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Showing posts from May, 2023

It is 12 noon - do you know where your car is?

For most privately owned cars, the most common answers are: at home, at work or somewhere on the road. But why does this matter? The increased installation of solar panels is leading to a more pronounced " duck curve " in many power grids - with an over-supply of electricity around noon on sunny days and demand ramping up rapidly in the evening as the sun sets and people are returning home. Large amounts of energy storage will be needed to "flatten the duck". While VRES like solar and wind have generally become the cheapest sources of electricity production, storage is still very expensive. At the same time, we are seeing a strong trend to replace traditional cars with battery electric vehicles (BEV). For better or for worse, BEV are essentially large batteries on wheels. Because of this battery, BEV are significantly more expensive to manufacture and have a roughly 30% higher initial "carbon debt" than comparable ICE cars. On the other hand, once purchas