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How EVs Can Actually Help the Electricity Crisis
Season 3 · Episode 11

How EVs Can Actually Help the Electricity Crisis

Rob and Jesse touch base with WeaveGrid CEO Apoorv Bhargava.

Shift Key with Robinson Meyer · Heatmap News

November 5, 20251h 21m

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Show Notes

Data centers aren’t the only driver of rising power use. The inexorable shift to electric vehicles — which has been slowed, but not stopped, by Donald Trump’s policies — is also pushing up electricity use across the country. That puts a strain on the grid — but EVs could also be a strength.


On this week’s episode of Shift Key, Rob and Jesse talk to Apoorv Bhargava, the CEO and cofounder of Weavegrid, a startup that helps people charge their vehicles in a way that’s better and cleaner for the grid. They chat about why EV charging remains way too complicated, why it should be more like paying a cellphone bill than filling up at a gas station, and how the AI boom has already changed the utility sector.


Shift Key is hosted by Robinson Meyer, the founding executive editor of Heatmap, and Jesse Jenkins, a professor of energy systems engineering at Princeton University. 


Mentioned:


Rob on how electricity got so expensive


Utility of the Future: An MIT Energy Initiative response to an industry in transition, December 2016


Previously on Shift Key: Utility Regulation Really Sucks


Jesse’s downshift; Rob’s upshift.


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This episode of Shift Key is sponsored by …


Hydrostor is building the future of energy with Advanced Compressed Air Energy Storage. Delivering clean, reliable power with 500-megawatt facilities sited on 100 acres, Hydrostor’s energy storage projects are transforming the grid and creating thousands of American jobs. Learn more at hydrostor.ca.


Uplight is a clean energy technology company that helps energy providers unlock grid capacity by activating energy customers and their connected devices to generate, shift, and save energy. The Uplight Demand Stack — which integrates energy efficiency, electrification, rates, and flexibility programs — improves grid resilience, reduces costs, and accelerates decarbonization for energy providers and their customers. Learn more at uplight.com/heatmap.


Music for Shift Key is by Adam Kromelow.


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