WASHINGTON, March 17 (UPI) -- Sales of electric and hybrid vehicles are expected to increase in the United States, but the additional demand will hurt electric utilities.
Use of hybrids and electric vehicles is expected to be concentrated around major East Coast cities and California, Ed Kjaer, Southern California Edison's electric-transportation director, told USA Today.
Power companies need to be ready for the additional power consumption from hybrids, and there needs to be a safe way for the cars to be charged both in private and in public, the newspaper reports.
Southern California Edison, an investor-owned utility based in a Los Angeles suburb, is spending more than $5 million a year acquiring and maintaining an electric-vehicle fleet.
It's using its own cars to test new plug-ins and battery capabilities.
Charging an electric car can use the same amount of energy it would take to run six plasma television sets at once.
About 1 million electric cars are expected to be on the road in the next eight years, said Mark Duvall of the Electric Power Research Institute.
