Stop burning gasoline, almost.

How do you overcome the "range" issue? In my mind it is simple. Dealers who sell electrics include in the package, a "time-share" access to a gas hybrid. You need to take that occasional long trip or vacation, you park your electric at the dealer and borrow the gas hybrid for your trip. The rest of your driving days you steer away from all gas stations. Absent a "time-share" you can just rent a car for the trip. Many people already rent cars for longer trips to save wear and tear on their existing autos.

Another option to disarm the range issue for occasional trips could even be an optional trailer you can tow that contains either a "booster" battery or even a generator that charges your batteries as you glide down the road. I prefer the rent or time-share car and only mention this for those would-be purists.

I know, an electric won't fit everyone's needs because there are those who make their living on the road as sales people or what not and drive hundreds of miles a day. A hybrid remains the best short term option for them.

Political support has to come into play, not just on the education issue but in the form of some kind of financial incentive to move people into electrics. Forget "tax credits". Those are only of value to people who are probably already wealthy enough to buy them in the first place and can afford to wait until tax time. To truly reach the masses we need an "instant rebate" available at the dealer because most of America's economy is such that the average family does not benefit from credits.

Other incentives need to be of the "big stick" kind to push automakers. Aside from a financial boost to buyers, automakers and buyers need a tax on vehicles that burn fuel based on their MPG rating and a reduced tax on electrics.

There will be nay sayers who point to the fact that we are shifting the consumption to power plants and that is true. However, the ecological impact is far less in the cities where the most people breath the air and electrical production is for more efficient at using cruder fuels that we have in abundance here in America. And the infrastructure to deliver this energy is already in place with zero additional investment required.

There will always be need for some vehicles that can find their fuel along the way. Over the road trucks are an obvious example. ( BTW I believe government needs to eliminate tax on diesel sold at truck stops just as they do for agricultural users. )

© 2008, Paul Kruger

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