Can charging an electric car cause a disruption in your neighborhood’s power distribution? For a few Canadians, the answer is yes.
Depending on where you live, the electrical infrastructure might not be able to handle more than a handful of electric cars charging at once. Older power grids aren’t designed to distribute that much electricity, as certain residents in Toronto, Canada are learning.
According to the CBC, charging an electric car can use three to five times the power that a typical home will, which is enough to have an impact on power distribution in certain older Toronto neighborhoods. Admittedly, that figure is based on typical home power consumption at night when consumption is at its lowest.
The higher power demand will require the city to replace transformers earlier than expected or even upgrade them to accommodate the greater demand.
It doesn’t matter. This isn’t the first time people have wondered whether or not electric cars will be too taxing on electrical infrastructure and it probably won’t be the last. Only a fool would believe that electricity companies will have a problem with their customers needing too much power.
If a concentrated number of electric car owners plug in at the same time, there might be an issue with power distribution. But chances of any real problems being caused are negligible.