EVERYONE AGREES ON EVS

Future is bright in U.S. for electric car revolution
Froma Harrop, June 22, 2010 (Providence Journal via Houston Chronicle)

"…An all-out effort to unchain America from hydrocarbons is essential to national security, a healthy environment and economic prosperity in the 21st century. But it's not politically possible.

"…Fortunately, there's one piece to the escape strategy that business leaders, military brass and the buying public all like — and would create jobs. Most importantly, it has bipartisan support in Congress…[That is] the "Electric Vehicle Deployment Act of 2010." Sponsored by Sens. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., and Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., the bill's goal is to electrify half of America's cars and trucks within 20 years. That, its backers say, would cut America's dependence on petroleum by a third. Similar legislation is before the House."

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"The Senate bill would name at least five communities to be models for electric-vehicle transportation. They would build stations where motorists could recharge their cars' batteries. Residents would be offered a $10,000 tax credit to buy electric cars. And the federal government would put $1.5 billion into research for improving electric-car technology.

"Electric cars don't appear to be a very hard sell to those who would buy them. The first all-electric model, the Nissan Leaf, will hit the U.S. market at the end of the year…[but] the year's production is already sold out. More than two-thirds of the 19,000 preorders are from the United States…"

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"The Chevy Volt will reach showrooms around that time. Its battery range of 40 miles is considerably smaller than the Nissan Leaf's 100 miles, but the Volt has a small gasoline engine to keep the car going if a recharging station is not handy…[M]ore than 75 percent of Americans commute 40 miles or less a day. That means most of them could plug in their Volts at the end of the day and drive off fully charged in the morning…

"Although an all-electric vehicle puts out zero emissions, that is probably not true of the plant that provides the electricity…[Many parts] of America are still highly dependent on dirty, coal-powered plants…However, electric cars cut global warming pollution even where coal supplies the power, according to a study by the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory… because cars plugged in overnight employ unused capacity in the current electric system…Outside of the oil business, most everyone seems enthusiastic about accelerating a move toward electric cars…"