Automakers plugging in for less pollution

By Heather Ignall

updated 11:26 a.m. ET Aug. 1, 2007

If more than half of U.S. motorists switched to plug-in hybrid vehicles, the country’s greenhouse gas emissions would plummet by the middle of this century, according to a July 19 study from the Electric Power Research Institute and the Natural Resources Defense Council.

Several automakers are gearing up to their part, but major obstacles remain.

Could the power grid handle such a widespread switch to vehicles that guzzle from electric sockets instead of gas pumps? Opinions differ.

And are millions of consumers willing to plug their cars into a wall outlet just like they would a toaster? Not quite yet, industry insiders say.

The study found that if plug-ins accounted for 60 percent or more of new vehicles sold, greenhouse gas emissions could be reduced by a third — or, about 450 million metric tons annually — by the year 2050. The researchers factored in a period of time for plug-in sales to ramp up.

Chevrolet, Saturn and Toyota are among the automakers experimenting with plug-in hybrids.

Saturn might well be the first one to market. It announced at last year’s Los Angeles Auto Show that it is developing a plug-in version of the Vue Hybrid that it hopes to start selling in 2009.

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Chevrolet, which has put a lot of time and money into its Volt concept car, plans to have a plug-in ready to sell to consumers by 2012. The company makes the scintillating promise that people who drive less than 40 miles per day will never have to fill up, and those who drive more than that will average 150 mpg.

Toyota is developing what it calls the Plug-in HV, which made headlines this week when the Japanese government gave approval for the vehicle to run on public roads for tests. However, the company would not say when it might start selling plug-ins to the public.

Plug-ins do have some big problems to overcome: the added cost, weight and cargo space of the batteries they must house; the limited range of the batteries when charged; and the impact on the power grid from millions of people plugging in their cars.

States like California and big cities like New York know a thing or two about blackouts due to high demand for electricity in summer months. Residents there are also familiar with the rate hikes that accompany the local electric companies’ struggle to improve their infrastructure.

So what kind of impact would plug-ins have on this energy source?

Mike Omotoso, a senior manager at the market research firm J.D. Power and Associates, said he thinks widespread electricity demand for cars has the potential to be an issue.

“We haven’t looked at that sort of extreme scenario in terms of that level of volume for plug-ins, but the increased demand would possibly put a strain on the grid — especially in places like California that are already under strain some times of the year, like in peak summer periods with everyone using their air-conditioning,” he said. “So you could have possible power outages. Or they would raise the price to a level where only wealthier consumers would be able to afford to have a plug-in hybrid.”

But the two groups behind the study — the Natural Resources Defense Council, an environmental action organization based in New York, and the Electric Power Research Institute, a nonprofit center for energy and environmental research in Palo Alto, Calif. — said utilities can handle the expected power demand.

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