Electric Vehicle Symposium 2012 puts future of electric cars on display

DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- The future of electric cars was on display at the annual Electric Vehicle Symposium at the Los Angeles Convention Center.

Everything that runs on juice was being discussed and shown off during the exhibit held from May 6-9.

Some of the electric car brands on display included the ones everyone has heard of, like Toyota, to those trying to get a toe hold, like CODA.

There was plenty of variety as well, including a shuttle van that runs on batteries and Tesla's sleek, upcoming four-door.

Charging units were all over the place, ones that will go in your home garage or public parking areas. We might be seeing a small revolution in the refueling process.

In the future, there will be many choices in vehicles and many choices on where to plug them in. The question remains, though, whether there will be enough electricity to go around.

"We look at the electric vehicle load just the way we look at any other load," said Chris Vournakis of Southern California Edison, who was also represented at the symposium. "Like air conditioners in the past, we upgraded the electrical system to support that. EVs are just the next new wave."

Something like a solar carport, on display by General Motors, could ease the load a little. It can provide shade for your car and free solar energy for its batteries.

In reality, electric cars and plug-in hybrids are only a tiny fraction of the cars on the road so far. But the folks in this big room full of technology are hoping that tiny fraction turns into a much bigger one.

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technology, environment, auto news, car tips, dave kunz

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