I siding see that one either. Missed it totally. It’s a smart move by Ford. Kia, VW, Audi, etc partnered with Electrify America. Ford will benefit from Tesla.
Good article, Steve. I'm probably too old to trust an EV to get me from my home in Hall County to Sarasota FL in less than 3 days. I know there's no reason why it couldn't. It's just that I do not believe the infrastructure is up to the task. Power companies should love EVs once standardized charging systems are in place in enough travel stop locations. Plenty of off-peak power should be available - especially at night in sunshine states. I recently read a story about new construction of power storage facilities similar in concept to pumped storage hydro. Excess power from solar or base load power plants (not all plants can be efficiently throttled back when load decreases) will be used to lift megaton concrete weights so that they can be allowed to fall in a controlled manner thereby utilizing the stored potential energy to spin generators.
Thanks. Here's a more recent article that describes the current progress and shows the scale of real construction of such a facility. I suppose it could be thought of as a gravity battery although it requires a lot of moving parts. It is simpler than a hydroelectric power plant.
Worth noting from this past week - Ford EVs to also use Tesla charging standards:
https://www.inc.com/jason-aten/fords-surprise-partnership-with-tesla-looks-like-a-deal-with-devil-its-actually-a-stroke-of-genius.html
I siding see that one either. Missed it totally. It’s a smart move by Ford. Kia, VW, Audi, etc partnered with Electrify America. Ford will benefit from Tesla.
Exceptional and fascinating article Steve' my compliments.
Nice write-up, and thanks for putting in Nio's battery swap as well.
Only feedback item: lithium iron phosphate batteries are typically known as LiFePo.
I used the reference from the cited piece. But I’m a layman.
I have to correct also: LiFePO4 ('cause phosphate is PO4)...
Good article, Steve. I'm probably too old to trust an EV to get me from my home in Hall County to Sarasota FL in less than 3 days. I know there's no reason why it couldn't. It's just that I do not believe the infrastructure is up to the task. Power companies should love EVs once standardized charging systems are in place in enough travel stop locations. Plenty of off-peak power should be available - especially at night in sunshine states. I recently read a story about new construction of power storage facilities similar in concept to pumped storage hydro. Excess power from solar or base load power plants (not all plants can be efficiently throttled back when load decreases) will be used to lift megaton concrete weights so that they can be allowed to fall in a controlled manner thereby utilizing the stored potential energy to spin generators.
More details on that energy storage method from a couple of years ago:
https://singularityhub.com/2021/09/01/better-than-batteries-a-startup-thats-storing-energy-in-concrete-blocks-just-raised-100-million/
Thanks. Here's a more recent article that describes the current progress and shows the scale of real construction of such a facility. I suppose it could be thought of as a gravity battery although it requires a lot of moving parts. It is simpler than a hydroelectric power plant.
https://www.cnet.com/home/energy-and-utilities/how-these-24-ton-bricks-could-fix-a-huge-renewable-energy-problem/