Electric Cars- Fad or Future

Most of us have read the headlines and ads: "Coming Soon....2010, 2011, 2012..." the Chevy Volt or the plug-in Prius, or the Chrysler and Jeep hybrids, or whatever. What do these all have in common? They are Plug-in Hybrids (PHEVs), which means that you can plug them in at night and run for as much as 40 miles without using a drop of gasoline. How about the Ford Focus Electric car or the E-Mini Cooper? These are pure electrics that have an electric-only range of 100 mi. or more. But then you either need to stop for a few hours while they recharge or you need a special facility to quick charge them or change out the battery packs. Then there are Neighborhood Electric Vehicles (NEVs). You know, the ones that look like glorified golf carts or oversize mailboxes, are limited to 25 or 35 MPH and have names like Zap or ZENN. They fill a narrow niche, but are still popular and available today from companies like Global Electric Motors (GEM) and Feel Good Cars.

And what about storage?

Batteries are the main problem with electric cars, at present. To pack enough energy in a small, lightweight, stable package is the boon of many a developer, and has been since the days of Edison. But rest assured. There are hundreds, if not thousands of scientists, inventors and developers working on that problem as we speak. Trust me, it will not be long before we have cost-effective energy solutions that allow us to store an immense amount of energy in a small package. Already nano tube lithium batteries promise to hold 8 times the charge and algae based batteries promise to create a nontoxic battery that isn't an environmental hazard when disposed of. Things are changing and what we get will be determined in the next few years as car makers refocus on electric technology.

In many ways the technology exists in Lithium-Ion, Lithium-polymer, Nickel Metal Hydride, etc. But it takes mass production to get the costs down. Once again, the chicken-or-egg thing. The more electric cars built or converted, the lower the prices will be. The same goes for solar panels. As they become more efficient and less costly, we will see them more and more on the roofs of electric cars.

In many ways the hybrid is a weaning device. It is not an alternative energy vehicle. We will grow out of them just as quickly as we grow out of toddler pants with the quick-change snaps. Today's so-called hybrid electric vehicles run on gasoline. Period. Even plug-in hybrids are a phase-out product (albeit longer term). Once we get a taste of freedom from oil companies, we will never want to go back. Does that mean pure-electric is the answer? Maybe, but maybe not.

What about the Honda Civic CNG or the FCX/Clarity? Are these the future, or are they merely a crossover into the future? Until the laws change, the EPA is the roadblock to CNG and similar conversions. In any case, these still emit toxins into the air, granted, at a much lower rate than gasoline. Hydrogen power may be a smarter way to go. About all you emit when burning hydrogen is water vapor. But there is still a lot of development yet to be done in that area. Honda has made huge strides in development, but they are holding their cards close, maybe waiting to see what happens in the market first. But let's talk about that for a minute... If you look closely at the integration of the fuel cell in the Honda Clarity, you'll notice that it's actually an electric car. The hydrogen-powered fuel-cell generates electricity, which powers the electric motor that drives the vehicle. That's the beauty of electric - it is efficient and versatile.

So is the electric car a passing fad?

Not hardly.

Because electricity can be utilized so efficiently and can be easily obtained from renewable sources, the electric car industry will drive all other alternative fuels (so-to-speak). The electric motor could end up being the platform on which all other alternative fuels depend. Even now, you can hook up a bio-diesel powered generator to your electric car to extend it's range.

Right now, electric cars show the most potential for longevity and integration into the future of the auto industry. They have been proven effective in pure, hybrid and cross-platform implementation. To convert your car to electric today is not just a fad, it's an investment into the future. The electric conversion today could literally become the hydrogen car of tomorrow. I've decided electric is the way to go. Give it a try yourself and join hundreds of others who enjoy a smooth, efficient, peppy, zero-emissions ride. Go ahead and tackle that electric Porsche conversion you've been dreaming about.

If you want to get a jump start on converting your car, truck or SUV to electric, the most up-to-date EV conversion book was written by Gavin Shoebridge, the New Zealander who converted his own car from scratch with no prior experience and posted it on YouTube.

Are Electric Cars Still the Wave of the Future?

With all the hype and then subsequent let down of the electric car movement many people are beginning to wonder if these cars will ever become mainstream or if they will remain the occasional oddity on the road. Many gas-electric hybrids by companies like Toyota, Ford, Lexus and Mercury are already enjoying some success, but true electric cars are still not capable of attaining the speed or traveling distance required to make them a viable alternative to the gas guzzling vehicles that many Americans are still driving. And the cost is still prohibitive for the average person as well. Saving money on fuel expenses isn't likely to help the average household afford a vehicle in the $80,000 to $500,000 price range any time soon.


Keeping Kurrent in the Neighborhood

Still, electric vehicles are getting better and there are some inexpensive models on the road from independent companies like American Electric with their Kurrent selling for around $10,000. However, this is not a family vehicle as it only seats two people. It isn't meant for cruising down the highway either, the manufacturers suggest that people need to "slow down" a bit anyway and tout this vehicle as a "neighborhood vehicle". This would be perfect for college students or people who live a short distance from work, but it won't replace your regular vehicle just yet. Meanwhile, countries like Norway have been driving electric cars like the Think which can go 112 miles on a charge at top speeds of 62 mph for years now and these vehicles are expected to hit US markets within the next couple of years for less than $20,000.

Innovations on the Rise

Most Americans aren't ready to settle for driving 30-100 miles on a charge and then waiting many hours to get back on the go. So the car manufacturers are still working hard to overcome the obstacles and build better batteries and vehicle designs that will extend the driving distance and increase speed. Ideas being developed include hydrogen fuel cells and plug-in hybrid. Either manufacturer are going to have to find a way to create electric vehicles that are comparable in performance and price to conventional vehicles or Americans are going to have to alter their lifestyles by limiting the number of hours driven per day and their driving speed. People are not likely to change their driving routines. GM has recognized this and launching the Chevy Volt at prices in line with regular car prices
Weighing the Options
There are several good, inexpensive electric vehicles on the market right now for people who travel short distances to work or to the grocery store like the Kurrent, the Fly bo (made in China), and the GEM. There are also more expensive electric cars like the Venturi Fetish that top out at speeds of 100mph and have an equally impressive price tag at over $400,000 in the US. Meanwhile, it will likely still be few years into the future before the electric car becomes a viable option for the majority of people in the United States.

The American Electric Car

GM is not the first and certainly will not be the last American auto manufacturers to create a mass marketed electric car. GM did it in the 90's with the "EV" which was a success to the consumers, but not for GM as it was more of a test car. They are working on a car, the "Volt" which will be designed to travel 40 miles solely on battery power. Something like 75% of Americans travel less than 40 miles in their commute to work. So it can provide a clean means to travel and will have a small engine for those with greater distances. The Volt is highly anticipated to charge into American's lives.

Buying the 2010 Ford Fusion Hybrid - Owner Review

Our new 2010 Ford Fusion Hybrid is shining like a polished gem in the driveway. We wanted this car so badly that we ordered it before the $3,400 tax credit amount changed at the end of March, and waited while our name rose to the top of the waiting list to have our car built for us. Once we received notice that they were starting to make our car, it took about a month to be finished and transported to the dealer.

After driving our new Fusion Hybrid now for almost 2,000 miles, it's the nicest car we've ever owned. One statistic that shows on the electronic dashboard is overall miles per gallon. This started at a disappointing 32 and has steadily risen as we drive it. Currently it is 38.6 MPG. We do mainly a mix of city and suburban driving, but it's summer and gas mileage is not optimal while running the electric air conditioning. We expect it to easily go above 40 MPG this fall and winter when we can drive it up to 40 MPH using just the electric motor. There have been some cool mornings already when the promise of that performance has shown.

The safety features included on our Fusion are amazing. We have blind spot information system (BLIS) which tells us with a blinking yellow spot on the side view mirror if there's a car in our blind spot when moving from lane to lane on the highway. This safety feature also senses cross traffic when backing up. This can't be beat when trying to back out of a tight space in a parking lot. We also have the back up camera which provides clear and sharp images on the side of the rear view mirror. It works amazingly well, even at night, to show the driver what's behind the car when backing.

One of our concerns with a hybrid car was how well it would start up from a stop. We were used to a smaller car with a larger motor, but the Ford Fusion Hybrid has not disappointed. The regenerative braking system is solid feeling and precise. The continuously variable automatic transmission (CVT) shifts imperceptibly as the very quiet gas and electric engines interchange very smoothly. When driving it, Fusion just feels like a "tight" superb car.

So far our only dissatisfaction with this car is our own choice of a black fabric seat interior. It seems every speck of dust and hair we shed shows up on the dash or seat. A better choice would have been the medium light stone interior. That must mean this 2010 Ford Fusion Hybrid was the perfect choice for us. We are very happy owners.

Hybrid/Electric Cars

by Jon B

I have to say, the thing that really got me interested in electric powered cars was the Tesla Roadster. I really love cars and when I saw that it accelerates HOW FAST? (0-60mph in less than 4 seconds.) - it definitely caught my eye. Ever since that I've been looking to buy an electric car for my family and learning an awful lot on the way. I have to say at the start I found myself EXTREMELY CONFUSED, EXTREMELY FAST when I tried to figure out about electric cars!

Electric bicycles and electric scooters are all great... but for me and most other people... there is no beating cars!

But when I started to look closer there seemed to be all sorts of things going against electric cars. Like... there are lots of great looking sports cars... but they 're so unbelievably expensive for what they give - and you'll have to queue up! OR... you could get another one that's completely stupid looking - but hopefully you'll feel better knowing your saving the environment! OR... oh wait! Here's a car that can give you everything you need... do you want one? Sorry, they 're not out for another 12 years when we get around to making it! AND... this one is REALLY CHEAP... but it won't do anything fancy like. . . Live on a hill and you'll usually need to recharge it about 10 times a day! So where are the facts in all this science fiction and promises? Well this is some of the "Truth" I found out about electric powered cars after all my research. What really is an Electric Car?

There are a few different types of Electric cars :

Neighbourhood Electric Vehicles.

(NEVs) or Low Speed Electric Vehicles (LSVs) are electric cars with a relatively small range (about 40 miles) and a limited speed (legally 25mph in the USA). These kind of cars would be used in towns or cities where you wouldn't be traveling far like in London where cars like the Reva G-wiz has flourished. Or it is used in resorts and neighborhoods where they usually look like a done up golf cart like the GEM e-series electric cars.

There are electric cars like the Tesla Roadster or the Tango electric car, which are designed to be able to keep up with a normal petrol diesel car. These cars can go on motorways and can usually travel fairly long distances (100-200 miles). There are also plug-in hybrids out there, which aren't fully electric but come close enough. They can be charged from a plug as well as by the engine and can travel solely on electricity until their (usually small) battery range runs out.

What promises do Electric Cars make? Well first of all - a greener, petrol-free tomorrow! They can be run on clean electricity (not from a coal fired plant) and can run emission free if you want. Sounds pretty good to me!

So what promises can't they make at the moment? Unfortunately there is quite a few right now :

- Cheap and reliable batteries.

- A good infrastructure of recharging spots and a quick recharge time.

- Lots of different makes of cars available now.

- Lots of good value cars that could travel long distances (they can mostly still only get 50-100 miles range).

- That the company making or selling them won't disappear at any time as smaller companies mostly distribute them.

- A competitive price - they 're always much more costly than normal cars. The good thing though is that all these things are constantly improving and there is set to be big changes in the coming few years.

- So how do they work? Well the all-electric cars both work in a similar way. The petrol diesel tank is replaced by lots of batteries, which provide the electric "fuel". There are three types of batteries lead-acid, nimh and li-ion, with li-ion batteries storing the most energy in the least amount of space.

A regulator then makes sure the energy coming from the batteries is nice and steady. The engine is then replaced by a motor which is usually put as close as possible to the wheels, and in some cases in the wheels themselves. There are a few types of motors available but I won't go into that right now. A potentiometer then measures how much you 're pressing down on the accelerator and tells the motor. This happens smoothly and gives a huge amount of torque instantly. Most electric cars have unbelievable acceleration!

- How are Electric Cars designed? Well there are a few things that come first in all electric car designs. Air Resistance and weight are two huge issues. Because the batteries add so much weight to the car it needs to be designed as light as possible, which is why a lot of the cars are so small. The batteries also are usually put at the bottom of the car to keep the weight low and stop it from toppling. All that weight at the bottom means even if the biggest SUV sideswipes you, you 're not going anywhere! Lower air resistance also helps with the range as the car won't have to use energy trying to fight the air.

- How about the future of electric cars? The future is looking pretty good for the electric car. Most major manufacturers have an electric car planned for around 2010 or 2011, which shows how mainstream it's becoming, and there are even some great cars on the way from some of the smaller companies. Future technology also looks bright as there are plenty of breakthroughs coming regularly nowadays.

- Are there Solar Electric Cars out there? There certainly are! They are a long way from becoming mainstream though as they don't come cheap and range and speed are an issue but they are on their way. There are plenty of big races all over the world for solar electric cars that attract a lot of attention from colleges and big companies and all that attention can only be good for their development. There are even options of putting solar panels on many electric cars to help with charging too so the technology is definitely creeping in.

Well I think that's enough for now on Electric Car Technology, but if you want to know more on any of the topics I will be writitng a lot more on how to buy an electric car, hybrid cars, gem electric cars, and electric car technology in upcoming ariticles.

Electric Vehicle News- Summer 2010

Recently, Ford has announced that its 2011 Lincoln MKZ Hybrid will cost the same as the non-hybrid version.

The End of Speculation for the Pricing Trends of Hybrid Electric Cars

It may be that by the time you read this, we'll know what the base MSRP will be on the Chevrolet Volt. If my instincts are correct, General Motors will make the announcement this week in San Jose at the 2010 Plug-in Conference and Exhibition.

How can I be certain, you ask? Well, without going into details, let's say I learned somewhat by accident. Actually, I was wanting to find out why early Volt owners won't be able to receive the $5,000 AT-PZEV credit in California. In turns out that in pursuing the answer to that question, I asked one of the individuals I interviewed, quite offhandedly as an afterthought before hanging up the phone, when was GM planning to announce pricing on the Volt. The individual responded by asking if I was planning to attend the Plug-in Conference.

"So, if I call you on Tuesday, you'll be able to tell me then how much the Volt will cost?" I asked.
The response, while still somewhat noncommittal, clearly signaled in my mind that Tuesday, July 27th would be the day speculation would finally end. Possessing what was clearly a BIG news scoop, I excitedly churned out two articles: one that talked about the rebate issue, but hinted at the July 27th date; and a second for our EVWorldwire that focused on the probable pricing announcement. That wire story hadn't been up 30 minutes when my source called me back and asked that I delete it. He didn't want to take away from the surprise nature of the announcement coming on Tuesday. Instead of deleting the story, we compromised. I made a slight change in the wording, one that suggested that my assumptions were more speculative in nature. The source was satisfied with this and the rest of the story remained unchanged.

That call only confirmed what I had deduced: that GM will be announcing the pricing on the Volt about the time you receive this edition of EV World Insider. Certainly, I could be completely wrong, in which case I'll have egg all over my face, but I feel pretty certain about this. As you might expect, another web site that focuses on the Volt contacted me later that evening by email to me to ask how certain I was about my story. I replied succinctly, "very certain."
"Who's your source," they then asked?

Yeah, right. Like I am going to reveal that juicy bit of information.

The Vanishing Hybrid Premium

When Ford Motor Company's Lincoln car division offers its MKZ Hybrid for sale this fall, it will be making hybrid history. It will mark the first time that two identical models, one hybrid, one a standard IC engine model will be priced identically.

Announced Ford in its press release…

When the 2011 Lincoln MKZ Hybrid goes on sale this fall, it will have an MSRP starting at $35,180, including destination and delivery. The pricing is identical to the 2011 Lincoln MKZ gas model and below the 2010 Lexus HS 250h, the MKZ Hybrid’s nearest competitor.

The Lincoln MKZ Hybrid delivers a 41 mpg fuel economy rating in the city, topping its only near competitor – the 2010 Lexus HS 250h – by 6 mpg. It also trumps the Lexus with more passenger space, more standard luxury and segment-exclusive safety features.

For more than a decade now we've fretted about the "hybrid premium" and the fact that most car buyers just aren't willing to pay it when it comes time to dicker for those new wheels. So, now what happens when that "premium" no longer exists? Exactly how Ford can afford to do this isn't entirely clear: presumably there's enough margin in both vehicles to justify it financially; and it is a great marketing ploy. It will be very interesting to see how buyers respond to this. Will Lincoln buyers opt for the improved fuel economy and assuage their fears about hybrids and battery life? Will loyal Lexus buyers, at whom this product is clearly aimed, consider switching to Lincoln, for similar reasons? Recall that last month Lexus had to stop HS 250h sales and recall the car over potential fuel fire concerns.

Settling with Paice

Rather than continuing a protracted legal battle, both Toyota and Ford Motor Company decided to settle the patent infringement lawsuit brought against them by Paice Corporation. The dispute involves the Florida-based corporation's assertion that both the Toyota and Ford hybrid drive systems violate Paice's patent and that the company is entitled to compensation. A Texas jury agreed in 2005 and forced Toyota to pay royalties on the Prius' Hybrid Synergy Drive. When Toyota introduced the Highlander and Lexus Hybrids, Paice took the Japanese carmaker back to court, this time threatening to involve the International Trade Commission with the objective of halting all shipments of Toyota and Lexus hybrids into the United States.

My first introduction to Paice was in 2002, when they were then located in Livonia, Michigan and had high hopes to licensing Alex J. Severinsky's patented, high-voltage drive system to the Detroit Big Three. For whatever reason, apparently none of them was interested, and Paice eventually retreated into the background, only to raise its head when it decided to sue Toyota, and then Ford. As you might imagine, Toyota certainly wasn't happy about the Texas jury's decision, nor about losing their appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Back on mid-October, 2009 I interviewed attorney Michael Murphy with the law firm of Coats and Bennett about the Paice v. Toyota lawsuit. What he makes clear is that Toyota's "sin" was that its engineers happened to come up with a very similar solution to Dr. Severinsky's. He told me that Toyota did not misappropriate Paice's technology. Since Ford's hybrid drive also shares similar mechanical approaches to that in Toyota's HSD, it too became the target of Paice's litigation. While none of the parties in the lawsuit will say how they settled, I think we can safely assume that Paice and its attorneys broke out bottles of bubbly last week, even if they it means they'll likely never do business in Detroit again.

The Environmental Impact of PHEVs

The air in Denver is not good, reports the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, EPA. The city consistently violates federal air quality standards for ozone. The problem is significant enough that Xcel Energy, which provides much of the electric power for the metro region, closed down its coal-fired plant in Arapahoe in 2007, replacing it with two natural gas power plants originally built by Calpine: the Aurora plant in 2003, the Rocky Mountain Energy Center facility near Keenesburg in 2004. While still producing CO2 and nitrogen oxide, these plants are significantly cleaner than the coal-fired plant they replaced.

This led the National Renewable Energy Lab and the University of Colorado at Boulder to ask the question: What would be the environmental impact of replacing 1.7 million motor vehicles in the metro Denver area with plug-ins vehicles? According to the abstract of the study published in Environmental Science and Technology journal…

With 100% PHEV penetration, nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions were reduced by 27 tons per day (tpd) from a fleet of 1.7 million vehicles and were increased by 3 tpd from power plants; VOC emissions were reduced by 57 tpd. These emission changes reduced modeled peak 8-h average ozone concentrations by approximately 2-3 ppb on most days.

Essentially, Denver would be trading the emissions of its nearly 2 million cars and trucks burning petroleum for a handful of electric power plants burning natural gas, as well as from the handful of wind farms dotting the Front Range that, as of 2009, have a generation capacity of 1,246 MW.

China Stockpiling Uranium

Since natural gas is a finite resource, there has also been talk of building a nuclear power plant in Colorado to service rural utilities in Colorado, Nebraska, New Mexico and Wyoming. Apart from the question of cost and radioactive waste disposal, there is a looming uncertainty about how to fuel such a plant. It seems the Chinese are now stockpiling supplies of uranium at a rate of twice its current consumption in anticipation of future price increases resulting from evermore demand globally. Nuclear fuel prices presently are at a four-year low, falling from a high of $136 per pound in 2007 to $41.75 today. Industry analysts expect this to rise to $60 a pound in five years. But taking advantage of low prices may not be China's only motive.

Former CIA analyst and editor of Peak Oil Review, Tom Whipple writes ...

China's demand for uranium may rise to 20,000 tons a year by 2020. That translates into more than a third of the 50,500 tons mined globally last year. All of the world's current uranium output currently has a market, supplying the existing global demand for uranium. Don't be surprised to see uranium in shortage by the second half of this decade. Looking ahead, there's just not enough new production in the planning stages. The world needs new mines, but startup costs are much higher than 10 or 20 years ago.

China currently has 12 reactors in operation and another 23 under construction, with others in development, according to the World Nuclear Association.

70 Days on 7 Gallons

With around 25 per cent of fuel remaining in LIVN GRN's fuel tank, I filled up our 2009 Prius with just over 7 gallons of gasoline at our local Shell service station. My wife and I were headed out to Lyon's, Nebraska some 75 miles north and west of our home here in Papillion, just south of Omaha. I had been invited to give a talk on 'Greening Your Transportation' at the Nebraska Renewable Energy Fair and knew that we'd need more than the couple of gallons of fuel remaining in the Prius' fuel bladder to make the trip up and back.

Now there is nothing particularly remarkable about what I did yesterday, except that the last time I paid for gasoline to refuel the LIVN GRN was May 14th, some 70 days ago! In that time, my wife had driven to-and-from work, gone shopping, and taken us out to dinner. Only about a week of that time, while we were away on holiday/vacation back East, did the car not get driven. What driving was done, was almost entirely in EV-mode. There were a couple times when, due to summer heat and humidity, we used the AC system, or drove the car in blended hybrid mode, but as a general rule, trips to the store, post office and her workplace were Electric-First™ using locally-produced energy from Omaha Public Power District.

So, how'd Judy do? She drove the car 965 miles (1553km), consuming 7.32 gallons (27.7L) of gasoline, or the equivalent of 131.8 mpg or 1.78L/100km. How much electrical power we consumed, I can't say with the same precision since I haven't been keeping close tabs on that, but generally, her 11 mile commute consumers about half of the available energy in 6.1kWh battery pack. The PICC NiMH system is programmed to use about 65% of the pack: ranging from a high of 89% SOC down to 24% SOC before reverting back to normal Prius mode. That works out to be about 2kWh per workday commute. Excluding the week we vacationed in Cape Cod and New Jersey, that's 9 workweeks or 45 workdays at 2kWh per day for a total of some 90 kWh of electrical power, plus the gasoline we consumed. Here in Omaha we pay just under 7¢ a kilowatt hour thanks to Nebraska’s being exclusively a public power state with a 'least cost' clause in each utility's charter that relies largely on cheap Wyoming coal, as well as power from two nuclear generation facilities. At any rate, I estimate that Judy's commute for the last 70 days cost us about $7 in electricity and $20 in gasoline, or the equivalent to 2.8¢ per mile.

The one regret I had yesterday was actually filling the tank up so that I could estimate our fuel economy. At the present rate, unless we make any long trips yet this summer, it may well be into the fall before we have to refuel again. I just hate the thought of carrying all that extra weight of gasoline around now! As for the trip up to Lyon's and back, the Prius averaged just over 53 mpg as we motored through beautiful rural countryside, windows down.

Prototype of Randal Fishman's ElectraFlyer X all-electric, two-place aircraft

The e-Planes of Oshkosh

Seriously, actually I would love to attend this year because for the very first time after 57 previous fly-ins, the aviation love-fest on the banks of Lake Michigan, will be holding an all-day symposium on electrically-powered aircraft featuring several of the pioneers in the field including Burt Rutan (Scaled Composites), Randall Fishman (Electric Aircraft Corporation), Tian Yu (Yuneec Aircraft), John Monnett (Sonex Aircraft) and Mark Beierle (Earthstar Aircraft).
Here is the schedule for the event, which will be held in the Eagle Hanger Mainstage.

9:00 AM - 9:15 AM Symposium Welcome
9:15 AM - 9:30 AM Manned Electric Flight
9:30 AM - 10:30 AM Electric Flight Keynote
10:30 AM - 11:00 AM Electric Aviation Vision
11:00 AM - 11:45 AM Solar Impulse
11:45 AM - 12:15 PM LEAP Prize
12:15 PM - 1:00 PM Electric Aircraft Builder
1:15 PM - 1:45 PM Electrification Roadmap
1:45 PM - 2:30 PM Future Electric Mobility
2:30 PM - 3:15 PM NASA & Electric Aircraft
3:15 PM - 4:00 PM Electric Power Technology
4:00 PM - 4:45 PM Auto Electrification
4:45 PM - 5:00 PM ASTM Electric Aircraft

Electrification Roadmap and Congress

On July 21, 2010, the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee approved the "Electric Drive Vehicle Deployment Act of 2010" by a overwhelmingly bipartisan vote of 19-4. Senate Bill 3442 would seek among other things to create no fewer than 5 and no more than 15 model electric vehicle communities, across which some 700,000 plug-in vehicles, which can include NEVs, would be deployed over the course of a five-year, Phase I effort. The lessons learned by those communities would serve to assist more Phase II communities in switching to grid-charged vehicles, the goal being to have as many as 100 million EVs in operation in the United States by 2030.

Since this bill clearly transcends the often vitriolic partisan politics that characterize Washington, D.C. of late, getting broad support among the entire 100-member Senate would seem a given, but that is not necessarily how things work in America these days.

I called Senator Ben Nelson's office and spoke at some length with his staff about having Nelson, who represents my state of Nebraska, lend his support to the bill by calling on Majority Leader Harry Reid to include it in his pared down energy bill due for debate on the floor of the Senate this week. At least according to staff, that's unlikely to happen for a number of reasons, including time constraints: Congress leaves for its August recess after next week. Reid has told his fellow Democratic senators that he wants to get his bill through before then and doesn't want it encumbered by add-ons. Nelson's staff told me I wasn't the only constituent who called last week; the wind and ethanol lobbies are wanting to add riders to Reid's bill, as well; and the more riders, the less chance his bill will pass. As of Friday, there was only a general sense of what the Nevada Senator's bill would address: measures to cover the Gulf Oil disaster and incentives for natural gas vehicles, among the four key provisions.

Still, there is a chance that S3442 could be added during debate given the wide support it appears to enjoy on both sides of the aisle. Nelson's staff said they'd call Senator Dorgan's office, the bill's sponsor, to assess their intentions. I have it on good authority -- i.e. Robbie Diamond with Secure America's Future Energy (SAFE) -- that "Dorgan is all over this."
As for my part, I found this an enjoyable, informative, and interesting exercise in political lobbying, something I could seriously get into, I am afraid.

http://evworld.com/insider.cfm?id=273