The American government does not want to decrease our dependence on oil. Corporations and their lobbyists already influenced Congress to deter the creation of electric cars in the 1990s. There is money to be made. Only when giant companies such as Exxon Mobil gain a monopoly on the other sources of energy business will they be utilized.
oil giants should be putting money into alternative fuels. look at record companies who tried to ignore the threat to cd sales. long term vs short term.
Sorry, but it's far more economically viable in the short term for America to control the supply side of oil, rather than running our economy into the ground by naively "switching over" to wind power, solar, or garbage-burning micro turbines as if we can do this overnight. Long term incentives towards alternatives and efficiency should always be done. But in the short term, controling Iraq's oil flow should be our prime directive. Iraq's government can release news that Iraq ill quadruple its output in the next 6 months. The oil bull will be history.
That was cool! Heard India already has electric cars & vehicles, see the list below: http://www.evfuture.com/ http://www.rediff.com/money/2007/dec/08car.htm http://www.vasanth.in/2005/05/12/RevaNXGNextGenerationIndianElectricCar.aspx http://www.revaindia.com/ http://www.induselectrans.com/ http://www.automobileindia.com/consumer-guide/hybrid-cars.html http://www.vicky.in/straightfrmtheheart/electric-vehicles-in-india/ http://www.ibef.org/artdisplay.aspx?cat_id=505&art_id=17667&arc=show Amazing! What a combination of living in India! People use bullock carts, cycles, old smoky vehicles, autos, and now green vehicles! :eek:
India should first worry about the traffic situation rather than just helping companies to make these advanced cars. Invest in public transportation systems. Has anyone ever seen how crazy driving is there? Cities are too populated and people don't abide by the traffic laws. India has one of the highest fatalities rates in the world.
So, where are the plug-in electric cars? Tesla Roadster? $100k+ and not a fit with my priorities. GM Volt? I'll believe in it when I see it in a GM showroom. Not availbable until 2010 (if at all). Show me a plug-in car (not some glorified golf-cart) that I can buy right now that has say, 60 miles range or better (my commute is 52 miles round trip). You can't. The auto companies make money on internal combustion technologies, period. They aren't going to supply the tools of their own demise. Don't expect help from big oil either. The companies trying to develop electric vehicles cannot realize the production economies of scale of the large car companies, so their products are crazy expensive. Catch-22.