If more people drive e-cars in Germany, this goes hand in hand with a higher demand for electricity.
But that could have a positive effect on electricity prices.
Bochum - How does it affect electricity prices if more electric cars increase the demand for electricity?
The Fraunhofer Institute for Energy Infrastructures and Geothermal Energy (IEG) asked itself this question and examined in a study how electricity prices for private households could change in 2030 if more people own electric cars.
The simulations show a clear trend: if there are four million privately used e-cars in Germany and they each account for 30 percent of all private cars in a network area, electricity prices there could fall by around 3.5 percent.
With a penetration rate of 20 percent, electricity prices are still in prospect by 2 percent.
“The spread of private electric vehicles leads on the one hand to an increasing demand for electricity, but on the other hand also to a change in the structure of electricity demand.
This has an impact on the design of the energy systems and on the end consumer prices for electricity, ”said Judith Stute, head of the study.
According to the researchers, falling electricity prices are due to two aspects.
More e-cars: the power grid can be used more efficiently
First, e-cars can compensate for the load on the power grid when they are charged at night. “Charging processes for electric vehicles at home often coincide with a high household load. This creates load peaks that can be reduced by postponing the charging processes for electric vehicles into the night, ”says a press release on the study. This reduces the need for network expansion.
The additional electricity demand from e-cars improves network utilization.
These two effects can lower network charges.
"The network fee is part of the electricity price and represents a kind of rent for the use of the electricity network. By smoothing the consumption curve, the network is used more efficiently and the 'rent' per unit of electricity consumed falls," says the IEG.
E-cars and electricity prices: charging at night is crucial
Second, the battery capacity of e-cars can be used to store energies from renewable sources and make them usable.
As a result, “the greenhouse gas emissions of the overall energy system also decrease.
This also reduces procurement costs in the electricity market. "
According to the Fraunhofer study, however, a major prerequisite for reducing electricity prices through more e-cars is “controlled charging” - i.e. a fixed specification of the time of day or night at which e-cars should be charged.
“It has been shown that uncontrolled charging of e-cars results in a charging peak in the evening,” while controlled charging reduces this peak and shifts the load into a time window in which little electricity is consumed anyway.
“It can be concluded that controlled charging of e-cars should be promoted,” sum up the researchers.
(ial)
According to a US study, one fifth of electric car owners in California are switching back to combustion engines.
Inconvenient charging contributes to the decision.