EV charging on an off-grid system in Botswana

[Hanno Labuschagne]

EV charging on an off-grid system in Botswana

MyBroadband recently charged an electric vehicle (EV) on an off-grid power system in Botswana during a weekend family trip across the border and was impressed with how much range we got in a day.

The system was located on a farm on the outskirts of Gaborone. To reach it, we drove from Pretoria via the N1 and N4 highways, passing through Rustenburg, Zeerust, and the Kopfontein-Tlokweng border.

 

[chrisc]

Very good article
320km is quite modest by today's standards
Maybe a Volvo would have fared better in terms of distance per charge

 

[Hanno Labuschagne]

Very good article
320km is quite modest by today's standards
Maybe a Volvo would have fared better in terms of distance per charge

Maybe with the latest EX40/XC40 and EX90. In our testing of the EX30 Dual Motor with extended battery, range was very similar.

 

[wingnut771]

Very good article
320km is quite modest by today's standards
Maybe a Volvo would have fared better in terms of distance per charge

Wouldn't you still arrive at the farm with a depleted battery and need 2 days to recharge to get back?

 

[1am7h30n3]

That's quite interesting that the diesel generator wasn't too much more expensive than the public charging, R8.57/kWh for diesel vs R7.35/kWh at the public charger. Perhaps a newer and more efficient generator could rival or beat the cost of public charging? That would be quite a nice setup, solar charge for free from excess solar as much as possible and use a diesel generator that auto starts when needed.

 

[wingnut771]

That's quite interesting that the diesel generator wasn't too much more expensive than the public charging, R8.57/kWh for diesel vs R7.35/kWh at the public charger. Perhaps a newer and more efficient generator could rival or beat the cost of public charging? That would be quite a nice setup, solar charge for free from excess solar as much as possible and use a diesel generator that auto starts when needed.

Egoli gas works out to R2 something according to Google AI.

 

[Lupus]

Egoli gas works out to R2 something according to Google AI.

Yet they are not everywhere, so you'd need to factor the move to a location they support still

 

[Lupus]

25 PV panels of what size? As 10kw inverter with 10kWh battery storage with 25 panels?

 

[Lupus]

Though what this story does show, if you want to charge your EV at home and you're off grid, you better have a biiiig system if you drive your car every day.
Sure most people would only need to charge the car once a week, but you'd need to make sure you can charge it over a weekend if you're system isn't suitable, which most peoples won't be.
Recharging a 39kWh battery from home solar in a day? You'd need a real beefy system.

 

[richjdavies]

Recharging a 39kWh battery from home solar in a day? You'd need a real beefy system.

If you drive the full range one day, get back home and need it to be full the next day, yes... Otherwise... No.

Obviously game drives aside, most people don't drive 300km every single day...

 

[wingnut771]

Yet they are not everywhere, so you'd need to factor the move to a location they support still

Would need to build them in the suburb of bramley. Egoli gas is rare apartheid relic.

 

[RaptorSA]

The awesomeness of this is not lost on me.

Imagine telling someone from the early 1900's that in +- 4 generations you'll be able to traverse 10's, maybe even 100's of kilometres each day with an unfathomably fast and luxurious vehicle that's fully powered by useless sunlight hitting your roof.

It's fine to moan about cost, but let's not forget that adjusted for inflation the first vehicles that circulated in SA had a cost of about R700 to R800K, put out about 3 horsepower for the same fuel consumption as today, had a range of about 50-70Km, and looked like this:

 

[ghaye]

That's quite interesting that the diesel generator wasn't too much more expensive than the public charging, R8.57/kWh for diesel vs R7.35/kWh at the public charger. Perhaps a newer and more efficient generator could rival or beat the cost of public charging? That would be quite a nice setup, solar charge for free from excess solar as much as possible and use a diesel generator that auto starts when needed.

I suspect the generator cost is based on the fuel used only. In a commercial setup you need to account for things like depreciation, insurance, maintenance, salaries, and of course some profit.

 

[TrueSeeker]

It's a grand thing that it's possible at all. And to think. These are still the early pioneer days of SWB and EV.

In sunny countries like SA. Eventually it will be unusual to find houses that do not have all solar roof tiles. And, I believe residential battery capacities will start around 50kWh. As Sodium ion batteries become the chemistry of choice for such things, and ever cheaper thanks to economy of scale and competition. It really makes very little sense for expensive Lithium chemistries to be used for stationary storage over almost as good, safe and reliable Sodium.

It will be par for the course to visit people and charging up, as needed, at respectable rates of 10kW or more. Just a guest courtesy.

 

[RaptorSA]

It's a grand thing that it's possible at all. And to think. These are still the early pioneer days of SWB and EV.

In sunny countries like SA. Eventually it will be unusual to find houses that do not have all solar roof tiles. And, I believe residential battery capacities will start around 50kWh. As Sodium ion batteries become the chemistry of choice for such things, and ever cheaper thanks to economy of scale and competition. It really makes very little sense for expensive Lithium chemistries to be used for stationary storage over almost as good, safe and reliable Sodium.

It will be par for the course to visit people and charging up, as needed, at respectable rates of 10kW or more. Just a guest courtesy.

Yeah, I see CATL recently started pumping out their Sodium batteries.

Still much more expensive than lithium due to lithium over supply + cost and production scale not being there yet, but if what they're projecting turns out to be even remotely accurate, and we go from +-100$ per kWh to 10$ for super stable battery chemistries that can do 10,000 cycles it'll pretty much become standard infrastructure everywhere.

 

[Lupus]

The awesomeness of this is not lost on me.

Imagine telling someone from the early 1900's that in +- 4 generations you'll be able to traverse 10's, maybe even 100's of kilometres each day with an unfathomably fast and luxurious vehicle that's fully powered by useless sunlight hitting your roof.

It's fine to moan about cost, but let's not forget that adjusted for inflation the first vehicles that circulated in SA had a cost of about R700 to R800K, put out about 3 horsepower for the same fuel consumption as today, had a range of about 50-70Km, and looked like this:

View attachment 1842299

Electric cars were a thing in the 1900s, telling them anything with regards to any form of transportation that could take you hundreds of kilometers would be astounding.
Tell them that you could take a petrol car 800km on one tank that takes you five minutes to fill up, or you could choose an electric car that can take you 248km and takes an entire day to charge from the sun, you know they'd take the first one time and time again. It's not like they'd care about things being charged by sunlight.

 

[RaptorSA]

Electric cars were a thing in the 1900s, telling them anything with regards to any form of transportation that could take you hundreds of kilometers would be astounding.
Tell them that you could take a petrol car 800km on one tank that takes you five minutes to fill up, or you could choose an electric car that can take you 248km and takes an entire day to charge from the sun, you know they'd take the first one time and time again. It's not like they'd care about things being charged by sunlight.

So even back in those days people were uninspired, boring, pragmatic old f**s who picked missionary position each time and chose the plastic kettle where you can't see the bubbles 'cause it's slightly cheaper.

 

[Lupus]

So even back in those days people were uninspired, boring, pragmatic old f**s who picked missionary position each time and chose the plastic kettle where you can't see the bubbles 'cause it's slightly cheaper.

You mean people were people in the 1900s? Like they are now? Yes they were, they chose the easiest and cheapest option, much like they do now.
Electric cars right up until the 1920s was bigger than the petrol car, until electric starters and more petroleum was found, making petrol cars easier to start and cheaper to run. Hence why petrol cars grew in dominance so quickly, it became easier and cheaper to drive further and faster.

 

[TrueSeeker]

You mean people were people in the 1900s? Like they are now? Yes they were, they chose the easiest and cheapest option, much like they do now.
Electric cars right up until the 1920s was bigger than the petrol car, until electric starters and more petroleum was found, making petrol cars easier to start and cheaper to run. Hence why petrol cars grew in dominance so quickly, it became easier and cheaper to drive further and faster.

Petrol cars were far from cheap in those days. Nor operating them. There wasn't a petrol station on every block. You had to fill up at the chemist, practically on special order, back then. There were a fair number of intentional massive developments that were needed, plenty of lobbying, massive risky investments, huge subsidies, a few wars - All that before a large petroleum based transportation paradigm could be realized. And they are still much more expensive to operate today than people perceive on the face of it. Estimates put a gallon of petrol (in US terms ofc) at $10 without any subsidisation. But then... The tax man doesn't pay for those subsidies out of his own pocket. Everybody pays them.

 

[Lupus]

Petrol cars were far from cheap in those days. Nor operating them. There wasn't a petrol station on every block. You had to fill up at the chemist, practically on special order, back then. There were a fair number of intentional massive developments that were needed, plenty of lobbying, massive risky investments, huge subsidies, a few wars - All that before a large petroleum based transportation paradigm could be realized. And they are still much more expensive to operate today than people perceive on the face of it. Estimates put a gallon of petrol (in US terms ofc) at $10 without any subsidisation. But then... The tax man doesn't pay for those subsidies out of his own pocket. Everybody pays them.

Yup which is pretty much why it wasn't popular until after the 1920s when petrol became cheaper and you didn't need to hand crank them. Electric and steam vehicles were more popular up until the 1920s with only 22% of cars being petrol. In the US that is.
For electric cars they would have places you'd actually swap your battery out instead of charging, so you'd go there get a new or recharged battery and continue onwards, the place would then charge your battery and do it to others.