We review a recent article by management consultants McKinsey & Company, The Potential Impact of Electric Vehicles on Global Energy Systems in this week’s Chart of the week. The research that found that power demand increases due to EV uptake are likely to be manageable. Impacts on the electricity load curve, however, will be significant.
Using Germany as an example, McKinsey shows that EV growth is likely to lead to approximately 1% additional demand. This will require an additional generation capacity of ~5GW. By 2050, there will be a 5% increase. These are fluctuations that the electricity system should be able to absorb.