NEWARK, NJ (WCBS 880) - With General Motors is rolling out Chevrolet Volt electric cars in the Tri-State area by Spring 2011, area utility companies are getting ready.

GM recently brought a couple of Volts to PSE&G headquarters in Newark for them to check out and test drive.

“We’ve got to this technology right first,” said Britta Gross, head infrastructure commercialization for the Volt. “It’s a first-generation technology, never been done before.”

Gross also said, “We wanted to understand where the grid was going, what’s the smart grid, [and] where is it evolving – so that we can evolve a vehicle.”

“What’s really important to us is to make sure that our infrastructure is ready to accept these vehicles,” said PSE&G president and CEO Ralph LaRossa.

LaRossa says they will have to lay out charging stations, and account for how charging up at home will affect the grid. He also says they’ll have to make “sure that that reliability was there.”