June 13, 2008 - With Volkswagen, Nissan, and Toyota planning electric-vehicle rollouts by 2010, Pacific Gas & Electric CEO Peter Darbee says his company is ready to spend billions on plug-in stations to service the new cars, Reuters reports.

"Today, our electric grid cannot support massive quantities of plug-in hybrid vehicles very well, and there is much work we have to do to accomplish that," Darbee told attendees at a plug-in vehicle conference Wednesday. "But I think much of that work can be done over a five-year time frame in California and a ten-year time frame throughout the remainder of the United States. In short, we need to transform the electric grid in the United States."

PG&E is currently equipped to roll out 10 million "smart meters" for plug-in vehicle drivers, Darbee said.