ROSEMEAD, CA - Southern California Edison (SCE), one of the nation's largest electric utilities, has launched www.sce.com/pev -- a new online "plug-in car rate assistant." The Web site is designed to help consumers estimate the cost of fueling an electric vehicle and the impact on their electricity bill.

After SCE customers provide facts such as location, daily power usage, vehicle type (such as a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle or battery-electric vehicle), mileage, and time of day use (on- or off-peak), the plug-in car rate assistant will provide an estimated comparison of the average monthly electricity and gasoline bills.

Steve Powell, SCE's manager of plug-in electric vehicle readiness, said: "The online car rate assistant will provide an idea of the bill impacts and the benefits of charging electric vehicles during off-peak hours, 9 p.m. to noon. It's important for customers to understand the advantages of the various rate plans."

SCE's plug-in electric vehicle Web site also features the first of three educational videos listing the steps necessary to become plug-in ready. Upcoming videos will include questions customers should ask when thinking about buying an electric vehicle and a description of SCE's efforts now underway to meet the coming of plug-in electric vehicles.

Southern California Edison serves a population of nearly 14 million via 4.9 million customer accounts in a 50,000-square-mile service area within central, coastal and southern California.