Impact of Electric Cars on U. S. Petroleum Consumption

A computer model that forecasts electricity demand and capacity on an hourly basis for each major electric power company in the United States is used to analyze the potential impact of electric cars on national petroleum consumption in 1980, 1990, and 2000. The analysis, based on 1978 and 1979 growth projections by the industry, shows that if all cars were electrified in the year 2000, automobile petroleum use would be cut by 75 percent, saving 2.5 million barrels of crude oil a day, or 14 percent of future national petroleum consumption. Most cars could be charged overnight from otherwise idle coal and nuclear power plants.