Cities Scramble to Prepare for Electric Vehicles

Electric cars sap a lot of electricity out of the grid, and many vehicles charging at once can cause unprepared cities to blackout.

1 minute read

August 27, 2010, 2:00 PM PDT

By Tim Halbur


Cities are courting the big automotive manufacturers to begin installing infrastructure in their cities:

"Nissan, Ford and other electric vehicle makers said they look at three factors in picking cities for rollouts: large numbers of hybrid owners - a sign electric cars will be embraced - friendly public policy and supportive utilities.

"We need to get the right policies in place, moving forward, soon. And when I say soon, I mean get them in place over the next six months to a year," said Howard Learner, executive director of the Environmental Law & Policy Center in Chicago, which is participating in the consortium."

Friday, August 27, 2010 in Boston Herald

Lake Powell with much of the water evaporated.

Desperate measures: Advocates weigh draining Lake Powell to fill Colorado River

Draining the reservoir could reduce evaporation losses by a couple hundred thousand acre-feet.

October 30, 2026 - Yale Environment 360

A road in north eastern Nebraska with power lines on either side, and grassy fields.

Eastern Nebraska is running out of electricity

Data centers and electrification are straining eastern Nebraska’s grid, throttling economic development.

November 6, 2026 - Grist

A rendering of a mall turned living space. People walk around a green space surrounded by apartments.

Malls are becoming the midtowns of the future

Mall and office park redevelopments are a generational opportunity to create new nodes of urbanity.

October 29, 2026 - Ben Schneider

A car drives through a puddle in NYC

NYC breaks ground on anti-flooding infrastructure project

New York City's new system will reduce stormwater flows to local sewers by 90%.

November 9 - Smart Cities Dive

Members of the Smoketown CLT gather for a photo

One Kentucky town’s secret to affordable housing

The Smoketown Community Land Trust has already built seven affordable homes for community members.

November 9 - Reasons to Be Cheerful

Two people stand under mesh coverings shaped like petals

Houston gains petal-shaped cooling infrastructure to make streets more ‘delightful’

The city has installed the pavilions along 15 blocks in Houston.

November 9 - De Zeen

FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?

After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.

Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold

The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.