Haruchai-- Don't make the mistake of assuming that, while batteries increase energy density and EVs dramatically increase in numbers, that all else will remain the same-- it won't. Many things will change... For instance, today's EV buyers are more likely to own homes, and far more likely to install solar panels on their home roofs, which will take up much of the slack to supply EV charge. Photovoltaic panels have dropped in price dramatically due to economies of scale, and will continue to drop for years to come; with dramatic increases of solar and wind power farms and other renewable energy, we'll be helping to supply clean energy to the EVs owned by people that do not have roofs for their own solar panels.

Everything about EVs will continue to mature, including AC motors for EV use will make them more efficient, increasing range per charge and decreasing power requirements. Google "V2G"... it stands for "Vehicle to Grid"... it is a system that power companies are beginning to implement to make EVs part of the solution, not just part of the problem. The grid and the EVs plugged into it will be "intelligent"... If the grid senses it is beginning to become overloaded, it puts out a "request" to EVs to give back some of their charge to prevent blackouts. Vehicle owners that provide such power will be paid for that energy at an attractive rate, allowing the load on the grid to be less erratic. Homeowners, public charging stations, retail businesses, and apartment buildings will be installing their own battery storage systems, which will help to decentralize our grid and make it more robust against terrorists and any other anomalies that might otherwise give us the kinds of problems inherent with very centralized grids.

The power grids of the future will be as different from the grid of the recent past as today's cars differ from the best cars of the 1970's-- they will be cybernetic.

Check out Altair Nanotech of Reno, Nevada, re: their NanoSafe battery, which is far more rugged than any batteries today-- they survive undercharging, overcharging, rapid discharge, rapid charging, and will last for decades without maintenance. The Navy has been using them to replace one of two large generators on their submarines to make them stealthier and reduce their operating expenses; what they save on energy in less than two years will pay back the investment. The Army will be using such batteries to avoid the hazardous transport of tanker trucks through hostile territory, operating quiet, stealthy vehicles that can be charged from local solar power panels; they will also power radios in soldier's backpacks. Also take a look at Clipper Creek, Coloumb Technologies and others ramping up to provide thousands of charging stations nationwide. They are doing it intelligently, so grids will not be crashing.

Incredible! The subject is BATTERIES, not e-cigs, eggplants or smoker's (uggggh!) "rights"-- does nicotine addiction screw up your heads to the point you can't even stay on topic!?!

This battery tech, if it pans out, should be the the most profound change to our society since the PC-- electric vehicles (EVs)-- mass-produced and affordable ones, that is-- that today can only manage a couple of hundred miles at best will be capable of driving thousands of miles per charge. But as a practical matter, we will opt instead for cars with a range of, say, 300 miles, but with much smaller, lighter batteries. They will only require motors a third as big... the suspension systems will be lighter and nimbler... they'll be more powerful, quicker, less expensive and better in every respect than the internal combustion engine (ICE) cars that we have toay and which I hate. I look forward to quieter freeways, less smog, cheaper transportation costs, and the other benefits such cars will bring. The one problem will be that since EVs will be so much cheaper, and cheaper to operate, our freeways will eventually become more congested unless we develop new tech that allows greater density but still allows reasonable speeds.

"After a few seconds of freefall, the drouge chutes appeared..." It's DROGUE, not DROUGE, for anyone trying to look up the definition. Good info, otherwise.

I spent the last two days or so trying to figure out how to understand this discussion board, and how to navigate it; I posted a reply to a message a day or so ago, and have not even been able to find my own post, and cannot understand how to use this. Sorry, guys, I give up. It's too obtuse for me, and there are way too many pointless posts to weed through to try to use it.