That is the energy flow rate of a regular gas pump. It puts into perspective just how much energy is in gas vs. how much energy can flow through an electrical charger.
Electrons are cheaper than gaso right now, which helps to hide the fact that Plug_ins are putting a whole lot of electrons in a Plug_in to match the energy in a gallon of gasoline.
until oil is plentiful and gas pumps are cheap to put in your garage, the notion that what we got needs to be replicated in every way is somewhat foolish. 3x 5 minutes, 3.6%, 42% Given that plug-ins are about 3x more effient than gasoline cars, it would be foolish to require the same power flow rate. 60 kwh is probably plenty for a fill up at a public station, and if these are convient enough, most would not be put off by a 5 minute charge. That is around 720 kw flow rate needed. Is that reasonable in the future? Tesla is building 135kw now, so we need to get them about 6x faster. That requires both some over sized packs and different chemistry. This is definitely technically feasible, but not here today. 3.6% percent of cars sold in california were plug-ins. That is a rapid advance, and volt and tesla model S scored best in consumer satisfaction in their segments. People seem to genuily like plug-ins and are willing to put up with a few negatives to get the poitives. Plug-In Electric Vehicles Account For 3.2% Of California's New Car Sales Note a little more than 50% of these were phevs, where owners can fuel at home and at the pump. Say the tesla's need to hit a public charger 12x a year. If it can fill 80% in 5 minutes that is only an hour a year, but we aren't there yet. At 40 minutes (going out of the way, etc) that is 8 hours a year, most don't want to do that so they take a different car ;-) 42% is the percent of people that could go plug-in (access to a plug, no need for hauling or towing in this vehicle, short eneough trips to majorly benefit, other vehicle for long trips or phev) according to union of concerned scientists. If half of those went plug-in that would be 21% of the population, and would likely drop oil use 15%. By 2035 that is a very plausable scenario just using today's technology and small incremental cost reductions of batteries (7%/year).
I was just impressed by the flowrate of energy involved in pumping gas. The flowrate of filling up a major aircraft has to be much more impressive. As much energy is flowing into a refueling aircraft as is flowing out of a major power plant. No positive or negative implications other than what is easy for one technology can be very challenging for another.
