Largest EV Charging Station In World Powered By Diesel-Powered Generators
Touted as the world’s largest charging station with a whopping 98 charging bays, one would expect this facility to be the epitome of green energy. After all, back in 2017, Tesla’s CEO Elon Musk proudly declared that all Superchargers in the automaker’s network were transitioning to solar.
“Over time, almost all will disconnect from the electricity grid,” he confidently posted on X, formerly known as Twitter.
https://cowboystatedaily.com/2023/09/30/largest-ev-charging-station-in-the-world-uses-diesel-powered-generators/
But as it turns out, the reality is quite different.
“Superchargers charge vehicles up to the 80% sweet spot in as little as 20 minutes, but to provide that kind of power for nearly 100 bays takes something solar can’t provide — diesel generators.”
https://cowboystatedaily.com/2023/09/30/largest-ev-charging-station-in-the-world-uses-diesel-powered-generators/
That’s right. Diesel generators. The very antithesis of the clean, green energy that Tesla and other electric vehicle (EV) proponents have been preaching about. Investigative journalist Edward Niedermeyer made the startling discovery that these diesel generators were conveniently tucked away behind a Shell station. And when reporters from SF Gate tried to ascertain just how much of the station’s electricity came from these generators, Tesla remained conspicuously silent.
“The station isn’t connected to any dedicated solar farms, which means that absent the diesel generators, the station is powered by California’s grid.”
https://cowboystatedaily.com/2023/09/30/largest-ev-charging-station-in-the-world-uses-diesel-powered-generators/
Now, let’s take a moment to ponder the implications of this. According to the U.S. Energy and Information Administration, as of June 2023, natural gas supplied nearly 5,000 megawatt hours of electricity in California, while non-hydroelectric renewables provided about 7,250 megawatt hours. So, even if we give Tesla the benefit of the doubt and assume that the Supercharger station occasionally draws power from the grid, it’s still not entirely “green.”
But wait, there’s more. Energy analyst David Blackmon, author of “Energy Transition Absurdities,” points out that the Harris Ranch station isn’t an isolated case. He recalls a Whole Foods in Houston that had installed a charging station, which, to his amusement, took up prime parking real estate and even displaced several handicap spaces.
“He said there were diesel generators behind the store and whenever someone was using the chargers, the generators would kick on.”
https://cowboystatedaily.com/2023/09/30/largest-ev-charging-station-in-the-world-uses-diesel-powered-generators/
It’s almost comical, isn’t it? The very establishments that tout their commitment to sustainability and a cleaner future are, in reality, relying on the same “dirty” energy sources they publicly condemn.
Blackmon further highlights the lack of foresight in the current energy transition, especially as the demand for EVs grows. The retirement of a coal-fired power plant in Kansas had to be postponed to cater to the energy needs of an under-construction EV battery factory. As Blackmon aptly puts it:
“These stories illustrate well the lack of thought going into the demands that will be placed on the grid with increasing amounts of electric vehicle adoption.”
https://cowboystatedaily.com/2023/09/30/largest-ev-charging-station-in-the-world-uses-diesel-powered-generators/
State Sen. Cheri Steinmetz, R-Lingle, echoes this sentiment, emphasizing the unreliability of wind and solar energy to meet the growing energy demands.
“Adding the load required for electric vehicles and the transportation network to support them would exacerbate the looming shortages we already face in the near future if energy policies are not reformed,” Steinmetz warns.
https://cowboystatedaily.com/2023/09/30/largest-ev-charging-station-in-the-world-uses-diesel-powered-generators/
Blackmon also sheds light on the impracticality of Musk’s vision to power charging stations solely with solar energy.
“If that’s what he wants, then he only wants the chargers to work six to eight hours a day. If they’re purely powered by solar, there’s just no way out of that,” Blackmon states.
https://cowboystatedaily.com/2023/09/30/largest-ev-charging-station-in-the-world-uses-diesel-powered-generators/
Musk’s ambitious claims have often been met with skepticism. From promises of powering the world with a small patch of the Sahara Desert to the assertion that Superchargers would disconnect from the grid, many of these pledges remain unfulfilled. Energy expert Alex Epstein even debunked Musk’s Sahara claim, estimating that the cost of creating a reliable grid using batteries would be a staggering $590 trillion, excluding transmission infrastructure costs. And let’s not forget that these batteries have a lifespan of a mere decade.
In conclusion, the Harris Ranch Tesla Supercharger station serves as a stark reminder of the challenges and contradictions inherent in the current energy transition narrative. The current execution of the so-called energy transition leaves much to be desired. We need to approach the energy policy with realism, acknowledging the limitations of current technologies and the indispensable role of traditional energy sources.
“Actions speak louder than words.” And in this case, the diesel generators behind the world’s largest charging station are speaking volumes.
HT/Ralph G
If XR wanted to do some vandalism that would actually reduce fossil fuel consumption, they would steal all of the charger cables at that site.
Wouldn’t those be AXR? Anti Extinction Rebellion would seek to remove EV charging infrastructure. XR should seek to damage the Diesel Generators
They are generally too lefty and dense to understand the physics and technological smoke & mirrors involved – as far as they’re concerned those battery chargers are stopping the planet burning, the oceans boiling
Looks like sooner or later Californians will be driving a diesel-powered cars whether they want to or not.
But those diesel generators have been blessed by ManBearPig and Prince Gavin; they only give off GREEN CO2!
The other day I saw a Tesla mobile service van on the road next to me. I was surprised to see that it had a diesel engine. That right there should show people what Tesla thinks of the reliability of EVs.
How does the diesel fuel get delivered?
Unicorns.
In California, probably 60% of diesel fuel used is from hydroprocessing FOG (Fats, Oils, & Greases). Much of this comes from UCO (Used Cooking Oil) and animal fats, but a lot also comes from Soy Oil or Corn Oil, which are actually food sources (although some deny this is the case). So, the EcoNuts will claim that even the diesel fuel is “renewable” but that is only partly true. The calculated reduction in GHG emissions for Renewable Diesel is between 30 to 80% depending on on which FOG is used. But the cost of this is in the range of $6/gal for FOG alone and not including processing, distribution, taxes and profits that are part of the total cost of fuel. Much of this high cost is subsidized by Renewable Fuels Standards (Fed) and CARB’s Low Carbon Fuels Standard (CA) and other subsidies/credits that tax payears contribute (Willingly?) to reduce the sales price of RD to that of conventional diesel fuel.
What a wonderful world we live in until we run out of other people’s money!
Yes, but you can get an excellent steak at Harris Ranch while you wait for your EV to charge.
I’ll bite that
“Yes, but you can get a very expensive steak at Harris Ranch while you wait for your EV to charge.”
There, fixed it for you!
Get a better job.
Sorry, Shoki, I’m retired.
But even when I was working I never much cared for paying 10X as much for a meal as it would cost me to fix it as well or better at home! I ate at this Harris Ranch location once; I think it was returning from performing at a cowboy poetry festival in SoCal, and the only thing I found more impressive than the quality of their food was their mark-up!
Can EV owners even EAT steak? I thought that proof of vegan bona fides was part of the sale process!
You’ve time for a 4 course meal and aperitif
and an after meal nap
they need to build a movie theatre. !
Outdoor Drive-in!
Plus screen facing motel!
Sleep with us!
And 9 holes on the golf course.
But only as long as they’re allowed to use gas for the grills.
It seems to have very limited opening hours, 5p.m. to 9 or 10p.m.
You have to wonder what those who plan their charging sessions for midnight (the most popular time) do while waiting. A spot if dogging, perhaps?
They could make the site Stand Alone Solar…With Megapack Batteries becoming the fuel (electron) storage tanks and a heckofalotof Solar Panels to recharge them while the sun shines. Although Diesel Generation would be far more affordable than 4 or 5 Megapacks and a several thousand (Topaz Solar Farm) solar panels.
10’s of thousands of panels, at least.
About 4700 acres worth
probably- if all 98 stations are charging a vehicle at the same time- which will happen will everyone is forced to get one- other than the many stations that will not be working- I wonder what the failure rate of chargers is?
100 stations delivering 50 kwhrs each over a 30 minute period that is 5 MWhrs
so you need at least 10 MW of power to deliver that. I suppose 1 big wind turbine could deliver that for 8 hours per day on average. but you would still need the backup generators for the remaining 16 hours
That would be worth sketching out – a very small compact use case for wind and solar, figuring out what it would look like for a 98 or 100 charging car park. Possibly with the whole parking lot covered with solar cells and a wind turbine in each corner – oi, like a mosque for the green god…. though the blades would be too close together and would smack each other every time the wind changed direction
If a square meter would be enough to produce about 200 watts, then 500 m2 would be needed for each 100Kw charger, (and I think they can be much stronger, like 250Kw), and each parking spot is only about 15m2 ( or the equivalent of 34 parking spaces of solar panels are needed for 1 parked car to charge. Usually about a 1/3rd of the lot is ‘wasted’ to provide the drive way and other nonparking area, so lets say instead 34 roughly 25 parking spaces are needed for each car, so that ~100 space Supercharger carpark could have a roof big enough to charge 4 cars – but only from about 10 to 3…
Might have to cover the whole shopping mall parking lot and not just where the Tesla’s are charging.
You can only cover about half of the land surface with panels, so you have to double the number of square meters of land needed for the solar panels.
Joseph: It’s pretty clear that the charging station at Coalinga (aka “Coaling Station A”) is there, and huge, because Coalinga is just off Interstate 5 about half way between Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay area. Even in California’s mild climate, you can’t make the 560km between the two cities on a single charge. My GUESS would be that there is fairly steady traffic through the station most of the time. Maybe a bit heavier days than nights (although why anyone would want to see the scenery along I5 except in wildflower season escapes me). But on a few holiday weekends there are probably Teslas lined up for blocks waiting for a charger.
It might make engineering sense to power the normal load from solar plus a good sized backup battery and to use diesel to handle the few big peaks. But expecting any component of the Green Revolution to make engineering sense seems kind of a waste of time.
BTW, I don’t think I see any solar farm in the Google satellite view of the facility. I don’t see any restrooms either. Hopefully, I just don’t understand what I’m looking at. That happens sometimes.
Is that assuming 100% panel coverage? Or does it leave room between the rows for maintenance and to make sure the panels don’t shade each other?
Here’s a Google maps view of Topaz Solar it’s capacity is about 140MW when the sun shines and Zero for the remaining 18 hours daily
https://www.google.com/maps/@35.3713543,-120.0524071,13z/data=!3m1!1e3
That little White square substation in the middle is about twice the size of the supercharger area at Harris Ranch
Zooming in, it looks like between 50 and 60% of the land is covered by solar panels. That doesn’t include the area taken up by the substation.
Let me think if I get this – EV car > Diesel powered EV charging point > EV car journey.
If we cut out “EV” and “charging point” what are we left with…?
That can be applied to a lot of the UFLW Globulist (sic) blx agenda to I reckon – “over to you”
How long before these people start to ask the question – “What was the purpose for moving to EVs again?”
signal their virtue?
The purpose is to reduce your standard of living. Commodities that cost more, are more difficult to use and deliver less performance do exactly that. And as I always say, people who want to lower your standard of living are not your friends.
I wouldn’t mind as much of THEY lowered their standard of living first to set the example. The idiot relatives of my wife who stopped by, then ganged up on me as a “denier”- are all upper middle class- live in huge homes, drive fancy cars (some are EVs of course) and they love to jet around the world. One year they all flew from Boston to Chicago just to view the solar eclipse. But when I dared to suggest that maybe, just maybe there is NO climate EMERGENCY- they pounced.
Just challenge them to put their living standards where their mouths are – ask them to purge themselves of everything oil, fossil fuel & nuclear based (basically all their mod con, high living standard stuff)
It stuns them as they realise they can’t, they wouldn’t
I’ve asked this question to several global warming warriors, their response is always along the lines of, “It makes no sense for just me to change, if we are going to make a difference, it has to be everyone changing.”
This is usually right after they have declared global warming to be an existential crisis that threatens to kill all life on the planet.
Ok, get that in writing – so that if China, India, Indonesia, Brazil aren’t going to reduce their emissions or standard of living then we don’t have to either.
It’s a similar argument used in the UK when we point out to the loons that the country only produces 1% of global emissions.
The reply always is “we must set the example”.
Apparently, because we invented the industrial revolution we must be the first to ’emerge’ from that horrendous period of human progress.
If the UK has to set an example, then shouldn’t they be required to set an example for their fellow country men?
The purpose is to create an artificial investment cycle and benefit from it. Reduction of standards of living is not their direct goal, it is more of an inevitable consequence of investing in less productive technologies. Society on average consumes what it produces. If we produce bigger quantities, of better quality and more efficiently, we live better, and vice versa. With less productive technologies more effort is used to produce less, therefore the standards of living take a hit.
It’s the ‘elite’s’ cunning way to cull the human herd.
This should scare the bejesus out you if you own an EV!
It’s ironic that all the components for the chargers and any solar panels are MADE from the oil derivatives manufactured from crude oil.
Most silicon for solar panels is made from the reaction of silica with coal at high temperature, the temperature achieved via a coal fired furnace.
As is the glass sheet manufacturing.
I can’t wait to hear from our house Tesla fans to explain how these articles are just distracting from how great their Tesla is.
Well, remember the mantra that using electricity (for anything and everything) is “environmentally friendly” because, heck, it just comes out of a socket . . . no mess, no fuss, no spills, no emissions.
Oh, and pay no attention to that man behind the curtain.
And steak comes from the grocery store. No cattle, no manure, no methane, no messy stuff. Straight from the mouth of AOC. Oh, and she drives a Tesla too.
I thought steak came from Harris Ranch?
Except those that have self combusted
Did any of these activist blockheads learn the Laws of Thermodynamics?
We can safely assume the general public does not. Despite all the bleating about “science,” it’s obvious the public is being fed more propaganda than facts. Propaganda feeds panic, and supports dopey policies like this example of, “Robbing Peter to pay Paul.”
The estimated $590 trillion cost of going wholly solar worldwide, is more than all the money in the world — not just what we have on hand right now, but for generations to come. Let’s hope the world comes to its senses before we dig ourselves into that deep a hole.
It’s not irony, but you can decide for yourself what the 2017 Elon Musk Tweet imaged below is . . . in the context of the above article’s photo and discussion (note source of image is https://www.engadget.com/2017-06-09-elon-musk-superchargers-solar-battery-power.html ):
over time- almost all? The brilliant business man doesn’t know for sure?
The brilliant part is in being aspirational but not actually doing it. The punters will buy his electric hot rods and have fun with them and pat themselves on the back that “they are helping the environment” – when really they just have a muscle car, a show-off car.
“And you will pay for it all”.
What the eye doesn’t see the heart doesn’t grieve over..:.
Story tip maybe
Rishi Sunak hints Nigel Farage COULD be allowed to rejoin the Tories because the party is a ‘broad church’
Farage is at the conference for the first time in a decade – albeit on a media pass in his capacity as a GB News commentator – 30 years after he quit in protest at the Maastricht Treaty.
He has been given a rapturous reception by the Tory faithful….
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12588773/Rishi-Sunak-hints-Nigel-Farage-allowed-rejoin-Tories-party-broad-church-Brexit-champion-feted-activists-conference-dances-Priti-Patel-MPs-saying-easily-win-leadership-contest.html
But he’s still having trouble with his bank account
too broad a church and you’ll end up with no common values which any party needs to be effective
An effective party needs blind obedience not unlike that accorded to the church of climate change.
story tip: In related news, a new EV plant needs a coal power plant to power it https://cowboystatedaily.com/2023/09/22/ev-battery-factory-will-require-so-much-energy-it-needs-a-coal-plant-to-power-it/
They’re so brazen these days, they don’t bother to hide their deceit
Apologies. I posted the same story tip before I saw your post. Hilarious story.
No need to apologize for coming across the same story 🙂
The Climate Doom Cult congregation don’t need to know about the diesel generators. Plugging their EV’s into one of those chargers is like lighting a candle is for Catholics.
Bucky,
I don’t think your going quite far enough! The true believers of the High Church of Climate Doom are much like the flagellants of the Middle Ages except they don’t flog their own bodies! Oh, no!
They insist on mortifying the bodies of others; especially the poor! Plugging ones EV into a diesel powered charging station is just one of the myriad ways that one can help to push energy prices higher by supporting Green catechism. To paraphrase an old saying, the Net Zero Nutzis’ mantra seems to be: the beatings will continue until you obey and abase yourself!
I wonder how much longer the rest of the world will continue to humor the spoiled children of the West as they seemingly work to destroy both the international economy AND the environment!?
F*ck off with the out-right bigotry – you can compare the climate doomers to Moonies or Jehovah’s witnesses, but don’t compare them to the reason for western civilization and learning. Besides Jews, a huge chunk of Nobel science awards went to faithful Catholis, Jesuits even. Lemaitre, corrected Einstein and developed the idea of the Big Bang (but not the name) was a Catholic priest. The Church owns a share of a modern telescope in Arizona.
It was protestants who couldn’t deal with primate ancestors or and old earth. And atheists who wave their arms and conjure up DNA in just a couple of billion years.
When’s the edit button coming back? My fat thumbs left off the c near the end of Catholics.
I suspect that these diesel generators put more CO2 into the air than even a coal plant.
Not that putting CO2 into the air is a bad thing.
Hmmmm . . . anyone else notice the distinct absence of a single EV in the above article’s photo of the 37 charging bays (out of the 98 total available) at the Harris Ranch station? Can you say “underutilized”?
And need I mention the freeway (I-5 passing by Coalinga, CA) just visible in the upper left background of that photo, only 0.35 miles away (note: the closest roadway passing parallel to the station in the immediate background is CA highway 198)? See this Google Earth image:
Probably taken in the afternoon when people are avoiding peak pricing. Go there at midnight and the lot would be full.
Ha! The image you posted appears to falsify your assertion.
First, note that the photo therein was taken during daylight (not twilight) hours, which I’m assuming covers the period of 7am to 7 pm. Note that there are a total of five—yes, count ’em, five— cars at the Harris Ranch EV charging station in the field-of-view at the time the photo was taken. The photo’s field-of-view appears to cover about half the total number of charging “stalls”.
Next, if you examine the image’s graph of level of activity at that charging station, you can see there is indeed a difference between the peak level, from 10 pm to 1 am, and the average level during the assumed 12 hours of daylight . . . but it is, at most, a factor of five times higher.
So, conservatively assuming the photo was representative of the entire lot of 98 charging stations, one would project that maybe 5 cars * 2 * 5 = 50 cars might be using the “world’s largest EV charging facility” at midnight. That’s about half its rated capacity . . . nowhere near “the lot being full”.
Also, a Web search reveals that the Harris Ranch Hotel (“Inn”) has 153 rooms, so 50 Tesla EV owners/couples (occupying about a third of the available rooms) preferring to stay at this location in order to charge-up overnight for next day’s EV travel along I-5 seems right in the ball park of credibility.
And given this charging station’s relatively remote location from the town of Coalinga, it is very doubtful that any residents there that might own Teslas would expend the effort required charge their vehicles at the Harris Ranch facility.
The afternoon is daylight hours.
Duh . . . 7 am to 7 pm includes the afternoon.
I showed that in late afternoon there is is period of minimal use, probably caused by high pricing. It does not imply the place is otherwise unused. The weird pattern of use compared with the usage of gas stations nearby says that EV owners end up travelling at odd hours to avoid peak prices and perhaps to try to avoid queues.
I think the article picture was probably taken after the lot had been freshly asphalted and painted, and before it was opened. There is no sign of a dusty tyre mark anywhere..
Does this not prove positively that Global Warming/Climate Change is a FARCE?
Yes, but alarmism is a new religion, its followers have blind faith in its new gods
And…. it’s big money
May the FARCE be with ypu
No one charging there because most people charge at home and do not DARE go out of the car’s range from home.
What they need is a photo of the station at full capacity with the diesel gens chuffing out big black clouds of smoke and then call it “GREEN”
Most likely it is a NG Diesel which has lower maintenance, higher efficiency and no more smoke than the typical High Efficiency NG Furnace. My son has one he uses at new construction sites where they have not run electrical utility service yet. Other than the background noise you would not know it was there or running.
The Generac NG backup generator for a server room I looked after had a GM V6 in the box. I didn’t realize till now that it may have been on the diesel cycle instead of otto.
Just remembered, back in the late 90’s my youngest son worked at Caterpillar Diesel in Canton, OH. They did testing on a Cat Diesel using the NG provided by the local NG Utility. Same NG delivered to home owners. Ran it for over a year and the lube oil was as clean as if new. A local Mall developer used NG Diesels to provide electricity at a lower cost than the annually cost of buying the electricity from the Local Utility. This was achieved by using the waste heat to provide heat for the mall in the winter and cooling in the summer, Using Ammonia Water Absorption Refrigeration– Producing Cold from Hot.
The Irony of “Green”
Remember the great fire of London in 1666? Australia doesn’t.
World’s tallest timber building to be built in Perth after developers win approval
…
a “revolutionary” 50-storey hybrid design reaching a height of 191.2 metres.
https://amp.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/oct/03/worlds-tallest-timber-building-c6-to-be-built-in-perth-after-developers-win-approval
After the fire timber was banned and brick and stone only were permitted
Don’t know why they want a commercial building that’s bio-degradable!
And in the article there’s still some academic eco loon whining that it’s not green enough, that it will eventually end up in land fill and the CO2 returned to the air. Lots of things wrong with what it said, but the real point is that they don’t want any kind of development at all – they’ll always find fault and reducing 1 molecule of CO2 is more important than a whole population’s safety and basic quality of life.
The whole climate alarmism nut zero sham is one big, corrupt con
Energy companies advertise their electricity as 100% green, when physics and grid systems clearly evidence they are not (buying a certificate to say your electricity will be generated by renewables somewhere, is not indicative of the electrons going into consumers premises, most of which are generated by gas, coal or nuclear generation) – they are deceiving customers to make money on a bogus, virtue signalling claim
I’ve seen so called green events, concerts etc, powered by rows of diesel generators – we know smart meters are being remotely switched to higher tariffs without consumer permission, battery car supply chains create environmental carnage and abuse some of the worlds poorest children working in appalling conditions – it’s all one big cash cow for globalist elites dressed up in faux science and biased models as a saviour of the planet – it’s all disgusting, corrupt and indecent
I would love to see a law requiring power companies to monitor the usage of everybody who signs one of these green energy users, and when their cumulative demand exceeds the output of all the wind and solar generators, their usage is cut back automatically.
Me too, they won’t – the blob is large and self serving
Well, I finally gave in. Since I needed a generator in case of power loss due to hurricanes, I decided to get a really good one, around $1000 on sale. Then I decided that why not get some solar panels and and flood lights that could run off the generator. Now I have solar power all day and night. John Kerry would be proud.
If your generator runs on diesel, you’re still scorned by the climerati
Didn’t some Spanish entrepreneurs pull that trick to sell solar “generation” at obscene prices 24 hours per day?
About that nearby city, Coalinga.
https://www.californiacitynews.org/2014/06/city-trivia-tuesday-how-did-%E2%80%9Ccoalinga%E2%80%9D-get-its-name.html
“While the exact origins are disputed, everyone can agree that Coalinga’s name came from its coaling background. Most sources will say that in the area, there were several coaling stations along a rail line, each designated with a letter. Coaling Station A became the region’s most notable station. Railway signs at the time abbreviated the name of the station as “COALINGA,” and the name stuck.”
The next station was named Coaling B, and the one after that, Coaling C. Allegedly.
I assumed the coal mine wasn’t too far away, as well.
The charging station is about 13 miles northeast of the town. It does have a Coalinga mailing address.
Somebody plans on sending ground mail to an EV charging station?
Wouldn’t sending—ahem—”e-mail” be more appropriate?
Ultimately the diesel generators are the least of the irony. Asphalt parking lot etc. Without fossil fuel none of this is possible.
It’s one huge virtue signalling mirage
Assuming the station is lit at night, how are the lights powered?
Moonlight.
Er, diesel generator
Another irony is that, in California anyway, diesel is the most expensive of the fossil fuels at over $7 per gallon currently.
Same here in Ontario – all the green show-offs who bought diesel Golfs are crying at every fill-up. Prices jumped past regular gas once the low-sulphur fuel was mandated and then again I think with the carbon tax – I think it hurt it more than gas for some reason – maybe because of the diesel pickup trucks it would power even though it is a more efficient fuel/engine.
Just as deceitful
https://www.energylivenews.com/2023/10/03/cambridgeshire-solar-farm-launches/
This solar farm will supply 8000 homes annually the article proudly boasts – what about the months of October to April when solar output is low? Will they require 7500 of those homes to manage without power? Will all 8000 have to ration themselves to 1kwh per day to ensure they all get something?
Just another deceiving con whilst the farm suppliers, developers and shareholders ride off into the dark, cash in bank
Since Musk has so much money, why doesn’t he build a nuclear reactor to power his huge charging station in the middle of nowhere?
Why would he when the Govt send him billions in green shield stamps?
Somebody should do a calculation comparing the number of miles a Tesla charged by these diesel generators travels, compared with the number of miles a diesel-powered car would travel on the same amount of diesel fuel.
With a conventional diesel engine, the ratio of power delivered to the wheels to heating value of the fuel is about 35 to 40%,
In this charging station, there are a number of energy conversion steps:
2. AC power needs to be rectified to charge a DC battery.
3. In the car, battery provides DC power.
4. DC power converted to AC to drive the motor.
5. Motor converts AC to torque to drive the wheels of the car.
The efficiency of the overall process is the product of the efficiencies of all five conversion steps above. Each time a new conversion step is added to the process, the overall efficiency decreases. In order for five conversion processes to have an overall efficiency of 35%, each process would have to be 81% efficient.
How to reduce CO2 emissions below what is emitted from this charging station:
1. Fill up your car with diesel at a truck stop and drive wherever you need to go.
Keep It Simple, Stupid!
You forgot to include the losses charging and discharging the battery.
At least they put the diesel generators close to the where the charging stations are, so transmission losses are minimal. Other such stations have put the diesel generators several miles away to keep them hidden from the virtue signalers.
Even an ultra-advanced magic battery will still have an internal series resistance, no way to make this one go away.
As it happens, a month ago or so, there was a story on another (UK) blog about something similar in Oz. The claim was that the system would return the equivalent of 5.6mpg. A lot of people jumped in to say that sounded wrong, but no-one seemed to want to do the math, so I had a go. This was my comment:
‘So… we agree it’s not 5.6mpg. On another thread someone pointed out that a genny running at a constant speed may be more efficient than a diesel car going up and down hills etc. But then there’s the inefficiency of the battery.
Checking with the ducks I find a company claiming 106l/hr for a 400kW genny at full load. So 23.3gals/hr imperial or 28gals/hr US. Which is a lot more than claimed in the headline. Hmm. Anyway, it’s 23.3/400 = 0.06 gals/kWh.
What’s the performance of an EV? Again randomly I find a review that says a 58kWh VW ID3 will do 200 miles. Assuming that that means 200/58 miles/kWh that’s a figure of nearly 3.5.
So 3.5/0.06 = 58mpg. Did they misplace a decimal point (or did I)? I’ve not accounted for battery charging losses – Brian says 17% above – so 49mpg. Not too shabby, really. Does that look right?
Given the impossibility of getting the MWs to charging stations in the UK let alone the Australian outback, a large natural gas genny at every motorway service station and supermarket looks like the way to go!’
49mpg (UK) is 41mpg (US) approx. Feel free to check the math and assumptions, I’m no expert, but while it’s not great it’s not wholly outrageously bad either. Of course, it’s still better to put the diesel engine in the vehicle!
To your other comment, Steve, Rolls Royce will be happy to sell you a 470MW reactor for £2billion!
Here’s one big problem you take 3.5 miles/kWh and then divide it by 0.06 miles/kWh
and get 58 miles per gallon.
Where the heck did gallons come from? The result of your division is 58 with no units, since they completely cancelled out.
I don’t know what you ended up calculating, but it wasn’t miles per gallon.
That’s 0.06 gallons per kwh not miles.
Mark, thank you for sanity checking it.
Dimensionally, I’m trying to get to miles per gallon, and I can find two figures – one for the generator as kWh/gallon, and one for the EV as miles/kWh, so if I multiply the two I should get what I want – the kWh cancel out. I didn’t quite do it like that, however, so having another shot at it:
For the genny – 400kW/28gal(US)/hr=14.3kWh/gal
For the EV – 200miles/58kWh=3.5miles/kWh (slightly under)
So mpg is 3.5*14.3=49mpg(US)
Then I applied a 17% loss for energy-in vs energy-out in the EV:
49*(1-0.17) = 41mpg(US)
I think that makes sense. If there’s a problem I’m not getting it, but I’m leaving it there…
In the real world the genny is not going to be running 100% flat out and is likely less efficient. The owners may be charging such a high rate for this scheme that for the EV driver it is much more expensive per mile than for the SUV driver who just pulled up at the pump. Who knows? For clarity, I drive a 15 year old diesel Toyota, and I’m hoping to give up driving when either of us becomes too elderly and infirm to continue!
How long will it take to charge an EV if the EV battery is very low? And during the wait- what do you do out there in the middle of the desert? What if the driver is a woman alone? Will she feel safe?
Harris Ranch Inn & Resort will gladly let her rent a room for the night so she can be comfortable until the car is recharged. Also, she can have a great dinner there with their awesome steaks, probably get a fine ribeye or NY strip entree for around 50-75 bucks.
If you are into over priced food, that’s great. However, how does she get there? Taxi?
You could charge quicker on the big rapid chargers, problem is, it degrades the batteries every time used, slowly reducing their energy density, capacity & cycle life leaving you a huge replacement cost sooner rather than later
Story Tip:
https://cowboystatedaily.com/2023/09/22/ev-battery-factory-will-require-so-much-energy-it-needs-a-coal-plant-to-power-it/
It’s not just that charging station. All charging stations use fossil fuel, most more than others, but they all use it. I’m guessing less than 3% of the electricity from charging stations is from renewable energy.
Especially on a windless night
The diesel generators must be located in the middle of the charging station lot so everybody knows where their energy is coming from. The storage tank for the diesel must be some distance away to be protected from the inevitable fires. Of course we need automatic shut off valves from the fuel supply. It would probably be a good idea to also have a replacement diesel generator on hand to replace the burned up ones.
The San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District rules don’t allow diesel engine prime movers for non-agriculture operations unless there other sources of power aren’t cost effective and the health risk from diesel particulates is offset by equivalent reduction of other air toxics*. They should be using solar, wind with battery energy storage 1st or natural gas or propane fueled reciprocating IC engine powered generator(s).
It’s been mentioned above that they are probably natural gas powered diesel engines, direct injection.
Photo must have been taken at the end of construction, or their is no demand.
Why does the Harris Ranch have all these super chargers? Because it is located about 200 miles from both LA and SF which means EV leaving one or the other can’t make the trip without recharging.
I suspect there is more to the diesel generator at the ranch and in Houston which is the cost of running transmission lines to the sites. How many miles of lines would be needed to get to the Harris Ranch? Probably too many so use existing capability and supplement with diesel. Houston, probably more expensive due to urban environment.
Maybe I’ve overlooked it, but where exactly is the Harris Ranch the article talks about? I’m assuming it’s somewhere in California, but precisely where?
By the junction of I5 and state 198, NE of Coalinga, Ca.
Thanks to EV, we can start building coal-fired power plants again.
Make Coal Great Again!
I took a look at the location on Google. There are of course a number of gas stations and competitor charging sites nearby. But what truly amazed me was to see the popular times. You’ll meet your brown sugar just around midnight but the rolling stones gather no charge in peak demand hours from late afternoon until about 9 p.m. Meanwhile the gas stations have a demand profile that peaks in the middle of the day. If you drive an EV you must creep around in the middle of the night when you are doing longer distances to get cheaper charging, I assume.
So green energy is Potemkin energy.
I’m not saying it’s a good thing, but you /could/ power the diesel generators with bio-diesel (basically soybean oil) to make them net zero.
And yeah, you /could/ power the tractors, etc similarly.
I’m sure it would be really expensive and not very efficient but it could be done at some scale.
Musk is a con artist. First he fooled the Left with promises of solar energy and EVs and now he fools the Right as a crusader for free speech.
We used to joke about backward banana republic socialist nations creating jobs by hiring folks to dig holes and then fill them in. We would never do anything that idiotic would we?
It’s the narrow angle perception that counts.
The diesel generators are a wonderful idea! I am assuming they can take advantage of the subsidies with the green energy money scam.
I expect that it is viable to connect the diesel generator to my house as well, so it can serve as a back-up power source in an emergency. In places with sky-high electricity bills, I wonder if it would be cheaper to install a fast charger at your house, and/or business and have the whole place powered by the diesel.