Electric Cars Won't Strain the Power Grid

thecarchik writes "Last week's heat wave prompted another eruption of that perennial question: Won't electric cars that recharge from grid power overload the nation's electricity system? The short answer is no. A comprehensive and wide-ranging two-volume study from 2007, Environmental Assessment of Plug-In Hybrid Vehicles, looked at the impact of plug-in vehicles on the US electrical grid. It also analyzed the 'wells-to-wheels' carbon emissions of plug-ins versus gasoline cars. The load of one plug-in recharging (about 2 kilowatts) is roughly the same as that of four or five plasma television sets. Plasma TVs hardly brought worries about grid crashes."

Comments

Re:Plus they could be set to charge at night

[davester666]

I'm not saying the batteries will discharge or that the average commute can be handled by a single charge.

I'm saying that there are enough trips that American's do, that are not planned in advance, that may or may not exceed the range of the car, that most people will rather make sure their car is charged to be able to make those unplanned trips than delay and/or cancel the trip because their car doesn't have enough charge to do the trip [or do a side trip].