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Can the national grid cope with electric cars?

I’m interested in buying an electric vehicle, but I worry that with more people moving to electric, the national grid won’t be able to handle all the draw on electricity. Can the national grid cope with electric cars?

avatar
Bellina Gaskey · Updated on
Reviewed by Shannon Martin, Licensed Insurance Agent.
We understand where you’re coming from: after the snowmageddon in Texas revealed the inadequacy of the power grid there, concerns over the capabilities of the grid to handle electric vehicles grew.
The short answer to this question is yes, the national grid can handle
electric cars
with planning and preparation.
As it is currently, the national grid is fine. Even in states with the biggest booms of electric vehicles, the grid has more than enough energy coming in to handle demand.
The only way electric cars could currently swamp the grid would be if every electric car owner charged their car at the exact same time. Of course, there will be times that people are more likely to charge their cars than others but nothing on the scale of what it would take to break the grid.
The good news is, there are plans in place to give the grid a much-needed makeover as part of the shift toward electric vehicles:
  • Bills
    have already been released that will allocate money for the necessary changes to be made.
  • Electricity companies understand the potential electric vehicles present, and they are actively exploring ways to make electricity more accessible to electric vehicles, like more charging stations.
  • Another thing they’re doing is exploring ways to juggle the charging times; offering cheaper rates if people plug-in during the day when less people are charging and solar energy is more available is one way some companies in California are already doing this.
More good news; owning an electric car isn’t only going to be more accessible than ever in the near-future, it’s also one with more options for insurance. With
Jerry
, you can find the insurance plan that works best for you in 3 minutes or less.
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