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Here's What EVs Are Doing to California's Energy Grid
David Shultz
David Shultz reports on clean technology and electric vehicles, among other industries, for dot.LA. His writing has appeared in The Atlantic, Outside, Nautilus and many other publications.
If you’ve been outside lately in Southern California, you’ll know there’s an ongoing heatwave here. In something of an annual tradition, the electricity grid is under duress because of the heightened demand for power-hungry air conditioners.
In response, the California Independent Systems Operator, which oversees the state’s electric grid, has issued “flex alerts,” which are essentially pleas to residents to conserve power during peak usage (4 p.m. to 9 p.m.) by turning off appliances, air conditioning, setting thermostats to 78 degrees Fahrenheit, and refraining from charging electric vehicles.
This last item–don’t charge your EVs–has drawn some schadenfreude from some news outlets which point out that, just last week, the state announced plans to ban new gas car sales. How can California possibly hope to power a fleet of around 20 million electric vehicles in the future when it can hardly power around 1 million cars today?
Whether or not it’s being asked in good faith, it’s a valid question. So here’s an explainer about what exactly is going on with the grid and the role that EVs will likely play in the future.
The problem is that it’s too hot right now. As always, no one can claim that climate change caused this heatwave, but the overwhelming majority of scientists agree that human-caused climate change is making heatwaves like this one more common. The future will certainly have more such heat events than the present, especially if we don’t find a way to reduce or eliminate carbon emissions.
When it’s too hot, people use a lot more air conditioning. Air conditioning is especially energy-intensive. The result is that–all at once–there’s more demand for electricity. When demand outstrips supply, blackouts occur.
“People think of ‘the grid’ as this uniform system. But really, it's a bunch of electrical connections that have evolved over time,” says Cascade Tuholske, an assistant professor of Human-Environment Geography at Montana State University. “Some aspects of the grid are super antiquated. And you can't just pump more electricity into a system without upgrading it.”
You can imagine the electrical grid sort of like plumbing. Like water in pipes of different diameters, there’s a maximum amount of electronics that can flow through different grid architectures, so simply adding more energy into the system doesn’t necessarily solve the problem.
The California electric grid, in other words, has failed to keep pace with the increasing demand for air conditioning. Or, as California Gov. Newsom put it in a press conference yesterday, “All of us have been trying to outrun Mother Nature, but it’s pretty clear Mother Nature has outrun us.”
Even without the increased demand from electric vehicles, the grid needs upgrades. But EVs–even a whole state’s worth–don’t add as much demand to the grid as fossil fuel advocates might suggest. The main reason EVs aren’t likely to cripple the grid is that they don’t all charge at the same time and they don't usually charge when demand is high. Like with smartphones, most EV charging happens overnight, while the car sits in the garage, while people aren’t awake to use appliances, while demand for air conditioning is lowest.
Nationally, EV charging accounts for just .2% of energy grid consumption, by some estimates. Adding a nation of EVs will absolutely add demand for electricity to the grid–as much as 25% more, according to scientists–but this transition is going to happen slowly, over time. Even California, which has the most ambitious EV adoption policy, is allowing 13 years before banning gas-powered car sales. It will probably be 30 years or more before 90% of the cars on the road are electric. The demand for more power will ramp up slowly, just as it has historically as Americans bought refrigerators, air conditioners, computers, etc.
President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act includes massive amounts of funding to address these exact issues, including $2.5 billion to “modernize and expand capacity of America’s power grid.”
Ironically, EVs actually may offer help to a stressed electrical grid if they’re used correctly. Cars with full batteries can be plugged in and used to supply energy to the grid – just as they did a month ago when Tesla pooled energy from its users’ vehicles to boost California’s supply. Of course this will drain your car’s battery, but you should be able to get paid for your troubles. A 50kWh battery like what’s found in an electric vehicle is more than enough to power the average house for a day.
“At least in theory, if they're integrated into the grid, you can draw the power off your EV battery during periods of excess demand,” says Tuholske.
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David Shultz
David Shultz reports on clean technology and electric vehicles, among other industries, for dot.LA. His writing has appeared in The Atlantic, Outside, Nautilus and many other publications.
With New Funding, Auticon Looks to Grow Job Opportunities for Autistic Adults
09:44 AM | February 16, 2022
Image courtesy of Auticon
Technology consulting firm Auticon just received a boost to its mission of helping companies hire more autistic employees.
Auticon (which styles its name “auticon”) announced Wednesday that it has received over $4 million in funding from the Autism Impact Fund, a Florida-based venture capital firm that invests in companies that look to move the needle for people with autism.
Auticon certainly appears to meet the fund’s criteria. Since launching in 2011, the Germany-based tech consulting firm—which has its U.S. headquarters in Woodland Hills—has made it a priority to give employment opportunities to adults on the spectrum. Today, 250 of Auticon’s 350 employees are autistic.
“We believe that the principles of business are needed in order to help solve some of society's challenges,” Auticon U.S. CEO David Aspinall told dot.LA. “The challenge that we focused on is that of employment in the autistic community.”
Research suggests that between 50% to 75% of the 5.6 million autistic adults in the U.S. are either unemployed or underemployed, while nearly half of 25-year-olds with autism have never held a paying job. Oftentimes, those on the spectrum who are applying for a job can be hindered during the interview process due to a lack of eye contact or discomfort in social situations.
The new funding from the Autism Impact Fund will help propel Auticon’s hiring efforts in the Los Angeles region.Image courtesy of Auticon
Auticon’s hiring process takes that bias into account, stripping away the traditional interview process and instead placing more focus on an individual’s technical skills. In addition, Auticon applicants participate in a series of chats with the company's head of recruitment, Louise Stone, and its chief technology officer, Mark Fister, both of whom are on the spectrum.
“We want to make our offices a place where somebody might want to [work],” Aspinall said.
Auticon supplies business analytics, software development and cybersecurity services to clients including Disney, Warner Bros., IBM, Salesforce and Merck. Previous investors in Auticon—which declined to disclose its revenue figures, but said it ended its 2021 fiscal year EBITDA-positive—include Virgin Group magnate Richard Branson, the Porsche family, Ferd AS and Ananda Impact Ventures.
The new funding from the Autism Impact Fund will help propel Auticon’s hiring efforts in the Los Angeles region and back its development of training programs to teach organizations how to hire and accommodate autistic talent.
"We had our highest-growth year last year,” according to Aspinall. “The investment from the Autism Impact Fund is only just going to accelerate and amplify that."
Image courtesy of Auticon
Launched just last year, the Autism Impact Fund has already invested in companies such as Los Angeles-based digital health startup SpectrumAI and San Francisco-based AI company Suggestic.
“People with autism don’t need more charity—they need real opportunities,” said Autism Impact Fund co-founder Christopher Male, whose own son was diagnosed with autism at age three. Male, a private equity industry veteran, said that before his son’s diagnosis, he knew very little about autism. But after pouring himself into research, he learned about the myriad obstacles that autistic people face around diagnosis, therapies and cultural acceptance.
“I saw something was wrong,” Male told dot.LA. “It took six months to get into a pediatric developmentalist.”
Alarmed by the lack of information and services, Male teamed with his co-founder Brian O’Callaghan to launch the Autism Impact Fund. He said the investment fund looks to deploy “the venture model to help drive innovation and disrupt the status quo for living, diagnosing and servicing autism.”
Male sees Auticon as an ideal example of a company that creates opportunities and makes an impact for a community that has been marginalized for too long.
“They're a global leader in this,” he said. “They've clearly demonstrated that they are filling a need, and can operate in scale and grow.”
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Decerry Donato
Decerry Donato is a reporter at dot.LA. Prior to that, she was an editorial fellow at the company. Decerry received her bachelor's degree in literary journalism from the University of California, Irvine. She continues to write stories to inform the community about issues or events that take place in the L.A. area. On the weekends, she can be found hiking in the Angeles National forest or sifting through racks at your local thrift store.
Watch: Our Startup Pitch Showcase Featuring Ecommerce Companies
08:25 AM | May 21, 2020
This week's virtual pitch showcase featured three emerging ecommerce startups founded in Southern California: Mi Terro, ettitude and Aptitud. FabFitFun Co-CEO and Co-Founder Michael Broukhim joined angel investor Spencer Rascoff for the discussion. dot.LA's Chief Host and Correspondent Kelly O'Grady emceed the event.
Watch below and subscribe to our newsletter and Youtube channel to get notified about our next event.
Copy of dot.LA Virtual Pitch Showcase: eCommercewww.youtube.com
Mi Terrois the world's only biotechnology company that rescues food waste and re-engineers it into sustainable fibers that can be used for fashion, medical, and packaging industries. Through their patent-pending technology, they have created the world's first sustainable apparel line made from excess milk. They are also creating food packaging film made from whey. They are replacing petroleum-based materials with protein-based materials made from food waste. Mi Terro is redefining the circular economy in which everything begins with food waste and ends as recyclable or biodegradable.
ettitude is a female-founded LA-based sustainable lifestyle brand offering home essentials that are soft on your skin and gentle on our planet. Using their proprietary CleanBamboo™ fabrics, ettitude's bedding,sleepwear, and bath range are as soft as silk, as breathable as linen, and at the price of cotton.
Aptitud(meaning "fitness" in Spanish) was created to enhance the home workout experience. Aptitud was founded by Arielle, Audra, and Riley during the COVID-19 pandemic. As workout junkies, we shared a passion for working out together and living a fit lifestyle. Transitioning from gyms and bootcamps to working out at our homes, we experienced the challenge of finding fashion-forward, elite fitness accessories. We have curated and hand-picked the most exclusive, high-quality fitness products to enhance your home workout lifestyle. Aptitud is more than just a fitness retail company, it is a community of women from all walks of life striving for health and wellness. IG & TikTok: aptitud.co
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michael broukhimfabfitfunecommerceSpencer Rascoffeventsmi terroettitudeaptitudstartup pitch showcase
Annie Burford
Annie Burford is dot.LA's director of events. She's an event marketing pro with over ten years of experience producing innovative corporate events, activations and summits for tech startups to Fortune 500 companies. Annie has produced over 200 programs in Los Angeles, San Francisco and New York City working most recently for a China-based investment bank heading the CEC Capital Tech & Media Summit, formally the Siemer Summit.
http://www.linkedin.com/in/annieburford
annie@dot.la
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