The issue here, is that people are trying to make solutions to the problems that don't matter. We need to stop designing for things that we really don't need. We really have to design for our needs. We are too stuck in convenience now, that it is often forgotten what the true problems are. Is the problem that my car is not efficient enough? No way. The problem is that I need a car to get from here to there. If I can't reasonably walk or bike that distance, there should be some form of mass transit (how about a Cuban bus that holds 180 people?) instead of an electric car. If we think that personal cars even have a chance of being available to most people in 2050, we are kidding ourselves. While it's most clear that gas prices are rising and have little chance of ever coming down, electric prices are going to follow suit, and even if it seems economic to buy an electric car because the price per mile is cheaper, I'm not going to make an investment in one because I know that the price of electricity is also going to skyrocket at some point. I just spent a good chunk of money on a used road bike, cleaned it up, added things to it to fit my liking, and have plans to get rid of my car. If I don't do it now, waiting a few years is only going to make it harder to sell a car as gas prices increase. Electric cars might be better in terms of fuel use now, but envision what the price of electricity might be in ten years before considering buying something new and very expensive that requires that source of power.
Andy Goodell 1894 Charlotte Creek Road Oneonta, NY 13820 (603) 831-0356 http://geekguyandy.com -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Jeff Gilmore Sent: Friday, March 21, 2008 11:00 AM To: [email protected] Subject: [SustainableTompkins] Visionary approach to making electric carsworkable Check out this video of a recent speech by Shai Agassi, founder of Project Better Place. http://www.autobloggreen.com/2008/03/18/video-shai-agassis-amazing-speech-on -the-future-of-electric-ca/ (You can fast forward about 5 minutes past the intro) This is a startup with a business plan for how to make electric cars practical. The general approach is: Design electric cars with standardized batteries that can be swapped in and out quickly Treat the batteries as a service rather than an object. You sign up for battery capacity wherever and whenever you need it, and it is the company's job to figure out how best to provide it. Two ways they do it are: In town, provide electrical outlets at many parking places (with electricity billed back to the company and included in your service fee). On highways, build a network of "swap stations", where you dive into a bay like a car wash and a mechanism removes the old battery and inserts a fully charged one in minutes. This way, car companies are relieved of the risks and challenges of batteries and infrastructure. In fact, Shai claims that in their initial rollout in Israel, their plan is like a cell phone plan: If you sign up for a long enough period of time (in this case 6 years) they will give you the electric car for free. They now have an official law in Israel that brings this plan into action, and they have an agreement with Renault/Nissan to build the cars. I think this is exciting, as it addresses the problem from a systematic social/economic approach rather than a merely technological one. And they have $200 million in seed funding in hand. I used to work for this guy in my old job. He is a fabulous communicator, (as you can see in the video), but not only that. He has always demonstrated unusual clarity of vision and seems to laser- in on the key aspects of any problem. He seems just the right guy to actually pull this off. Jeff _______________________________________________ RSS, archives, subscription & listserv information for: [email protected] http://lists.mutualaid.org/mailman/listinfo/sustainabletompkins free hosting by http://www.mutualaid.org _______________________________________________ RSS, archives, subscription & listserv information for: [email protected] http://lists.mutualaid.org/mailman/listinfo/sustainabletompkins free hosting by http://www.mutualaid.org
