Energy Used to Cook the UK’s Christmas Turkeys Could Power an EV Around the World 10,000 Times

Brits used enough electricity cooking their Christmas turkeys yesterday to power 35,996 electric vehicles for a year, infrastructure provider Chargepoint has calculated. 

The electricity used to get those 10 million turkeys to the table, estimated at 90GW, could power a Nissan Leaf across the United Kingdom—from John o’Groats to Lands End—293,821 times, or around the world 10,313 times. 

Or, if your travel plans are more outlandish, that power could send that same EV to the moon and back 583 times, or on a return journey to Mars four times over. 

And it’s also lucky that we have different Christmas traditions, with some serving turkey lunches, other waiting until dinner and some starting the feast early on Christmas Eve. If we all cooked our turkeys at the same moment, we’d topple the National Grid.

Chris Burghardt, Managing Director for Europe at ChargePoint said: “If everyone was to cook their turkey in an oven that cooks it instantly at the exact same time in the UK there would be issues, especially considering the estimated combined capacity of around 90GW. The thing is, they don’t!

“The same is true with electric cars. Drivers will charge their cars as part of their personal routine — charging most of the time at work, home and around town while running errands or holiday shopping. This will differ for each individual. Moreover, as electrical load drops overall, EVs help to balance out the load which is good for drivers and energy providers.”

The use of electric vehicles is predicted to increase the UK’s peak power demand by between five to eight GW by 2030, National Grid has predicted. That’s nine to 14% rise from 2017, when peak electricity demand was 57GW.

Lauren Smith

Lauren Smith has worked as a journalist and copywriter for most of the last decade, covering technology, energy, and consumer rights, in the US and UK.

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