Chinese Electric Cars

Same way people with solar power sell it back to the grid via an inverter. that is how they also run their AC appliances from the DC output of the panels.

Edited By JasonB on 23/08/2017 13:39:57

by secretly putting a changeover switch on the input to your solar inverter. It won't object to the super powerful moonlight you seem to have over your house every night.

How is anyone going to connect a battery ( DC ) to the National Grid ( AC ) ?

Not exactly the same way as PV is connected to the grid, as has been done for years, but by similar new technological solutions. In a similar fashion, but again not the same, as the way they convert the inter-continental DC power transmission lines to grids each side of the Channel, North Sea, etc, and even between countries with land borders.

"How is anyone going to connect a battery ( DC ) to the National Grid ( AC ) ?"

The same way as you connect DC photovoltaic panels, via an inverter.

regards Martin

I'm a big fan of EVs: it's in the blood as I come from a long line of milkman!

Responding to earlier comments... The limit on speed of traditional milk float was not because of flat battery fears: the gearing to get efficiency also meant that the (relatively crude) motors were a bit fast running. If you went too fast you 'dropped' a commutator segment which didn't go down well back at the depot. Our floats could always do top speed (around 20, I think) when on the way home empty, with the 'plunger in' (a series/parallel switch joining the two battery banks), but there was always a risk of damage going down hill too fast (brakes were a bit on/off when empty too).

And another thought.

We had a major power cut this week over a big area. Dorset is hardly remote, but is 'the end of the line' for the national grid, and such cuts are not unusual. What would happen to my trusty Tesla ( or a recycled milk float, which is more likely)?

Still an EV fan, and will be moving that way as sooner as we can do it reliably- and that is pretty close. (Need something big enough to get an electric piano in though).

You hope it's not night time and use your solar PV panels. Or connect your hamster's wheel to a charger/inverter.

Dave
The Emerald Isle

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It seems that Elon Musk might have that little problem covered,too:

**LINK**

https://www.tesla.com/en_GB/powerwall

**LINK**

https://www.tesla.com/en_GB/gigafactory

MichaelG.

You use the power stored in the car to run the house rather than sit in the dark. Telsa also do household energy stores which use Solar to charge during the day and you use it at night to power home or top up the car.

That then begs the question do we get enough sun light in the UK as solar panels only produce 10 to 25% of their rated output on overcast days or for a typical 4kw set up 400w to 1kw which would take for ever to charge a car. Probably great in sunny places like California but here in the UK ??

Solar Panels could be located in the Sahara and the electricity brought in with HVDC lines. Certainly a technical challenge but importing energy from hot countries is hardly new.

Dave

On dull days like that you buy in electricity from the grid which will balance out to some extent with the sunny days when you are at work and the solar excess is going into the grid and being credited to your account or stored in the Tesla powerwall ready to be used when needed.

Not going to be that good in the UK with less than 2000 hrs of sunshine/year great for sunnier areas but for the UK??

Bob,

The Powerwall is basically a 14kWh back-up battery, which you charge by whatever means best suits your location.

Have a look at the link I provided earler.

MichaelG.

14kw is not going to go very far if you have a 90kw car battery at 25% to charge and at £5900.00 plus installation not exactly cheap.

Therein lies the problem, a proper power staton works when the sun isn't shining, and the wind isn't blowing

How far is far enough? 14KWatt would give you about 90Km range on e.g. a nissan leaf.

Steve

The local paper has just road tested a Tesla, and is gushing about it.

In a small table at the end the price is quoted. £131K. Not a mass market vehicle at present!

There looks to be a LOT of work to do before the I C E is made redundant.

Howard

What were they testing? the latest Model 3 comes in at about £30K which is not bad if you work out the savings in running costs over 3-5 years

This thread has included lots of suggestions as to how to power electric vehicles. Some good, some ridiculous, and some in between.

For a more informed view have a look at the TED talk by former Chief Scientific Advisor to the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC), Professor Sir David MacKay, who unfortunately died of cancer last year:

https://www.ted.com/talks/david_mackay_a_reality_check_on_renewables

**LINK**

Russell