No state has pushed the auto and trucking industry harder toward the adoption of electric vehicles than California, but as the state lately found itself in the grips of a blazing summer heatwave, its maxed-out power grid may have dealt a shock to the trucking industry in its march toward electricity as a primary fuel.
California Governor Gavin Newsom's office issued Sept. 6 a "flex alert" warning from the state's power producers urging residents "to reduce their electricity consumption between 4 p.m. and 9 p.m." to save power and reduce the risk of outages.
"Avoid using large appliances," the state told residents, including trucking companies it's pushed toward electric vehicles with big incentives/subsidies. The full text of the flex alerts found on the website of the California Independent System Operator, which includes most of the state's power producers, also said to avoid charging electric vehicles during these times.
The flex alert was continued until Sept. 9 and expanded to 3 p.m. to 10 p.m.
If power producers can't keep up in a heat wave, how could they accommodate hundreds of thousands of electric trucks demanding megawatts of power once or more a day? Not only does this pose a question for electric trucking, but everyday life as well, as California moves to phase out gas stoves and gas-powered small engines.
