Renewable Gossip

Plugging cars into the grid is quickly moving from concept to reality—and the auto and electric utility industries are frantically trying to make it a success. That’s the main theme of Plug-in 2009, running from Aug. 10 – 13 in Long Beach, Calif.

GM’s wall-mounted 240-volt charger, which can charge the Chevrolet Volt in about three hours, meets the latest auto industry standards.

“It’s getting more and more real, and extremely tactical,” said Britta Gross, the General Motors point person on electric car infrastructure. GM is about 14 months away from the scheduled introduction of the Chevy Volt plug-in series hybrid. “This is crunch time,” said Gross.

GM is by no means alone. A growing list of plug-in hybrids and all-electric cars from a dozen or so carmakers is coming to market in the next couple years. Nissan’s all-electric car, the Nissan Leaf, will roll out in late 2010 roughly when the Chevy Volt is introduced.

The clock is racing toward these plug-in cars coming to neighborhood dealerships. As a result, carmakers, battery manufacturers, electric utility managers, and charging equipment producers are coming under increasing pressure to solve unresolved aspects of market introduction.

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