THE ELECTRIC CAR FINALLY COMES OF AGE
(Page 2 of 3)
Though the technology for this type of
vehicle has existed for some time, Zielinski says GM began
manufacturing the car to be marketed because "there's finally a
demand." In fact, pollution created a market for the car. Since
1990, the California Air Resource Board (CARB) has had
regulations requiring that two percent of all light-duty vehicles
offered for sale in California in 1998 must emit zero tailpipe
emissions. This increases to five percent in 2001 and ten percent
in 2003, with similar regulations going into effect in New York
and Massachusetts, though in this political climate, all
emissions requirements could be repealed before they are enacted.
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Predictably, just about everybody in the car or battery business
is experimenting with electric vehicles in an effort to keep GM
from stealing the market. Honda has an electric test model they
call the CRX; Chrysler plans to convert a test model minivan to
mass market by 1998, but the expense of this conversion will
drive its price into the $100,000 stratosphere. As for batteries,
nickel-metal hydride models that would eliminate lead and cadmium
from the battery manufacturing process will soon be available.
They take a longer charge and last the lifetime of the vehicle.
Still GM's $25,000 price seems like a lot of money for a car that
should actually be very simple to make. But U.S. Department of
Energy studies claim that by the year 2000 the cost of owning and
operating an EV should reach parity with gas-powered vehicles,
and in states with emissions requirements, a 10 percent tax
credit is available to you when you purchase an EV. Once you
figure in the cost of health care and environmental damage from
emissions of gasoline-powered vehicles, electric vehicles start
getting cheaper. A study by the Institute of Economic and
Environmental Studies of California State University, Fullerton,
estimated that a failure to sufficiently clean up the air in the
Los Angeles region will cost $10 billion a year in health costs.
Even at $25,000 a pop, $10 billion a year could purchase quite a
fleet of electric vehicles.
—Molly Miller
Gasoline of the future?
Here's a novel idea:
Margarita's for your car, because as it turns out, triple sec and
lime juice aren't too far from the ethanol fuel USDA scientists
have started making from citrus waste. Although in 1994 ethanol
production peaked at 1.1 billion gallons and this number is
expected to continue growing, it is still very much a fringe
activity in the fuel industry. Production is expected to
increase, however, and alcohol-blended gasoline is expected to be
a strong factor in meeting the future demands for oxygenation in
reformulated gasolines, which, in turn, make them cleaner
burning.
