Here in Alberta most of our electricity is produced by burning natural gas or coal. There needs to be some really big changes in generation before driving electric cars reduces dependency on fossil fuels, or helps the environment (greenhouse gasses, etc). It might give you a warm fuzzy feeling inside driving a zero emissions vehicle, but currently more emissions were likely created to produce the electricity and maintain the transmission infrastructure to get it to your car, than if you'd just burn the gas yourself. Until this changes full electric cars will never be worthwhile or viable IMHO.
The change may probably be driven by insurance or the cost of it. But then again what do I know. Just my 1 penny
Why not natural gas? You've got it in your home already, just add a pump in the garage, a mixer replaces the carb/injection pump, and replace your current fuel tank to a pressure vessel. Remember all the pickups converted to propane during the 70's gas shortage? And it's clean too....
You are welcome. It seems to me phevs have the best chance to significantly and immediately help alleviate our oil dependency/global warming problems as oppose to waiting for the hydrogen solution which some folks have said won't come till the distant future. People have actually converted Prius hybrids to phevs so the technology is definitely available today. The calcars organization which did the pioneering conversions solicited for money so they can travel to washington and show their conversions to the pols to tickle their interest. Here are some pictures of the event. http://www.calcars.org/phevs-in-dc.html
Solar and wind power is the answer for increased need for electric power. Every house/building in america should have solar panels on the roof. Tax breaks need to be where solar upgrades can break even in less than 5 years. If the government required solar panels on all new construction, the cost of the panels would drop drastically. Wind is vastly under utilized.
Great discussion everybody, and a fascinating topic. There are a few things you want to keep in mind regarding the topic of alternative energy. 1. According to certain sources, the Army will be rolling out a Humvee mounted laser system that will be able to punch a 4" hole through any material from miles away, the rollout will be between 2016-2020. Powered by a battery, or should I say an electrical storage device. 2. For years the biggest hindrance to cell phone size has been the battery. The razor phone has a very small but powerful battery. 3. As is generally the case, the military releases its technology gradually and not in one fell swoop. Radar, GPS, The Internet, Super Glue, metallurgical advances are just some of the advances that have come down from military tech. Oops I forget, Mr. Gore invented the internet. It is a shame that the best technology has to come from self defense and figuring more efficient ways of killing people, but it is the way things are in this world. Now after that rambling diatribe, here is my point. Imagine what would happen in the middle east, south america, mexico, england, norway etc, if the US, in less than a decade switched off of the petro economy. If you think the middle east is a mess now, remove the income and wait for the starvation, disease, and war to destroy the whole region. Some would say, who cares, but the reality is the US would end up spending BILLIONS in relief for decades. So it is my opinion that if you are a young investor and want to get ready for your retirement, buy some stocks that manufacture the following, fuel cells, high tech batteries, high tech magnets, nuke power, solar power, and super conductors. These all will be HUGE growth industries in the next 20-30 years. By the way, that Tesla roadster is waaaaay cool. The Ever Interested In Alternative Power VIPER