Sri Lanka asks electric vehicle owners to unplug at night

The President said electric cars were adding an extra 300 megawatts of demand at night, straining the grid. Read more at straitstimes.com.

COLOMBO – Sri Lanka has urged electric vehicle (EV) owners to stop charging their cars at night, saying the surge in demand is forcing the country to burn more coal and diesel to keep the power grid running.

In an address to the nation, President Anura Kumara Dissanayake said electric cars were adding an extra 300 megawatts of demand at night, straining the grid.

“Electric car owners charge their vehicles when they return from work. This is placing an additional burden on the grid, and we are compelled to operate all our generators to meet this surge,” he said on the night of March 17.

Much of the electricity at night is generated by a 900-megawatt coal power station and another 1,000 megawatts from diesel – a far cry from the clean‑green image EVs might hope to project.

Sri Lanka, still waiting for large‑scale battery storage, currently has no way to bottle its abundant daytime solar power.

“Charge your car during the day when we have excess electricity from solar,” Mr Dissanayake said, adding that the authorities plan to introduce tariffs shortly to curb nighttime charging.