I was thinking on the drive home for work that the ever increasing number of electric vehicles will likely mean an increasing demand on the energy infrastructure’s of countries.
But what is actually happening in the electricity grid if supply can’t meet demand? Is it simply the devices furthest away from the generation of power won’t receive current?
Whilst this is ELI5, I also wouldn’t mind a slightly more technical answer. Thanks!
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As is done often, comparing it to plumbing may help with the concept.
As many of us have experienced personally, when you turn on a lot of water faucets, spigots, and/or appliances in your home, you will see a decrease in water pressure from each of those outlets. There comes a point where some of the connected equipment will no longer function properly. There’s no point in running a water sprinkler that’s just dribbling water, for example.
So, when it comes to electricity, the same applies. At some point there’s not enough electrical current to power your devices and they will experience a brownout. Some equipment will fail to operate altogether in this situation. Some things may operate but at a lower capability. As a result, utility companies may then start using techniques to match supply to demand like asking customers to reduce usage through incentives like bill credits. Ultimately, they may be forced to start implementing rolling blackouts where customers have power completely turned off for a period of time so that others won’t be affected.
You’re right that adding a whole lot of EVs to the grid at once could be a problem. But the plan is that as EV adoption increases, so will electrical production. Also, other related technologies like whole home electrical storage exist that serve to mitigate demand from the grid during periods of increased demand which should hopefully prevent widespread problems.
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