Reva G-Wiz, the world's top selling electric car
A major electric utility trade group has pledged to lay the foundation for a national infrastructure to support battery-powered vehicles, reports The Associated Press.
Last week, the Edison Electric Institute announced that utilities would develop standardized structures such as charging systems, advanced meters, incentives for customers to recharge at night and a grid that interacts with plug-in cars.
These plans will hopefully allay any fears consumers might have about “being stranded with a dead battery” and encourage the adoption of electric vehicles, says the New York Times.
“Customers don’t want to be panicked when they get in their car about where and when they can charge their vehicle,” said Ford Motor Co. Executive Chairman Bill Ford, Jr., at a recent electric vehicles conference.
Because the country already has an electricity grid in place, building the infrastructure will not be a large cost. However, overloading the electrical system is still an issue that the utilities have yet to work out.
Either way, we’re happy to hear the news. The energy a hybrid vehicle runs on has to come from somewhere – and since we get almost half our electricity from coal, odds are that the electricity charging it will be coal generated.
Furthermore, if a plug-in hybrid’s electricity can be produced from power plants utilizing clean coal technology, we can greatly reduce greenhouse gas emissions for cars on the road – without increasing emissions in the utility sector.
Would you make the switch to an electric car? Post a comment and let us know.
The American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity (ACCCE) is committed to the idea that America can have the affordable, reliable electricity we need, with the clean environment we want. ACCCE’s Behind the Plug blog is the place for up-to-date news and analysis on clean coal technology developments and energy policy progress.
Absolutely no way will I ever purchase an electric vehicle. And NO ONE in my family or my friends say they will either.
We do not buy into this fake carbon footprint crap and there are over 30,000 scientists that PROVE the ridiculousness of it. It is ALL about a bigger agenda and it has NOTHING to do with ‘helping the environment.’ Wake up people. You DO NOT want the Treaty that Obama is going to Copenhagen in December to discuss and sign off on. It is invalid even if he does. HE HAS to have two-thirds of congress to make any treaty worth anything anyway. Americans WILL NOT TOLERATE unelected officials telling us what to do. Our Constitution guards against arrogant presidents’ abusing their power. Obama’s power is limited (although he doesn’t think so) by the Constitution–thank God!