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Do I need to run new 400 amp service in my house for the Lightning + everything else?

Texas Dan

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Just wait until every home wants an electric vehicle, and the grid can't carry the power that will be required, let alone provide the power.
There could be some very significant advantages to every home and business having V2G systems. People could charge up at night when demand is light and power homes and business during the day when demand is high. V2G EVs will give us opportunities to balance the grid that were never possible before.
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Brian Head Yankee

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Lol, it has been a problem in California for a few years. The utilities are afraid of what is coming and scrambling to increase the grid capacity.
 

EVBill

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As an electrician, I think you would be ok, your Ford charger will draw a lot of power when only used. I would even hook it up at my house that is only 100amp. the way power is distributed in most houses is that its only fused at panel with main breaker, I would add a wire splitter before the 100amp house panel and add a seconded 100amp panel for the charger. This way power is still measured by the meter base and also there are no fuses on the city side before your meter base to the transformer its hooked up to on city side. As long as you not charging a fleet of vehicles at same time this should work.

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This by no means would meet electrical code. This would have you potentially pulling close to 200 amps through a meter base and service wire only rated to 100 amps.
 

Texas Dan

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This by no means would meet electrical code. This would have you potentially pulling close to 200 amps through a meter base and service wire only rated to 100 amps.
The diagram is very crewed but I don't think you can justify the statement that the intent of the diagram doesn't meet the electrical code. It's very likely that the meter is already rated for 200 amps but of course you would have to do your homework to be sure. And as far as the feeders from the meter go, you are going to have to replace those anyway to get the transfer switch/EVSE in there.
 

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Stubblejumper

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There could be some very significant advantages to every home and business having V2G systems. People could charge up at night when demand is light and power homes and business during the day when demand is high. V2G EVs will give us opportunities to balance the grid that were never possible before.

Do you have any actual experience in electrical generation and transmission? Do you have any idea what the increased demand due to electric vehicles will have on the electrical distribution/transmission system, and on the amount of extra electricity we will need to generate? I spent the last 20+ years of my career in the field, and I do have a good idea what is involved. We have some major obstacles to overcome, to transition to electric vehicles, and it won't be quick or cheap.
 

Brian Head Yankee

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I feel that V2H is a great solution to help prop up the grid. V2B is something we are looking at now for commercial EV trucks and school buses. V2G isn't much of a leap.

The grid is lightly loaded at night. One of our utilities offers a second meter at a better rate with time of day charging restrictions. I would go for it.
 

Stubblejumper

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I feel that V2H is a great solution to help prop up the grid. V2B is something we are looking at now for commercial EV trucks and school buses. V2G isn't much of a leap.

The grid is lightly loaded at night. One of our utilities offers a second meter at a better rate with time of day charging restrictions. I would go for it.
The problem is, that charging the electric vehicles still requires drawing electricity from the grid, and you are going to use a lot of that electricity driving. The net result is that we will need to generate and transmit a great deal more electricity than we do now.
 

Texas Dan

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Do you have any actual experience in electrical generation and transmission? Do you have any idea what the increased demand due to electric vehicles will have on the electrical distribution/transmission system, and on the amount of extra electricity we will need to generate? I spent the last 20+ years of my career in the field, and I do have a good idea what is involved. We have some major obstacles to overcome, to transition to electric vehicles, and it won't be quick or cheap.
I'm not going to play "Whos is bigger" with you. I will say that I made the transition to electric vehicles a long time ago and I'm currently on my fourth all electric car. So the transition you are talking about has already taken place in my life and, guess what, the electric grid didn't even notice it, not to mention that my electric bills are lower now than they have ever been even though I buy only renewable energy electricity.
 
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Brian Head Yankee

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I agree with Texas on this point. I, too, am in this industry. I am privy to the annual grid load profile for a couple of dozen substations. It is obvious that the load is MUCH lower after 7 PM and MUCH higher from right about 7 AM through the day. There is plenty of capacity from 7 PM to 7 AM. The utilities are actively adding grid capacity to meet the future demand. There may be an issue if EVs outpace grid growth but I don't see it.
 

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Stubblejumper

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I'm not going to play "Whos is bigger" with you. I will say that I made the transition to electric vehicles a long time ago and I'm currently on my fourth all electric car. So the transition you are talking about has already taken place in my life and, guess what, the electric grid didn't even notice it, not to mention that my electric bills are lower now than they have ever been even though I buy only renewable energy electricity.
Yes the grid can handle one or two electric vehicles per street, but that is a far cry from an electric vehicle in every household, let alone replacing all vehicles with electric vehicles. Several cities in the USA are already suffering from brown outs, and this will only get worse as more people switch to electric vehicles. And then there were the massive power outages in Texas last winter, if everyone had only electric vehicles, the situation would have far worse, as traffic would have virtually stopped in a day or two.
 
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personalt

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that diagram doesn't seem to address the fact that the wire back to pole was installed based on 100 amp service. by installing two 100 amp services you can run 200 amps so you need to upgrade wiring to the point you might as well just do 200 amp service
 

Brian Head Yankee

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Yes the grid can handle one or two electric vehicles per street, but that is a far cry from an electric vehicle in every household, let alone replacing all vehicles with electric vehicles. Several cities in the USA are already suffering from brown outs, and this will only get worse as more people switch to electric vehicles. And then there were the massive power outages in Texas last winter, if everyone had only electric vehicles, the situation would have far worse, as traffic would have virtually stopped in a day or two.

I give up. We are trying to explain it you but you seem to refuse to listen. A couple of us are in the utility industry. Can you at least try to trust what we are saying instead of painting a picture of traffic stopped in Texas? I am starting to wonder what you are doing here if you are so against EVs.
 

adoublee

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Several cities in the USA are already suffering from brown outs, and this will only get worse as more people switch to electric vehicles.
Another way to look at this is, as more people switch to electric vehicles, the electric utilities will see better utilization of infrastructure and have more funding to make it better (dollars that previously went to gas and diesel capture, processing, transport, and dispensing).
 

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Another way to look at this is, as more people switch to electric vehicles, the electric utilities will see better utilization of infrastructure and have more funding to make it better (dollars that previously went to gas and diesel capture, processing, transport, and dispensing).
After buying Evs owners are much more likely to look at solar, geothermal and other technologies that reduce our reliance on the grid. Solar did not make sense for me personally because of my property but I now buy my energy from a solar energy farm. Electric vehicles will be the first step for many consumers to reevaluate how they utilize and receive power.
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