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
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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.