General Motors has all but bet its future on the Chevrolet Volt plug-in hybrid it promises to have in showrooms by the end of 2010. To cover that bet, it's working with more than 30 utilities nationwide to ensure the nation's grid can handle an influx of cars that run on electricity.

Its partnership with the Electric Power Research Institute will address issues ranging from tax incentives for what promise to be pricey cars to guaranteeing drivers can charge them easily without sparking a citywide blackout. The idea, company officials say, is to lay the groundwork for what some at GM have called the "inevitable" electrification of the automobile.

“Together with EPRI and the utility companies, we can transform automotive transportation as we know it, and get our nation and the world past oil dependence,” Jon Lauckner, GM's vice president of global program management, said Monday night in announcing the partnership on the eve of the Plug-In 2008 conference in San Jose. “This group is taking significant steps toward making electric vehicles a reality."

The Electric Power Research Institute is a research and development arm for the utility industry and its members generate more than 90 percent of the nation's electricity. By getting in on the ground floor with General Motors -- and Ford, which forged a similar alliance in March -- the Institute can ensure plug-in hybrids and EVs work seamlessly with the nation's grid to one day replace petroleum as our dominant fuel.

"What we see right now is a major opportunity to put electric vehicles out there," said Mark Duvall of the EPRI. "Electric utilities are about to become the gas stations."

There are still a lot of hurdles to clear -- beyond making the cars affordable -- before that happens. The cars have to be designed so they can be recharged safely and easily and without taking down the neighborhood power substation. How quickly they're charged and at what voltage and amperage are just some of the issues to be worked out, said Britta Gross, a GM engineer leading the automaker's push to make sure we get the infrastructure needed to fuel the cars of tomorrow. (GM may be betting big on electrics, but it's hedging that bet by investing in cellulosic ethanol and pushing ahead with hydrogen fuel cell vehicles.)

Another big issue is developing the infrastructure to allow people to charge the vehicles in public. It isn't as if someone on the top floor of a New York high-rise can toss an extension cord out the window. Arshad Mansoor, vice-president of EPRI's power delivery and utilization sector, said the collaboration with GM is "critical" to addressing those issues and getting plug-in hybrids and EVs on the road in big numbers.