By B.N. Frank
Electric Vehicles (EV) are being promoted as cool and socially responsible despite the fact that some models have already caught fire and required environmentally UNfriendly methods for dealing with that.
Another issue with them – the very high cost associated with safely owning and operating them.
From Transportxtra:
Mass EV charging: is a can of worms hiding under the bonnet?
The Government’s push to electrify road transport and domestic heating could place major cost burdens on consumers, says a new reportElectric vehicles have become something of a panacea for politicians as they grapple with how to decarbonise the transport sector. But for some engineers, the headlong rush to electrify road transport and domestic heating too is a major cause for concern. LTT reported in May the top-down analysis of Michael Kelly, the former chief scientific adviser to the Department for Communities and Local Government (LTT 29 May & Letters 26 Jun). Now a more bottom-up analysis has been prepared by retired engineer Mike Travers. Both reports have been published by the Global Warming Policy Foundation think tank.
“It is clear that the costs of supporting all the plans the Government has for transport and homes is going to be very high, and it is going to be made worse by the fact that the changeover is not being thought through, let alone planned effectively,” says Travers. “Part of the problem is that there is no institution or organisation in a suitable position to do so. The distribution companies own the transformers and cables, but may or may not be responsible for the smart meters. They therefore have little interest in some form of smart control [of electricity demand]. As profit-making companies, they also have no interest in investing for the future load increases, as they can charge for all the upgrading work as it is required.”
Decarbonisation will place huge new demands on the electricity network, with homeowners installing electric vehicle charging points, heat pumps and electric showers. “The extra demand for electricity will overwhelm most domestic fuses, thus requiring homeowners to install new ones, as well as circuit-breakers and new distribution boards,” says Travers. “Most will also have to rewire between their main fuse and the distribution network. In urban areas, where most electrical cabling is underground, this will involve paying for a trench to be dug between the home and the feeder circuits in the street.”
The Government wants millions of electric vehicles on Britain’s roads within the next decade. Those residents lucky enough to have off-street parking, will have two main choices for charging their EVs, says Travers: slow charging using a standard 13-amp supply, or fast charging using a special 7kW (32-amp) supply.
Since the article addresses utility “Smart” Meters – it’s worth nothing that these devices were also originally promoted as cool and socially responsible. However there have been A LOT of reports about them being anything but that. In fact, these meters have been plagued with problems from the start – fires, explosions, increased bills, and more (see 1, 2, 3, 4, 5). They also DO NOT save meaningful amounts of energy – as originally promised. People worldwide have been fighting “Smart” Meters since they were first deployed. Utilities keep installing them anyway.
So are Electric Vehicles destined to have at least some of the same problems as smart meters? It seems so. Health risks have already been identified with their high levels of Electromagnetic Radiation (EMR) emissions (see 1, 2). So there’s that along with of course, the fires.
Activist Post reports regularly about “Smart” Meters and other unsafe technology. For more information, visit our archives and the following websites:
- Coalition to Stop Smart Meters
- EMF Safety Network
- StopSmartMeters.org
- SmartMeterHarm
- Smart Grid Awareness
- Smart Meter News
- Take Back Your Power
- The People’s Initiative
- Wireless Information Network
Image: Pixabay
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