Just when you thought the news couldn't get much worse.
.....A dense, but important read:

http://energybulletin.net/43823.html

I just love these "experts" and their prognostications!
1. The alleged "electric cars" do not exist, nor have they been designed.
2. As the cars haven't been designed yet, how do these "experts" know what the load will be?
3. Most of the load would be in the middle of the night, when there is just about no other load on the grid.
4. How do these "experts" know how many cars there will be? Do they have "market experts" knowledge of what sales will be?

Yet more Y2K etc. etc. nonsense!

Pearl is a
2007 Driftwood Pearl Prius
Package "B" (everything but leather, nav, and rear camera)

Electric cars and PHEVs may save the grid, rather than cause damage to it, by serving as power levelling reservoirs during peak demand and buffers during overproduction (ie at night).

Most American homes could run an electric car effectively for free, simply by reducing their household electricity consumption by about 30%. This would have very little impact on the grid.

For example, a typical (Prius sized) vehicle manages about 5 miles per kWh. Over 15,000 miles per year, a household would need to find 3,000 kWh to charge the car, or about 8 kWh per day.

8 kWh per day is easily saved by converting to low energy lights, AC systems, appliances and effectively insulating.

http://mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk/ecotech/ecot.htm

Exactly. People are generally going to drive their cars during the day and charge them over night. There is plenty of capacity in the grid during off-peak hours. You could plug your car in when you get home in the evening, and a simple timer could delay charging till later, say 10:00pm when it is cooler and the air conditioners are winding down.

How large of mansion do you live in?
I only use 100 to 150kwh per month!

( Household of 1, tho I doubt a household of 4 would actually double that.)

The Oil Drum should just rename itself the Gloom and Doom Digest. There is actually a lot of grid investment going on and the grid is getting better. As noted in other comments, the warnings about PHEV impact on the grid assume everyone will charge up at work during the day, not at night. It seems to me that the electrical infrastructure can be upgraded faster than we can make a major shift to EVs.

Thought I had read a part of a study that said we could have 25-30% of the market running plug-in hybrids, plugged in at night, before we would need a single new power plant. We're a least few years away from 1% at this point. Seems like the authors(s) may be putting the cart before the horse here.

On the other hand, if we start running our transportation system on electricity there is no question that we will need more generating capacity at some point. I guess if we got our s*** together, that day might come sooner rather than later.

(sarcasm alert) why not just continue to use all that electricty to keep refining oil into gas? Keep the status quo. It's been working forever and doesn't seem to have any negative impacts. Why change? Everything's fine as long as fossil fuel is being used. Renewables and alternatives just distract from all that oil we need to drill and refine using all that electricity.

'04 Seaside Pearl #7. Fumoto oil drain, mudflaps, rear bumper scuff protector & rear warn system, compass mirror, EV mode button, 8" subwoofer in right rear cubby & 6" subs under seats, power lumbar in the front seats, Coastaletech hitch w/ Aspen bike/snowboard rack. iPod2car, 2 amps, Alpine component speakers, and DVD video, solid 47 MPG @ 70000 miles.

A lot of people really think this way. They even got some theory that oil is renewable called "Abiogenic petroleum origin".

Burn all you want, the earth will make more.

<bsalert>Cool. I thought maybe we really had a problem. I'm glad to discover we're ALL safe. I'll sleep better tonight. /<end-bsalert>
There are many more people that think there is plenty of known oil left, and plenty more awaiting discovery. It's possible these people are right, but OPEC actions don't give me that same opinion. These people are ostriches, I say.

Steve

STOP terrorism - Drive a HYBRID

Vehicles:
350 miles a week ------------ 2006 HCH II, Magnetic Pearl, w/NAVI (born on May 25, 2006)
350 miles a month ---------- 2003 Mazda Tribute ES-V6
350 miles a year (for now) - 1986 Mercedes 560SL