Hi all,

a friend and I started talking about electric cars and their performance. There was a lot of talk about them a few years ago but then all went silent. When I looked around the net, I found that there are no longer any real electric cars manufactured except prototypes and a few small enthusiast vehicles. What did they expect with a 50 or 100 mile range? Then I had a look at batteries and was suprised to find that they have improved dramatically. The best batteries that will enter the marketplace this year are about five times better than those available when the electric cars like the EV1 were designed. Although that ups the range to 250-500 miles it's still way too expensive for civilian use, a situation which is unlikely to change in the foreseeable future.

Here's the kicker: If you calculate how much electricity you would need to charge this type of car, it becomes evident that electricians and utilities would get a lot of work to do. An electricity guzzling SUV needs at least 400 Wh/mi, probably closer to 500 Wh/mi. 250 mi times 400 Wh equals 100 kWh! Try fast charging that battery. Even if you settle for charging only 60% of the battery and let it take one hour it will need 60 kW of power.

For home charging two or three hours are acceptable, but that's still 20-30 kW.

Question: Do you see any practical problems with installing such an outlet in a home?