Here's one, courtesy of the always progressive city by the bay:
The scheme involves a number of ground-breaking proposals to encourage the adoption of electric vehicles, including speeding up the installation of electric vehicle charging outlets on streets and in homes, and offering incentives for companies to install charging stations in the workplace.
Local government will also work to harmonise standards across the region so that drivers of electric vehicles can travel the length and breadth of the Bay Area – roughly equivalent to the south-east of England – without being concerned that they cannot find the right charging station.
Well, that's a start, though as we know, folks in England tend to be constrained by being on, as it is, an island. Americans take in a much wider swath of land. But it's a start - we don't quite get who pays if people fill their cars at workplace outlets (a new employment perq, maybe?) - and if the state spreads the charging stations to its other cities and especially to the immense - and rural - inland empire, then you're cooking with, um, gas.
Read the whole thing - there's more involved - but if the idea proves to have value, then we'll start wondering whether the staggering logistical and financial challenges of a national "smart grid" will suddenly get an extra motivational push. We can think of one energy source that could nicely complement this electric bonanza - if California gets on the stick.
Oh, all right, this picture of the Elettrica, sold in England, might well cause horror and dismay, but we had to have our fun. Take a look at the Chevy Volt if you want something that suits current tastes a little better. But note also what Chevrolet says about the Volt: "Chevy Volt is designed to move more than 75 percent of America's daily commuters without a single drop of gas." What they mean is not all that far on a charge. This is the problem San Francisco means to address.
Comments
Considering their Jihad against any existing or proposed source of electricity that produces even a puff of CO2, the ban on new nuclear production in California, and the feeble production from new wind and solar facilities; where do they expect to get the power for daytime charging of electric car batteries? These workplace and streetside charging stations will contribute overwhelming additional electric demand during daytime peak usage.
The optimum time for battery charging is off-peak. When is that? At night while vehicles are parked at home. Any other time, without agressive development of new fossil and nuclear power plants, is a recipe for diaster for the California grid.