Power supply interruptions, due to heat and drought in China affected charging infrastructures in some regions.
According to Bloomberg According to Bloomberg, according to Bloomberg, Sichuan province suffers the most severe in droughts since the 60s, forcing it to reduce hydropower generation. However an extreme heat wave significantly led to an increase in demand for electric power (most likely air cooling).
There are now multiple reports of factories being shut down (including Toyota’s auto plant as well as the battery plant of CATL). In addition certain EV chargers have either been shut down or restricted to off-peak usage only.
The report mentions that Tesla Superchargers as well as NIO Battery swap stations had been affected Chengdu as well as Chongqing cities. This is not a good thing for drivers of electric vehicles.
Tesla has reportedly shut down or slowed down the output of more than twelve Supercharging stations situated in Chengdu and Chongqing and Chongqing, leaving only two stations to be used only during nighttime. Fast chargers need more power than swapping battery stations. For the Supercharging stall V3, it’s 250 kW. Meanwhile, the most powerful stations that have many stalls can use many megawatts. These are huge loads on the grid, equivalent to the power of a huge factory or train.
The general charging services are having issues, reminding us that nations around the globe need to increase their spending not just on charging infrastructure as well as power lines, power plants and energy storage systems.
If not, during periods of high demand and shortage of supply, drivers of EVs may be impacted severely. It’s the perfect time to start getting ready, before the share of EVs in the total vehicle fleet grows from a small percentage or two to 20%, 50% percentage, or 100 percent.
