General EV Conversation
Lead Lap
Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 4,483
Likes: 624
From: SC
Exactly...
Electric utilities are not going to be charging different rates for different uses of electricity, doing so makes no sense. The only reason would be if the government was to try and attach some sort of tax onto vehicle charging, but the much easier way to collect any such tax is with vehicle registration, which is what they are doing and will do.
Electric utilities are not going to be charging different rates for different uses of electricity, doing so makes no sense. The only reason would be if the government was to try and attach some sort of tax onto vehicle charging, but the much easier way to collect any such tax is with vehicle registration, which is what they are doing and will do.
Lead Lap
Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 4,483
Likes: 624
From: SC
Smart meters were mandated in my town several years ago. They just measure current usage and log it over time. I'm sure there are companies out there that claim they can detect specific individual device fingerprints using that data, but I doubt it's very accurate in most situations. If your city is aware that you own an EV, I'm sure they could detect when you have it plugged into a level 2 charger. But my old 50A hot-tub used more current than charging our EV at 15A, before we upgraded to L2. It would take some pretty intrusive technology to detect when you left something like the light in your guest bathroom on.
I would be shocked if it didn't happen at some point in some states like Cali. But they won't sell it as paying more for inefficient appliances they recognize being used. Rates will just increase, and it will just be a "discount" for efficient appliances. This technology isn't being developed for fun. There is a market for it, and the people in that market aren't just interested in that info just out of curiosity.
Lexus Fanatic
Joined: May 2012
Posts: 68,468
Likes: 3,991
From: Maryland
I don't think they are trying to get that granular, but they can tell the difference between usage for a car charger vs a hot tub. They can tell the difference between a top load and front load washer. In the end, I suspect this data will be used to determine "efficient" home vs "inefficient" homes. The efficient homes will qualify for a cheaper rate. Those determined to be inefficient will be charged more. We've already had similar programs like this in the past here in SC. They don't spend a ton of money on this for no reason or just because they are curious.
I think your scenario is very likely.
Lexus Test Driver
Joined: Apr 2011
Posts: 8,364
Likes: 346
From: Las Vegas
At the risk of stirring a hornets nest this could all be avoided if we'd build out the grid using modern nuclear plants. Yes they are very expensive up front but last for decades and easily pay for themselves. I loath wind farms they should be banned. Solar is great except if panels litter a landscape they should be limited to roofs on structures as much as possible.
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not happening, but gas, for sure... we have an insane amount of it, lol.
i can't help laughing at the fact that 3 mile island is coming back online and microsoft has apparently worked a deal to use ALL it's electricity output for a data center.
i can't help laughing at the fact that 3 mile island is coming back online and microsoft has apparently worked a deal to use ALL it's electricity output for a data center.
Racer
Joined: Jan 2025
Posts: 1,348
Likes: 343
Well then again Deepseek proved you night not need to build power hungry data centers so they might backtrack on it.
Lead Lap
Joined: May 2010
Posts: 3,953
Likes: 1,577
From: San Diego, CA
The Deepseek that did, in fact, leverage tens of thousands of power-hungry GPUs and has reportedly been caught leveraging OpenAI etc, meaning those low-cost claims are at best extremely dubious?
Lexus Champion
Joined: Oct 2019
Posts: 19,653
Likes: 3,748
From: California
That's a claim from OpenAI and Microsoft. I've heard a few experts who downloaded Deepseek say that Deepseek's claims are valid. I'm not saying they are, but OpenAI and other companies have a lot at stake to prove them dubious
Racer
Joined: Jan 2025
Posts: 1,348
Likes: 343
But then again, I assume deepseek is going to use open ai generous use of fair use doctrine and wdgaf to get out of any factual data provided.
Lexus Fanatic
Joined: May 2012
Posts: 68,468
Likes: 3,991
From: Maryland