The electric car is coming no matter what oil companies and consumers think. Several electric vehicles like the Nissan Leaf and Chevy Volt are both going to start showing up in driveways very soon.

These cars will reduce the need for consumers to buy gasoline, but they will increase the load on the electric infrastructure in neighborhoods and cities. In some areas, this won’t be an issue. However, in places where the transformers serving homes are already taxed, adding EVs could spell trouble for America's aging electrical grid.

Electric companies are both excited and worried at the rush of EVs set to hit the infrastructure around the country. They are excited because if they can grab even a small portion of the $325 billion each year spent on gasoline it will be huge for them. The electric companies worry because adding one or two EVs in a neighborhood could result in power outages.

The Detroit News reports that the last time electric companies were faced with such a huge potential for increased demand in power consumption by consumers was in the 50's and 60's when air conditioning systems were widely installed around the country. The utility companies say that a single EV could draw more power than an average size home in some states. 

When an EV is plugged into a 120V outlet, it draws 1500W. However, when an EV is hooked up to a fast charger, which most are, they can draw much more power. The first Leaf and Volt EVs to hit homes will slurp down 3,300W of power and there are plans to boost that consumption to 6,600W soon. That 6,600W of power is twice the 3,000W an average home without AC in the San Francisco Bay area consumes.

The problem is expected to be worse in some areas like more affluent cities in California and Texas. The bad news for people in areas where hardware has to be upgraded is that the costs of the upgrades could well be figured into the rates for all people in an area. An EV at a neighbor's home could cost all homeowners more each month on their electric bill.

A spokesperson from Duke Energy said, "It's like you're about to have a baby. You know it's going to be good, but you also know there's going to be some throw up and some dirty diapers, and you just hope that it's something you are prepared for."