And this sort of thing is where we WILL go, whether we like it or not.
Currently the utility I work for offers incentives if they can control your air conditioner during peak load. Thus they can shut down your compressor to help prevent load shedding during high load. With the advent of the "smart grid" where your electric meter will be read at least once an hour versus once a month electric cars and rechargeable hybrids are going to become a very important part of the "grid" as we know it. The way you buy electricity is going to change, it's going to be a lot more like picking a cell-phone plan (as in you will only use 1kw max at your house between 12:00 PM and 8:00 PM or you'll pay more), you'll buy "plans" that specify how much energy you will use and when.
At present, there is no feasible way to store energy but with a bunch of electric cars that can pick up the load when a wind farm starts cranking out 100% of it's capacity at 2:00 in the morning and can operate your home in the event of a major transmission line trip, electric cars are going to be part of the electric infrastructure.
Heck if you can charge your car for $0.06 between 01:00 and 05:00 then run your house when you get home from work off your car battery when electricity is $0.30, the thing might even pay for itself.
Yeah, a lot of this is pie in the sky but stashing an electric car at 50% of residential customers and %75 of businesses will allow greater exploitation of green energy and a more stable grid.
