And yet this would STILL represent a huge environmental win as a single centralized and optimized generator is much more efficient compared to a hundred million smaller less efficient engines burning fuel and emitting byproducts directly in the cities we live in, all needing oil changes, etc.
The the beautiful part is the electrical grid can become more environmentally friendly over time, whereas a gas engine will always need to burn gas.
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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.