It depends on how it's implemented. If all we use are really, really high voltage quick charging stations, then yeah, the grid would peak even more during the day. But if we kept costs down and simply used the home grid hook-up for most charging, likely on a timer, so that the vast majority of EVs would be sucking down juice when the rest of the grid is mostly idle, we could convert ~80% of our fleet to plug-ins or even EVs. There's also the potential for shallow cycling of a plugged in EV fleet during peaks, such as CA heat waves. Electricity is so damn expensive, that it'd probably be worthwhile for the PHEV/EV owner and the state.

Well, DUH! Why didn't I think of that? Maybe perpetual motion generators in each car would power the batteries.

Not to be TOO sacastic, but of course the electric power needs to come from somewhere. Society gets to choose which source. The only reasonable non carbon source is nuclear. Are you pro-nuclear?

I'm pro safe-Nuclear, if it is even possible....I think in the end, Nuclear is an unavoidable solution.

Absolutely...let's go nuclear...get some good plans and designs going and catch back up with the rest of the industrialized world for electricity generation! :-)

MorningGaser -

If you can solve the waste problem, then I'll back you up, but I haven't seen a any real solution yet. It can be argued that nuclear waste is the ultimate crime against future generations.

CarloSW2

I absolutely am :p Which drink do you want? The labeled one or one that's a bit hazy on what's in it. Drink the labeled one - poison control can manage and treat -- drink the unlabeled one, lots of pain and guessing until a solution comes around.

Nuclear waste is manageable and there's a lot less... FF waste is manageable too, but it's much more costly and still isn't completely contained. If we catch up to France, there will be even less waste as WE don't even recycle nuclear fuel - they do.

Just so everyone knows the oil refineries, processing plants and fuel transportation is the single largest consumer of electricity in the US. Darell said he could drive about 30 miles on the electricity it takes to make one gallon of gas in is stock Toyota Rav 4 RV.

trebuchet03: Yeah, that is one thing that worries me. Hospitals can not run at all without technology. Even having the temperatures fluctuate 3-5 degrees can make a doctor cancel a surgery; and trust me, I have seen it happen many times.

zpiloto: I would say that list is just a bit lacking in content. To widen the problem we are looking at (things made from oil) to something broader... think of all the things that technology had a hand in making. Guaranteed you can't think of a single thing in the world that isn't in some way altered or produced by some sort of technology. If there is any input along the way that even somewhat relies on technology then that item is technology dependent.

Sludgy: You are missing the whole picture I believe. While these cars may well in fact be 100% operable on electricity alone, their production IS NOT! They require many oil-based products while they are in the assembly and production phase. All automobiles have a "barrels required per unit" (or something along those lines) that are required to produce them.

cfg83: Thank you very much. These damned fools with absolutely no foresight keep cheering for nuclear. I can't remember what the halflife of that **** is, but it is long enough that NO ONE COULD EVER EVEN COME CLOSE to estimating the future impact that it will have. It is a ridiculous solution that could never be researched enough to possibly weigh the pros and cons and come to a decent solution. A statistical impossibility.

At one time, cars were made without significant petroleum input.

Manufacturers, until about the 1930's, used coal for smelting iron ore and making steel (same as today), wood and leather. Today manufacturers use oil principally to make plastic parts. But even old Henry Ford himself tried soybeans to make plastics. Even today the electricity used in the Midwest car factories comes from coal, not oil.

Oil is not necessary to make cars, but it is cheap and convenient, and that is why manufacturers use it. When it becomes scarce, substitutes will be found.

Do the math and I think that you will see that that cannot be correct. How many kWh would it take to go 30 miles?