Sri Lanka asks electric vehicle owners to unplug at night

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.



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.