Plugging Into the Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Moderator

Utilities already have a big challenge with ROI because they have to “build for peak” that afternoon of the hottest summer every year when all the air conditioners are running full blast.  Now as dozens of car companies big and small start building plug-in electric vehicles for the growing market of energy-conscious customers, it presents a new potential peak for them to build around. Can they solve it this time without more utilities and power lines? How can IT and communications technologies come to the rescue? How will battery innovation impact things? What will be the role of demand/response and dynamic pricing? What about innovative business models? What if the energy mix doesn’t change to more renewable sources? Is the EV only as clean as the utility that feeds it?