For all the twists and turns that the auto industry undergoes, it looks like 2013 will be a clear milestone for electric cars. The point here is to look at how far we have come and note the arrival of the electric car industry. It’s no longer a model or two, but a substantial variety of vehicles from major manufacturers that the EV-conscious consumer can choose from.
While many recent headlines paint a grim picture of electric vehicle sales and the market future for those vehicles, in reality consumer acceptance of the new vehicles has been stronger than hybrids and can be expected to grow in the future.
Rebuttal of a misleading Wall Street Journal op-ed that trashes clean cars.
A pair of environmentalists dismiss some of the common misconceptions that prevent the eco-conscious from buying electric cars.
The dispute between the New York Times and Tesla over the failed test drive is unfortunate. Looking past it reveals some important truths about the electric vehicle ownership experience.
At utility giant PG&E, 190 electric trucks are now used to keep things running. If a neighborhood has a power outage, a troubled truck rolls in. A technician is lifted high in the air to look at a transformer on a pole. Auxiliaries can be run for hours including test equipment into a communications. These plug-in trucks can be used twice as many hours per day as diesel trucks with legal noise restrictions. By switching from diesel to electric, PG&E pays for the electric trucks in 2.5 years according to Dave Meisel, Director Transportation for Services for PG&E.
Research conducted by UC Berkeley economists and the California Electric Transportation Coalition shows that fueling California’s cars and trucks with electricity instead of oil would help grow the state’s economy, creating tens of thousands of new jobs.
Sunlight dances on the roof of the world’s largest net zero building. At the National Renewable Energy Laboratory’s (NREL) headquarters in the foothills of the Colorado Rocky Mountains, 1,325 people work in a building that generates as much energy as it is consumed. A vast parking structure is covered with solar power. The parking structure includes 36 electric vehicle charge stations that charge with solar energy.
When you buy a car, you make a long-term commitment to purchasing the fuel required to make it go. Which would you rather choose: electricity, a reliably cheap, domestic fuel that gets cleaner every year you own the car, or gasoline, a notoriously unpredictable fuel made with foreign oil that will only get dirtier over time? See the latest price data comparing the two fuels.
Oregon is taking the lead in the dream of driving your electric car from Mexico to Canada. A network of fast charging stations is already in place in Oregon along the U.S. Interstate 5 Freeway, which connects the southern boarder of California to the northern boarder of Washington. The West Coast Green Highway is a vision that is becoming a reality.