Scott Benson

Electric Cars for 2010: Shift from Foreign Oil to Riding on Local Renewable Energy

I'm of the mind that electric cars are simply "process of elimination," where nothing else (especially gasoline-powered) is going to be affordable. However, with electricity, we need to keep in mind:

The U.S. uses one terawatt of electricity now per year. Imagine natural gas becoming unaffordable for winter heating. So now you need two terawatts (can't burn the tree in the backyard forever). Add in millions of electric vehicles that used to run on gasoline (night charging may help for awhile) that have to be powered. Now you have THREE terawatts that you need. The whole world generates four terawatts per year. We are expecting this 1960s electric grid which is hanging by a thread even now to supply all this power?