On August 17, Tesla sent a message to its California owners through the web system, suggesting that they reduce the use of supercharging and home charging from 4 pm to 9 pm every day to ease the power supply pressure on the California power grid during the heatwave.
As we all know, summer is the peak period of electricity consumption. Summers in California are not much cooler than ours, and high-power appliances such as air conditioning are essential for living. After all, no one wants to endure sweating excessively. Therefore, in order to ensure the electricity for living and work, power companies choose to close some charging stations to maintain the power supply balance in the region, resulting in impacts on Tesla’s supercharging stations.
In addition, power companies have adjusted the charging fees for different time periods to avoid peak hours, and car owners who charge at night can enjoy lower prices. Therefore, many car owners choose to charge during off-peak hours. Interestingly, there are many Tesla owners in California. If they all charge during the nighttime period, a new peak of electricity usage will form.
The significance of off-peak electricity use goes without saying, but it is necessary to “sacrifice” the charging time of Tesla owners to ensure the power supply balance. It seems that California’s power grid needs an upgrade.
This article is a translation by ChatGPT of a Chinese report from 42HOW. If you have any questions about it, please email bd@42how.com.