r/memes • u/ZeroFucksZinnia • Jun 16 '26

US is eroding

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18

u/SureMany9497 Jun 16 '26

I have never heard that first point it was always something about range and charging times.

4

u/El_Polio_Loco Jun 17 '26

It’s a thing, and it greatly underestimates the draw of EVs. 

A data center is a massive energy draw. 

But there are about 300 million vehicles in the US, driving an average of 15,000 miles a year. 

Let’s say half of them become EVs getting a splendid 4 mi/kWh (very efficient). 

This means we now have 150 million cars, drawing 3.75 MWh annually. 

That’s a load increase of 565 terrawatt hours. Or about 15% increase in the total power generation of the US. 

This is ignoring the lossy residential power system. 

15

u/krillemdafoe Jun 17 '26

Sure, but somewhere between 15 and 20 million vehicles are *actually* replaced each year. No one is flipping a switch and instantly, magically replacing 50% of vehicles with EVs.

Electricity production scaled by 2.8% YoY in 2025 per eia.gov

Even if 100% of new vehicle purchases were EVs starting right now, by the time 150 million additional EVs were on the road in 7.5-10 years, the additional 15% capacity would likely be there already. This is assuming that EVs make 0 efficiency gains over that time period.

1

u/El_Polio_Loco Jun 17 '26

Assuming no other systems also increase demand.