Charging batteries from the grid
Just feeling my way along with this.
One of the major attractions with home storage batteries is that you can charge them for a few hours during the night at low rates (8p/kwh), and then use the electricity stored during the day/evening to avoid paying full rate (or higher). This benefit is likely increased if you can charge an EV on low rate electricity at the same time.
However I wonder if this will last. For as long as I remember low rate electricity has been available at night for the likes of storage heaters. This low price electricity was because the power stations cannot switch their turbines on and off each night, or their shafts tend to suffer cumulative damage, so they keep them turning at a lower rate, and give the electricity to suppliers at very low rates.
Fast forward to now when the electricity demand at night is growing hugely, and over the next 10 years, with the continuing uptake in EVs and home batteries, the demand overnight will be quite high. The power stations will need to run at a higher rate to supply the demand, and there will no longer be a reason for them to sell the electricity cheaply due to this demand.
So might this then negate this major advantage of having a battery, if it cannot me cheaply charged overnight, to offset daytime rates?