Recently, Michael Morris, chairman, president and CEO of American Electric Power Co., the nation’s largest energy supplier, said the nation’s grid in its present form could withstand an immediate turnover of at least 20% of the nation’s present vehicle fleet to plug-in technology. This is great news for the electric vehicle market and does much to assuage nay-sayers who believe the grid can’t handle electric vehicles en masse. Morris continued, “The fact is [power stations] were made to run, not made to be up and down, up and down. The more they run around the clock, the better they are.” Therefore, according to Morris, our national electrical infrastructure would benefit from more demand in off-peak hours, when PHEV owners would most likely charge their vehicles.
And to those who discredit electric vehicles for putting too much strain on the grid, Morris said: “That’s something we’re much more prepared for than people understand.”
