Would electric cars be to blame if there were a blackout?

Just 1.4 percent of electricity demand

The amount of electricity required to power EVs is by no means insignificant, of course. On the basis that an EV consumes around 2,500 kilowatt hours per year, that’s already up to half of a household’s electricity usage. Yet the 100,000 or so EVs on Switzerland’s roads still don’t rank among the biggest power guzzlers. E-mobility accounts for a mere 1.4 percent of the electricity used by the country’s private households. Things will look different in future, though: estimates indicate that, once largely electrified, the nation’s fleet of private vehicles will need 10 to 15 terawatt hours of electricity a year – equivalent to about 10 percent of Switzerland’s total electricity demand. We are unlikely to reach this level until after 2030, however.

EVs boast much higher energy efficiency

Currently, the discussion is mainly about power shortages, as electricity really could be in scarce supply this winter; but the bigger picture is actually the energy shortage in general. In this case, electrically powered cars are a much better choice – not least because electric motors convert around 80 percent of their energy into motion, as opposed to internal combustion engines (ICEs), where the figure is only around 27 percent (see this article published by the BMUV – German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection). E-mobility is far more energy-efficient than today’s largely ICE-based mobility.

Climate protection and politics

Aside from the contribution electromobility makes to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, the move away from fossil fuels and towards electricity produced largely from renewable sources is also desirable in light of current geopolitical uncertainties. In contrast to other energy sources, electricity can actually be produced domestically to a large extent, and even very locally, which alleviates dependencies and supply uncertainties. Green electricity produced in Switzerland and the EU is therefore the most sensible medium-term solution from both an ecological and a geopolitical perspective.

EVs as energy storage devices

One of the challenges associated with electricity from renewable sources – wind and solar energy, for instance – is how to store it, as it is often not produced at times of peak demand. That’s where EVs come in, as their relatively large batteries offer great potential for storing energy locally.

Private cars actually remain stationary for up to 23 hours a day, effectively freeing them up for use as mobile power banks that can then be combined to create large energy storage systems akin to reservoirs. For example, solar electricity produced during the day can be stored in the car and then fed back into the grid at peak times. The technology required for this already exists: car-sharing provider Mobility is currently running a pilot project with 50 vehicles at 40 different locations throughout Switzerland.

Not ideal in winter

It’s indisputable that EVs perform less well in winter temperatures – in the sense that they use more electricity in the cold than they do in the warm. This is firstly because the battery cell capacity decreases as the temperature drops. And while many EVs are fitted with a battery heater to compensate for this, these heaters also consume energy. Secondly, additional energy is needed to heat the air inside the car in winter, which increases electricity consumption by a further 10–20 percent, according to the TCS. Realistic tests have shown that cold weather reduces range by 18 percent on average.

Conclusion

To sum up, it’s clear that EVs are not currently a major factor in terms of electricity consumption. Rather than being the problem, they are part of the medium-term solution, as they cut energy usage – thanks to their far more efficient drive systems – and can act as storage devices to help stabilise the grid. The move away from imported fossil fuels towards green electricity produced largely domestically is still underway, however. And even EVs consume energy, of course – which is neither free nor available in unlimited quantities. This blog post explains how even an EV can therefore help you save energy.