Miss Electric Blasts Off!

Miss Electric Blasts Off!

August 3rd, 2009 // 12:38 pm @ Miss Electric

It is with great pleasure that I begin this site during a momentous week for the electric car.

First, Nissan unveils the Leaf. The Leaf is an all electric, zero-emissions vehicle with a 100-mile range. It is one of the first of a new line of electric cars intended for mass commercialization. That’s right. No limited lease period. No exclusive selective process.

What makes the Leaf even more exciting is that it may be an important part of a technological partnership for a renewable energy charging infrastructure. Nissan/Renault is working with Better Place, an innovative company that plans to install a public charging infrastructure in several cities and countries around the globe. Better Place unveiled a demonstration battery-swapping station a few months ago in Japan. With the announcement of the Leaf, it appears that this partnership is blossoming beautifully.

Check out the test drive review by Popular Science.

The second announcement this week is that President Obama has awarded $2.4 billion in grants from the Department of Energy to stimulate the domestic electric vehicle manufacturing industry.  The grants are earmarked for battery production facilities in the so-called “rust belt” and for plug-in hybrid conversion demonstration projects.

This money could not come at a better time. It is considered the “single largest investment in advanced battery technology for hybrid and electric-drive vehicles ever made.” They are estimated to create tens of thousands of  green-collar jobs.

These two developments are clear signals that the electric vehicle industry is primed for growth. The fact that manufacturers are looking at this technology from a market perspective is a relatively new development. In the past, car makers were motivated by regulatory compliance to produce a limited number of zero-emission vehicles. This time around, carmakers are planning to produce all-electric and plug-in hybrid electric cars in mass numbers for profit.

Also, for the first time in history, the U.S. government is providing the kind of support needed to truly move towards energy independence in the transportation sector. We should keep in mind, however, that $2.4 billion in grants for the electric vehicle industry is still nothing compared to the $425 billion in federal subsidies given to the oil and gas industry over the past 50 years.

Creating a clean transportation sector is not easy and it’s not a quick process, but this week’s news indicate we are one step closer.

Category : Miss Electric On the Road