This is probably the one redeeming quality of electric cars. We can’t convince people to put batteries in their home that most likely will cost more money than they save, but for a car people are willing to shell out tens if not hundreds of thousands.
The home battery provides a backup source of limited power if the grid goes down, like a giant UPS. If one also has solar panels and/or wind generation capabilities on site, they have access to distributed domestically/locally sourced energy that isn’t subject to things like embargoes, war, and other supply issues that can affect traditional energy sources. In an off-grid application, that battery is the only way to use these sourced of energy when it’s night or the wind isn’t blowing. Unfortunately, these capabilities are more expensive than utility-scale grid power which can leverage economies of scale.
An EV is able to inject many different sources of energy into the task of transportation, depending on how and where the electricity is sourced. This is an excellent way of diversifying the energy input portfolio instead of putting all of one’s eggs in one basket. Nuclear, hydroelectric, wind, geothermal, solar, natural gas, and coal come to mind. An ICE has much less choice and is therefore more beholden to economic fluctuations and vulnerabilities. I see a range of used EVs and PHEVs with costs equivalent or less to traditional ICE vehicles in my country. Certainly cheaper than many SUVs and pickups at least.
This is probably the one redeeming quality of electric cars. We can’t convince people to put batteries in their home that most likely will cost more money than they save, but for a car people are willing to shell out tens if not hundreds of thousands.
The home battery provides a backup source of limited power if the grid goes down, like a giant UPS. If one also has solar panels and/or wind generation capabilities on site, they have access to distributed domestically/locally sourced energy that isn’t subject to things like embargoes, war, and other supply issues that can affect traditional energy sources. In an off-grid application, that battery is the only way to use these sourced of energy when it’s night or the wind isn’t blowing. Unfortunately, these capabilities are more expensive than utility-scale grid power which can leverage economies of scale. An EV is able to inject many different sources of energy into the task of transportation, depending on how and where the electricity is sourced. This is an excellent way of diversifying the energy input portfolio instead of putting all of one’s eggs in one basket. Nuclear, hydroelectric, wind, geothermal, solar, natural gas, and coal come to mind. An ICE has much less choice and is therefore more beholden to economic fluctuations and vulnerabilities. I see a range of used EVs and PHEVs with costs equivalent or less to traditional ICE vehicles in my country. Certainly cheaper than many SUVs and pickups at least.