Your Electric Car

I know what you are thinking about electric cars. Buying an electric car is NOT a good idea. It is too slow, probably not safe enough and too new a gadget. However, if you remember the crude oil crunch that is here to stay, you may wish to think twice. The fact is that electric cars are not new. They were invented at the beginning of the last century. Electric cars were a good idea back in 1915 and today they are an even better one. America has five percent of the world population, but uses 25% of the world’s petroleum production. It’s partly due to the country’s continued abundant supply of relatively inexpensive petroleum products. Americans want bigger, faster and stronger cars, and always have wanted this. The truth is that it is a waste to drive a Hummer back and forth to work, and a strain on the environment. Yet, Americans feel this need to impress others with the creative ways they can come up with to waste gas, energy, and money. Probably, that’s OK. That’s America. But the problem is that too many people want to get the American standard which is wishful thinking. What isn’t OK is that these people fail to even take into account the long-term costs,the ramifications and the consequences. The picture below is a good illustration of this kind of view.

 

The internal combustion engine pollutes our air, water and land until the whole world becomes more like a dirty goldfish bowl than a sustainable environment for healthy living. We pollute the air, and the dirt lodges in our lungs when we breathe. Rain washes pollution out of the sky and onto our homes, cars, and land. Once on the ground, pollution ends up in our food, or, even worse, in the water table where it ends up in drinking water and bath water. Then, when we develop debilitating diseases, we try to blame it on heredity. We do not even think of what may lie ahead...

Electric cars aren’t the answer to the problem, but the represent a move in the right direction. There are a lot of things we can all do to improve our environment and improve our individual health. The key is to do something; to start somewhere. Every little bit done to improve the environment and preserve health is better than doing nothing at all. What I’ve discovered through my electric car is that small changes soon become habits and lead to larger changes.

 

 

Change soon seems so natural, a person wonders why he or she ever did things any other way. Maybe the small changes we can make won’t add up to much in the world, but they will add up in our world and that of our children.

Well, another scenario is also possible: if we go on like this, we might end up on the backs of our dogs soon. 

  

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Norwegians have always been looking ahead. A fresh example is how they plan to penetrate the American automobile market riding on the wave of the future - electric vehicles.

Clean, quiet, and relatively profitable to produce, electric vehicles have had a rough start in the U.S.: Five years after General Motors nixed its innovative EV1 electric car program, just a handful of automakers have committed to making and selling electric vehicles on a mass scale any time soon.

A Norwegian upstart company Think Global is plotting a U.S. invasion via pint-size, affordable electric cars. Think has been selling gas-free, Lilliputian city cars in Europe and will start peddling them to fuel-crunched Americans in 2009. The company's newly formed North American division has high hopes for Think's existing models—and even higher ones for the upcoming Th!nk Ox, a concept unveiled at the Geneva International Motor Show earlier this year.

An electrified people's car for the 21st century, the Ox is a preview of Think's next-generation production vehicle, due out in 2011. Roughly the size of a Toyota Prius, the Ox can travel between 125 and 155 miles before needing a recharge, and zips from zero to 60 miles per hour in about 8.5 seconds. Its lithium-ion batteries can be charged to 80% capacity in less than an hour, and slender solar panels integrated into the roof power the onboard electronics. Inside, the hatchback includes a bevy of high-tech gizmos such as GPS navigation, a mobile Internet connection, and a key fob that lets drivers customize the car's all-digital dashboard. Pricing has yet to be announced, but the company's current vehicles cost less than $25,000.

Although little-known, Think North America is backed by an undisclosed amount from Silicon Valley venture capital firms RockPort Capital Partners and Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, which famously invested early in companies such as Amazon.com (AMZN) and Google (GOOG). General Electric (GE) made an unrelated $4 million investment in March to support the company's battery research and development operations.

Distinguished Design

Even more than its well-funded sponsors or cutting-edge technology, the Ox's killer app could be its design. To date, most electric cars available in the U.S.—small, unsafe, and underpowered—have been intended strictly for the earliest early adopters and the most faithful green believers. In contrast, Think's senior vice-president for design, Katinka von der Lippe, says the Ox is a "real car, a big step away from the cuteness of [other] electric vehicles." All that distinguishes the Ox from name-brand, fuel-sipping compact cars, in fact, is its silent hum and zero emissions.

The Ox also embodies the characteristic simplicity of Scandinavian design, featuring uncomplicated lines and clean, uncluttered surfaces. A band of unpainted metal stretches from the front of the vehicle to its rear, revealing the Ox's interior architecture, an aluminum frame. An unassuming grille is tucked between sophisticated sloping headlamps. "The Ox is a leap forward for the design of electric cars," says von der Lippe, "and, we think, the product of a mature company."

Still, the American market for electric vehicles "is virtually nonexistent," says John O'Dell, a senior editor specializing in green vehicles for car-buying site Edmunds.com.

GM is planning to test the market with the Geely model with a price tag of $10,000.

A similar model costs only $5,000 in Moscow.

Last year a huge JV with the largest Chinese electric vehicle manufacturer was set up in California.

Similar plans are underway in a few European countries. Currently the major problem is related to safety standards and how to build re-charging networks.

A fierce competiton looms large on the horizon.

Mercedes Plans for an Electric Car

Techcrunch reports that electric car manufacturer Tesla Motors is going to supply lithium ion batteries to Mercedes Benz. Mercedes is going to use these components to build electric only versions of it’s A and B class vehicles, along with smart cars as soon as 2010. This is a big stamp of approval for Tesla’s sustainable technology. It’s also great to see the upstart company bringing collaboration to an industry that isn’t known for it.

Well, let us await to see the price tag...

Until you eventually make your electric car choice,
you can find out how you can start saving on gas with your car now.
What can be done, if the oil crunch is here to stay?