How Charging Your Tesla Affects the Texas Electrical Grid

The US electric vehicle market is booming. Although 2019 showed a small decline in the total volume of car sales, EV sales have increased nearly sevenfold over the past six years, reaching 358,000 sales in 2018 (1).  

This unprecedented adoption of electric vehicles is creating a massive electricity demand, causing new challenges for the electrical grid. Tom Baker, a managing director with Boston Consulting Group spoke with an EV news outlet, POWER stating

“Assuming 15–20% of all vehicles in a representative utility’s service area are EVs by 2030 and that the utility is somewhat successful at optimizing when and where EVs are charged, we expect a 5–10% increase in energy demand but a 25–33% increase in demand for grid capacity (2)".  

EV charging is profoundly impacting the electrical grid, especially in Texas. As of February 15th, 2021, rolling power outages are underway state-wide, and ERCOT has declared an Energy Emergency Alert 3 (EEA3) for the electric grid. This has caused Texas electricity companies to reach a tipping point in their ability to meet demand during peak hours. 

They’re finding now that electricity demand is outpacing what these energy companies can produce (3).

The Influence of Electric Vehicles

Over the past decade there has been a massive rise of electric vehicles in Texas and in just under a decade Tesla has surpassed the sales numbers of some of the biggest automotive companies in the world (4).

Tesla has provided a great alternative for Texans looking for a greener alternative to gas-guzzling cars. By emitting less carbon, these EVs have a net-positive impact on the environment in Texas. 

However, the rise of Teslas comes with an increased strain on the Texas electric grid. This strain is particularly heavy during times of extreme weather when air conditioning and heater usage is high.

What is the Effect of Electric Vehicles on Texas Power Grid?

In the short term, Texas-based electricity companies are heavily investing in a generation to catch up with demand, but it will take a while for these new power plants to be built. 

These power plants often take years to develop and accurately predict future local demand. States such as Texas are heavily investing in home solar and storage projects to provide energy back to the grid (5).

What if we do nothing?

Researchers have found that a projected increase of 60,000 EVs charging simultaneously for a 5-minute charge time will result in upwards of 70 Gigawatts of additional energy demand from the Texas electricity grid, which is more than the Texas grid can currently supply. 

Infrastructure needs to be put in place to help support this additional demand, and Tesla owners and EV owners alike need to consider how they can help address the problem.

Ways your Tesla can help

As a Tesla owner, one of the most important things you can do to help is charged your Tesla outside peak hours.

If enough Texans opt to charge their Tesla during off-peak hours, they can effectively flatten out the spike in high-demand hours where electricity providers are finding it hard to meet that demand. This is one incredibly effective way to help reduce the strain on the electrical grid.

It can be cumbersome to keep track of electricity demand and knowing when high-demand is happening in your specific area. The ERCOT (6) website gives a real-time look, but manually coordinating charging schedules with this data can be a cumbersome task.

Luckily, there are apps that will automatically delay the charging of your Tesla during times of peak-demand. Optiwatt is a 100% free service, all while using driving patterns and charge data to minimize driver inconvenience.

Other Considerations

Outside of charging your Tesla during off-peak hours, there are other ways to help reduce strain on the Texas electrical grid. Add solar panels and storage to your home allows you to be more independent from the grid and possibly reduce the load you draw on the grid to zero.

Since Texas gets around 200-250 sunny days per year, you’ll easily be able to draw your own electricity and even supply the energy companies with electricity when they need it most!

Tesla Vehicles to the Grid

Elon Musk has promised cars that connect to the electrical grid.

Next Steps

Electric vehicles continue to rise as an exciting dynamically charged alternative to gas powered vehicles. You have a great opportunity to not only help in green initiatives by driving an EV, but also to help reduce the impact and strain on the electric grid by aligning your charging schedule on off-peak hours.

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