Fuel up is a breeze

Doctor Bruce Smith of the Electricity Commission has a dream - a dream in which wind power fuels our cars.

It's a view that's more practical than you think. Plug-in commuter cars will recharge at low-peak times overnight when generated power is usually "spilled".

"The electricity needed is modest, easy to forecast, and you can build wind generators faster than people will buy electric cars, so you can build generation capacity if you need it," says Smith, speaking at EECA's Biofuels and Electric Cars conference.

New Zealand's already well placed to run carbon-neutral cars, with a high proportion of renewable energy sources, he says.

Smith says intelligent metering and strong pricing signals are key to when people charge - in part to ensure commuters do plug in at night, and not when they return from work, a time of heavy load on the network.

Edward Kjaer, director of the Electric Transportation Division of Southern California Edison, also says price incentives are necessary.

Kjaer sees energy storage at community level, down to individual houses and further. Storage grade car batteries mean you could plug your car into the grid at times of peak draw, "downloading" power from your car to the grid, then recharging it late at night and thus offsetting your power bill.

Kjaer says the ability to flatten the load on the grid throughout the day will save money.

"We have a peaking system and we have to build capacity to meet those peaks."