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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Environment
Jasper Jolly

Sceptics say EVs will overwhelm the grid. In fact, they could be part of the solution

A yellow electric Renault 5
Cars such as the Renault 5 have bidirectional chargers, which could help balance the grid. Photograph: Gonzalo Fuentes/Reuters

Electric cars make some people afraid of the dark. While the batteries produce much less carbon, they require much more electricity to run. This has prompted ominous warnings that Great Britain and other wealthy countries set on banning new petrol and diesel cars risk plunging their populations into darkness.

In recent months British net zero-sceptical newspapers have warned that the shift to EVs would “risk overwhelming the grid, and threaten catastrophic blackouts” when intermittent sun and wind fail to provide the necessary power. Another article claimed: “It won’t take an enemy power to put us all in the dark – just energy customers doing normal things on a normal winter’s evening.”

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