wrote in message
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On Dec 5, 11:09 am, "RBM" wrote:
"Ed Pawlowski" wrote in message

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"RBM" wrote
Wow, that's pretty funny. Of all the reasons one might find to upgrade
an
electric service, "electric vehicles are on the way", is certainly not
one I would have thought of. I suppose with the new "Volt" coming out
with it's revolutionary 40 miles (best case scenario) on a charge,
people
will be just tripping over each other to buy one. We electricians will
be
backlogged for the next ten years trying to upgrade everyone's service
to
accommodate these technological wonders.

Funny today, maybe no so ten years from now. I read that California is
installing thousands of charging stations now. That is keeping some
electricians busy.

I'd put one in if I was buying a Tesla. You won't catch me driving a
Volt even though the payback is a mere 18 years or so.

I think you hit the nail on the head. California is just putting more
nails
in their financial coffin, but for those of us living in the real world,
the
volt is a POS, and we can't afford the Tesla. I don't think I'll have to
worry about installing piles of electric car outlets for a while yet



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It would seem that if and when electric cars become feasible and cost
effective
for many people that you could upgrade your electric service at that
time. I
don't see why anyone would be laying out money today to go from a 150A
service to 200A service on the theory that electric cars are going to
become
mainstream. No one knows exactly how the future of car technology
is going
to play out. That Chevy Volt would have to sell for under $20K to
be in line with
similar compact cars. Then you still have the 40 mile electric
range, but with
the backup gas engine it could be suitable for commutes to the train
or bus, short
hops around town, etc.

For the OP, it would seem the simplest thing to do would be to try the
existing
service with the addition and see if it works out OK. If the main
breaker starts
tripping, then he knows he needs a larger service.

I agree. The only thing that's wrong with the electric car, is the only
thing that has always been wrong with it. The Battery. With all the devices
using batteries today, I don't think some new, totally revolutionary battery
technology is just going to sneak up on us. And if it did, I, and everyone
else would be happy as clams... and then we wouldn't have enough electricity
generation to feed them.