Tesla has asked its customers in Texas not to charge their electric cars during peak hours to avoid overloading the state’s power grid. Meanwhile, the Texas Grid Operator (ERCOT) is urging residents to conserve electricity due to extremely high temperatures, with the power system in a near-emergency state.
Tesla sent a warning to customers’ car screens. The company advises them not to charge their cars between 15:00 and 20:00.
‘A heat wave is expected to affect the grid in Texas over the next several days,’ the warning said. ‘The grid operator is recommending that charging during peak hours between 3pm and 8pm be avoided where possible to assist the state’s demand management efforts.’
ERCOT advised Texans to avoid running energy-intensive appliances between 2:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m.
Taking electric vehicles off the grid during peak hours can help the Texas power system avoid emergency power outages at a time when residents are actively using air conditioners to cool their homes. The situation is exacerbated by the fact that the hot weather is accompanied by a near-total absence of wind, reducing energy production from wind farms, which normally generate about a quarter of the state’s electricity.
This is the second time this year that, due to high temperatures in Texas, Tesla has urged customers to avoid charging their electric vehicles during peak hours. The company sent out a similar warning in May 2022.
The hot weather also affected Bitcoin miners in Texas. Mining companies have shut down their equipment to reduce the load on the power grid. In normal operation, such equipment requires more than 1,000 mW of electricity, which is about 1% of the total capacity of the state network.
Bitcoin miners have flocked to Texas over the past year after China banned mining on its territory. As a result, the US has become the largest mining center in the world.
