The Northwest Power and Conservation Council says more electric
cars on the roads will use more power in the future. The
Northwest Power and Conservation Council is increasing its
previous estimates of how much power plug-in cars will need by
2030. The Council says high gas prices and better technology
could drive up electric car sales. That means drivers will need
more power to plug in their vehicles. On the low end of the
scale, the Council estimates electric cars could use the same
amount of power as roughly 80,000 homes every year. On the other
hand, it may be about the same as 350,000 homes. But the Council
says more power plants will not need to be built. Electric car
sales have steadily increased during the first three months of
this year.