Question about Electric Vehicles

There is a huge move toward electric vehicles.  GM is going full electric on its passenger cars.  There is a huge push to get electric long haul tricks on the roads asap.  Florida has legislation permitting is in 2020.  1.3 million Americans without a high school diploma will be displace by this move.  Bad for them, bad for people, good for those looking to make money.  They represent 1/3 of transportation costs, which is 10% of the US economy.  But a bigger question is whether all the electric vehicles, which will permit better tracking, speed control and in theory efficiency, can be supported by the electric grid.  The change to electric vehicles will create hot spots where concentrated truck usage will occur.  Given that e-commerce has upended the retail world, the potential for electric vehicles to upset the grid is a consideration.  How and when they recharge, realizing that delivery vehicles in urban areas and taxis are targets for conversion to electric fleets in addition to long haul trucks.

For more folks, note that Ford will introduce both an all-new F-150 and an F-150 hybrid version in 2020, Ford said. “The fully electric Ford F-150 is coming soon after,” it confirmed, adding that the vehicle is part of an investment of more than $11.5 billion toward global electrified vehicle investment. Keep in mind the Ford F150 pickup is the biggest selling vehicle by far in the US.  This is potentially huge.

However before we jump too fast in the conversion to electric, consider that the lack of natural gas and hydrogen fueling stations limit the potential for vehicles powered by natural gas or fuel cells, so access to the grid will limit the potential for electric vehicles.    Expect that unless plans are made, the conversion to electric vehicles will stress the grid.  Not that grid issues should change our desire to move off gasoline, despite what Koch Enterprises wants.