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Brian Head Yankee

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It's not only the last mile, it's the total generation capacity of the grid. I am in the power generation industry. Our HQ is in California but we work nationwide. The state is in a panic over the shortage of total generating capacity. I see the data. Diablo Canyon, the only nuke in Cal is shutting down. It is 10% of their power generation.

We are designing packs that will run the grid for 4 hours. It's a race to see who gets the batteries, little EV packs or HUGE grid battery systems that cover an acre of land! 339 of these sites requested approval last month. It is billions of dollars worth of batteries. Ford will be fine as long as they can source the precious metals.
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currybob

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As long as you don't live in Texas, you should be fine.

I'm starting to think that the power company's are already starting to prepare for this EV future. The past several months they have been updating the rural power lines in the area where I live in Indiana. Several miles of new poles placed and upgraded to three-phase service. I now could put my own supercharger station in at home...
Problem will be generating plants.
 

Niterider

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Problem will be generating plants.
Do solar farms count? (I know, not much help at night) They are working at putting in a 1500 acre solar farm just a few minutes away from me on reclaimed coal mine ground.

https://www.tribstar.com/news/local...cle_4e58ad72-c65b-5364-a2f8-ff11d4dfb60d.html

But I do agree that generating capacity needs to be increased. Even if they do add this solar farm in (nearly) my backyard, the same power company is planning the decommissioning of a coal powered generating station just down the road in about the same period of time.

I think we still have time, it’s not like EV’s are just going to replace regular vehicles overnight. While I would consider an EV like the Lightning, at least for me, the charging infrastructure to support it just isn’t ready in the area I live in. Maybe in another 10 years....
 

currybob

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Do solar farms count? (I know, not much help at night) They are working at putting in a 1500 acre solar farm just a few minutes away from me on reclaimed coal mine ground.

https://www.tribstar.com/news/local...cle_4e58ad72-c65b-5364-a2f8-ff11d4dfb60d.html

But I do agree that generating capacity needs to be increased. Even if they do add this solar farm in (nearly) my backyard, the same power company is planning the decommissioning of a coal powered generating station just down the road in about the same period of time.

I think we still have time, it’s not like EV’s are just going to replace regular vehicles overnight. While I would consider an EV like the Lightning, at least for me, the charging infrastructure to support it just isn’t ready in the area I live in. Maybe in another 10 years....
A solar farm or wind mill, all are good but they dont' produce all the time and no real way to store the energy. As you mentioned, older systems are being decommissioned, like nuclear and coal.

Our grid in most high populated area's of the country deal with shortages now. When you start adding 1 or 2 or 5% more EVs out there, which have been increasing every year, that is a large increase in electric needs in a very short period of time.

I have not seen a lot of proactive planning in this area. They seem to be spending all their time putting out fires and don't have the funding or fore site to build for the future now, which is what it takes.

I will be fine with home charging for I don't take many long range trips in my truck annually but many do.

So, for this to continue to grow, more fast changing stations are needed with the power grid to support their needs.

Lighter more efficient and much faster charging battery packs will also be needed for this to grow into the numbers most people want it to. This tech is growing leaps and bounds daily and I feel it will get there before the support systems are there for it.

Just my 2 penny's worth
 

psiphre

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A solar farm or wind mill, all are good but they dont' produce all the time
while that is true, solar produces in line with demand. so it's easy to add in and doesn't leave us with problematic overproduction during low demand times.
 

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ChasingCoral

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A solar farm or wind mill, all are good but they dont' produce all the time and no real way to store the energy. As you mentioned, older systems are being decommissioned, like nuclear and coal.

Our grid in most high populated area's of the country deal with shortages now. When you start adding 1 or 2 or 5% more EVs out there, which have been increasing every year, that is a large increase in electric needs in a very short period of time.

I have not seen a lot of proactive planning in this area. They seem to be spending all their time putting out fires and don't have the funding or fore site to build for the future now, which is what it takes.

I will be fine with home charging for I don't take many long range trips in my truck annually but many do.

So, for this to continue to grow, more fast changing stations are needed with the power grid to support their needs.

Lighter more efficient and much faster charging battery packs will also be needed for this to grow into the numbers most people want it to. This tech is growing leaps and bounds daily and I feel it will get there before the support systems are there for it.

Just my 2 penny's worth
Many large solar installations now are priced out as solar + storage. Various storage systems are being implemented in operational settings. Most use batteries, some used pumped water storage, others are using more esoteric storage systems.

Here's one recent example. Google solar plus storage for many more:
Solar-plus-batteries chosen to replace 522MW Nevada coal plant
https://www.energy-storage.news/news/solar-plus-batteries-chosen-to-replace-522mw-nevada-coal-plant
 

Brian Head Yankee

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We are working on development of several battery storage project sites 50 MW and up. The utility companies and municipalities are in the game in a big way. Data centers are also coming on fast. Most clients are smart enough not to walk away from recips just yet so a string of natgas or diesel gensets are always part of the site plan as "battery chargers" just in case.
 

MickeyAO

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I have a 5 MW field and 10 MW of storage on either side of my lab from the local utility, with a small section set aside just for research by my company.
 

ChasingCoral

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I have a 5 MW field and 10 MW of storage on either side of my lab from the local utility, with a small section set aside just for research by my company.
Impressive!
 

cwstnsko

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I'm not sure we need to get too worked up over the 1% of driving/charging that occurs on road trips. 99% of F-150 Lightning charging will occur at peoples homes in the middle of the night, when the grid has excess capacity
 

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currybob

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I'm not sure we need to get too worked up over the 1% of driving/charging that occurs on road trips. 99% of F-150 Lightning charging will occur at peoples homes in the middle of the night, when the grid has excess capacity
I feel you are right about the charging times but with the new tech and the jump in available or soon to be available EV models exploding at a very high rate, I think you will start seeing that 1% to start growing at a very high rate.

If tax rebates increase as has been suggested and appears to have a good chance for passage, that will also be adding more fuel to the fire. Battery systems have dropped in price a great deal and predicted to even more for 2022. With tax breaks they have stated you can purchase an EV for the same price as a comparative gas model.

Not saying this is happening tomorrow but I do think if the industry gets the Solid State battery system up and running by 2025 you will see an even larger-faster push that direction. This year alone has seen a doubling of available EV models. Should double again next year if they ever get the chip issue worked out.
 

Knickell

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Ford appears to be doing a similar cross-country trip with the Lightning ⚡ as they did with the Gen.14 F-150. Here is a Facebook user who posted a good shot of the interior of the trucks they’re using for the event:

Ford F-150 Lightning Hero Card For 2022 F-150 Lightning ADAD135F-C48C-4965-BE65-6FCB40742422


Ford F-150 Lightning Hero Card For 2022 F-150 Lightning CB88D18D-1246-4CC1-AF21-8B6D716E191E
 

dhrandy

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Is there a PDF version of the hero card?
 

dhrandy

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I created a PDF version of the hero card for anyone that wants it.
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