Subject: Re: BRK: Why Not XOM?
What fuel source will power the EV charging stations?


The same mix as currently: gas, coal, nuclear, wind, solar, hydro, etc.

The big advantage of having a lot of battery chargin in the mix is that it can usually be off-peak, i.e. not between 6 and 9 in the morning and not between 4 and 8 in the evening. So nuclear, which provides for a pretty much constant output around the clock, will finally have something to do in the middle of the night, and windpower (which is better at night) will not be such a bad fit. If and when deep geothermal becomes an economically viable option, it would be like nuclear, with demand from EVs at night making it more viable.

Batteries are very expensive, so the big problem with wind and solar is that they are sporadic, and their cost is much greater than fossil fuel or nuclear, once you include the cost of storage to make renewables a reliable source. But if you have 300 million EVs that are often hooked up to the network, all of a sudden you have something which can absorb off-peak generation and, sometimes, give some back during the times of peak demand, with that battery capacity already paid for as part of the car.

dtb