger electric machine that's increasingly occupying the minds of

00:24energy experts. With Australia on the cusp of an electric vehicle revolution, the ability

00:29of the power grid to cope is an open question. Yes, EVs will have an effect on the grid.

00:35But I actually think that effect could be positive if it's managed well.

00:39EVs accounted for close to 10% of all new cars sold in Australia in the first quarter

00:45of this year, up from just 4% in 2022. It's a trend that's only expected to gather pace,

00:51as the federal government targets sales of 50% by 2030.

00:55I don't think anyone disagrees with the notion that the long-term future is electric, at

01:02best hybrid. One of the little appreciated aspects of EVs

01:06is their sheer size as electrical appliances. Compared with most other devices, they are

01:11huge. And while that might not be a problem when they're being charged slowly, fast charging

01:17them can add significantly to a household's demand for power.

01:22Boiling a kettle will use about the same amount of energy as an EV plugged into a standard

01:28outlet. But for the average customer that has a wall-mounted charger, they'll be adding

01:33about 50% demand to the network. Poles and wires companies are adamant the

01:38grid can handle the extra demand, saying the vehicles could even help make the system more

01:43efficient. Your electric vehicle would be plugged into

01:46your charger, and it would enable energy from that battery to be discharged or flow

01:55into the network at a time when the network really needed it.

02:00Everyone agrees that getting the settings right will be crucial.

02:03You can future-proof sometimes the networks by taking overhead lines, the poles and wires

02:08you might see outside your house, and burying them underground with new cables. And those

02:12new cables are bigger, typically, so they can carry more juice, more electricity.

02:16Peter Petrovsky is backing Australia to navigate any bends in the road ahead.

02:21I'm very optimistic. I don't think EVs will present a problem for the grid as long as

02:26they're managed responsibly. Charging a revolution, one trip at a time.

02:31Daniel Mercer, ABC News.

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