The Wall Street Journal - Politics & Economics: U.S. Finds Electric
Power Grid Can Fuel Fleets of Plug-In Cars
By John J. Fialka
11 December 2006

WASHINGTON -- The nation's existing electric power grid could fuel as
many as 180 million electric cars, a Department of Energy study
estimates.

The study, being released today by the department's Pacific Northwest
National Laboratory, is the federal government's first look at the
grid's capacity to handle the demands of so-called plug-in hybrids,
which can be operated as an all-electric car for most daily commutes.
Until now, there have been few detailed studies of the effect of
plug-ins, which are championed by environmental groups and the utility
industry.

Currently there are only a few hundred plug-ins on the road, most
hand-made prototypes or unsanctioned modifications of existing hybrids,
which use small gasoline engines that charge their electric motors, but
can't plug in to recharge.

General Motors Corp. recently announced it will build a plug-in Saturn,
and other makers are thought to be planning similar ventures. The report
estimates that the current cost of electricity needed to power a car is
roughly one-third the equivalent amount of gasoline.

"It is intriguing to think of the trade and national-security benefits
if our vehicles switched from oil to electrons," said Robert Pratt, one
of the authors of the study and an energy researcher at the laboratory.
"Plus, since the utilities would be selling more electricity without
having to build more plants or power lines, electricity prices could go
down for everyone."

The report estimates that plug-ins, made in volume, would cost between
$6,000 and $10,000 more than existing vehicles -- largely due to the
cost of carrying larger battery packs. The study estimates that because
electricity is cheaper than gasoline, car buyers would recover the
additional cost over five to eight years, depending on the price of
gasoline.

The study estimates that if 84% of the nation's 220 million vehicles
relied primarily on electricity, emissions of carbon dioxide thought to
be accelerating climate change would be cut by as much as 5%.
Vehicle-produced smog would drop in major cities.

But sulfur dioxide, which causes acid rain, would rise in rural areas
where coal-burning power plants are located. The U.S. gets about half of
its electricity from burning coal.