"On the other hand, if all drivers use quick charging in the daytime -- carmakers' most attractive sales argument to ease range anxiety -- the network will not hold up and it will definitely be necessary to reinforce it to get through peak points."
Thierry Koskas, head of Renault's EV project, said that a hypothetical two million electric cars on the road in France in 2020 -- quite an ambitious figure -- would represent 0.5 percent of electricity consumption in France.
"What needs to be avoided is cars being charged during peak demand hours, for example 6 p.m. on a winter evening. That can be worked on, it's not very complicated," he said.
Victor Muller, CEO of Saab owner Spyker which is making 70 e-power EVs for a test program, told Reuters: "The grid in the United States in many areas is so completely outdated that you could see serious problems arising."
Electric car drivers -- initially expected to be city dwellers, with companies accounting for a large part of sales -- will have a truly "zero-emission" vehicle only if it runs on electricity generated from renewable sources.
"It's not only electric vehicles, we have to decarbonize the power sector," said Nobuo Tanaka, executive director of the International Energy Agency, which sees 20 million electric, hybrid and plug-in hybrid cars on the roads in 2020.
RANGE ANXIETY
Getting enough charging points in place so drivers can be free from "range anxiety" will be key, Muller said.
"It's one thing to know you can do 50 km (30 miles) and you'll be without power. It's another if you don't know where to get power when you get there," he said.
Saab CEO Jan Ake Jonsson said manufacturers would also have to make sure prices for zero-emission cars were competitive.
"The price tag at the moment is high. I would say it has to come to (that of) a normal combustion engine. If it doesn't, customers are not going to pay for it unless there are tax schemes and tax benefits."
