October 2, 2008
-
Who really killed the electric car? (A retort)
A fellow xangan recently wrote about the death of the electric car and its rejection by the public because of superficial things such as looks and mph which is here: http://weblog.xanga.com/StephanieMarie7891/676779277/who-killed-the-electric-car.html
I would say that this is marginally true but I would also argue that people didn't find them practical. Most people didn't find enough reason to change their daily habits and were generally considered "weirdos" or outcasts.
I believe we wouldn't be having this conversation if gas prices hadn't gone up and scarcity become more of a problem. I find the most interesting kind of view of the future in the cities like Atlanta or Nashville that have been handling shortages recently, we are truly not ready as a society to kick the oil habit.
But I digress, I am all in favor of the electric car because I think if you can develop battery technologies to hold charges for longer periods of time, then convenience comes back into the picture and more consumers will start listening. I think that developing it as well as solar technologies (which all deal in storage of energy) is where it is at and I think it needs to move quickly.
There is a company currently trying to build an infrastructure similar to cell phones but for electric cars. In a sense they are trying to turn gasoline stations into battery stations. (of course there is more to it than just that, like a system in your car that tracks your charge and when you enter a destination tells you if need to charge) To me it is the way we should be going, a system that mirrors our current one, one that can be intergrated easier. They plan on paying premiums for solar and wind power so they don't overwelm the grid. I learned all of this in the September 2008 issue of WIRED: http://www.wired.com/wired/issue/16-09
The company's name is Better Place, their website is here: http://www.betterplace.com/
I normally don't plug companies (no pun intended) but I am really excited to see it work and I haven't heard a lot of talk about it, negatively or positively and I am interested if it just because I am living in a sheltered world.
Comments (4)
An interesting tidbit I left out, when the EV-1's were introduced GM put batteries that wouldn't hold a charge as long as another battery that was available and better. It took 2 years before GM installed the better battery.
I hope to one day be scooting around like the jetsons and not like the flintstones
@StephanieMarie7891 - Well, I hope so too...I guess the good news is that people are paying attention now that the wallets are being affected...therefore more money will be used to research better technologies...
Okay, so I just found your blog and I love it!! By the way, did you know they've been developing fuel-effeciant cars since the 1970s? And for some reason, Honda has always been the leader of innovative designs and ideas, yet these cars were never fully engineer or mass-produced. Still even, the demand for alternative transportation has been so limited compared to the need for these vehicles!! I always wondered why.
By the way, I'd love to subscribe to you! You can check my blog for more info about me.
@Potsy1 - Well thank you, and I shall...