Electric Car Conundrum

As the number of electric cars on the road increases, energy experts have found that these cars put a massive strain on the California power grid, affecting electric cars’ viability as alternatives to diesel cars, and a greener future.

The popularity of electric cars can be explained by how accessible they are, Lick-Wilmerding High School Environmental Science Teacher Don Rizzi puts it. “Electric vehicles are the most tangible to talk about because most people can have one. And, it’s one of the best and most apparent ways to reduce one’s carbon footprint,” Rizzi said.

The popularity of electric cars has made them the target of many green energy policies, with California’s Electric Vehicle mandate (EV) being a prime example. The EV mandate requires that by 2026, 35% of all cars sold in California be electric and by 2035, 100% of all cars sold be electric. Because EV’s do not emit greenhouse gasses, the main contributors to climate change, they are better for the environment than diesel cars. However, EVs are not a simple solution to combating transit related carbon emissions; they require infrastructure to support their widespread and eventually universal use.

Charging EVs requires extensive access to electricity; the average EV requires 30 kilowatt hours to travel 100 miles, the same amount of electricity an average American home uses on a daily basis. This mass use of energy has the potential to over-exert the power grid. Academic experts note that the grid would have to expand at a much faster rate than the current pace in order to meet demand from projected sales of EVs. Unless energy policy changes significantly, California’s power grid will fall short of EV demands. 

An overpowered grid can lead to frequent unplanned power outages which are disruptive and expensive. When the grid fails, a significant number of Californians can be left without electricity. Prolonged power failures are more than just inconvenient; they can be dangerous. The inability to heat or cool homes to account for weather can lead to illness and death. For example, a power grid failure during a 2021 cold snap in Texas led to an official death toll of 246. Due to cases like these, many regard the maintenance of the power grid as essential.

Expanding the capacity of the grid while simultaneously meeting the other priorities for energy is also a challenge. “There are other issues that are taking attention away from the expansion of the power grid: the burying of power lines to make the grid fire safe and the switch to green power,” Rizzi said.  Above ground power lines have caused severe wildfires and moving those lines underground requires extensive labor and time. California is not building any more fossil-fuel based power plants, and there is strong opposition to building nuclear power plants, which leaves the only remaining power options as wind, solar and hydro. Although each of these initiatives are good for sustainability they are being prioritized over expansion of the power grid. 

Because of these challenges, many people are looking beyond EVs for a greener future. “People aren’t making enough money to catch up with the increase of housing prices[in cities]. So people are living farther away. So another solution is to build housing where people go to work, so they’re not spending that much time commuting to work,” transportation professional at the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency, Robert Lim said. Building housing like this increases population density which decreases the number of cars that people own and reduces carbon emissions. However, it’s a policy issue to build denser cities, requiring changes to local zoning laws, a notoriously difficult legislative challenge.  

Despite all these problems, there are hopeful signs for reducing transit related emissions in California. Recently, to make affordable housing accessible, an executive order signed by Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass has rapidly increased the number of apartments being built.  The grid itself is also getting greener. According to California’s Total System Electricity Generation Report, solar and wind generated electricity is increasing while coal generated electricity has been almost phased out. It’s true that EVs are part of a larger solution in getting to zero transit emissions. However, experts agree that transit policy should be comprehensive and not focus solely on EVs.  

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Nikaash Omachi

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