When I talk to people about the prospect of seeing millions of plug-in hybrids and all-electric cars hitting the streets by 2012, one of the first questions I get is:
"Won't all these electric cars require building hundreds of new power plants?"
The answer is: "No, but we have to be smart about it."
It's a great question because it goes to the heart of the solar economy. The traditional model is that this huge new demand for electric power would be satisfied with new power plants. The new model is to charge your electric car with solar PV panels on YOUR roof.
A medium-sized array on your house would feed the grid during the day (at peak hour rates), while you charge your car at night, using your credit to buy back power at non-peak rates.
Blogger Shai Agassi calls this concept the Long Tailpipe. While his vision embraces a form of centralized windmill power to feed the grid, I believe the real revolution is in de-centralizing our sources of power.
How does .04 per mile sound?
At $.06 per KWh, an electric car cost $.04 per mile on grid electricity; and far less if you have your own PV array (once installation cost is factored in).
