News Articles and other Links
The Advantages of Electric Vehicles
Electric propulsion would easily win out over engines for automobiles on any level playing field.
What advantages do EVs offer? EVs produce zero emissions at the point of use. An electric motor is 400% to 600% more efficient than an internal combustion engine. An EV, per mile, uses one-half the fossil-fuel resources an ICE consumes. An EV produces only 5% to 10% of the emissions of an ICE per mile traveled. All of the EV's emissions occur at a (oil- or coal-fueled) power plant, which runs 400% to 500% more efficiently than an ICE and scrubs its own exhaust. EVs can use electricity from anywhere including sustainable energy resources (wind and sun). EVs are simple, silent, and affordable to operate.
Electric Vehicle History
Interesting timeline from 1834 to present day for electric vehicles - compiled by the Electric Auto Association (EAA)
Timeline - PDF file - Requires Acrobat Reader
Plug-in Electric Vehicles
By Lou Ann Hammond
On August 19, 2005 the New York Mercantile Exchange posted crude oil at $65.50 per barrel. According to the EIA, the U.S. average retail price for regular gasoline increased by 18.2 cents, the largest one-week increase on record, to 255.0 cents per gallon, the highest nominal price ever recorded. Retail diesel fuel prices also experienced the largest one-week run-up on record, rising 16.0 cents last week to 256.7 cents per gallon, an all-time high (not adjusted for inflation). These are the hot days of summer in the oil barrel and people are scrambling to find relief. An old technology may be coming back into vogue; the plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV).
The Electronic Traveler
The First 3000 Miles
A recent January morning marked the first anniversary of my ownership of a single seat Corbin Motors electric commuter car, the Sparrow, in which I am highly pleased. They say that "Love is blind"...ask any young mother if her newborn is beautiful and she will positively beam at you, even though all new infants look just like Winston Churchill. I would advise, therefore, that you "consider the source" of these comments which follow. I have never before bought a car in response of one of the seven deadly sins, Lust.
It is the greenest green colored car in the whole State of Maine. It is the most senior of all the Sparrows on the road, and was the first to find its way east of the Rocky Mountains from its manufactory at Hollister, California. I have driven it 3000 miles this year, 81 miles in one day the farthest. My usual driving involves about 23 miles each day, which is pretty close to average for the American commuter. Long distance trips are still taken with the help of the world's dwindling supply of ancient solar energy from carbonaceous underground oil.
(Note: Corbin Motors no longer exists - the Sparrow is now being sold by Myers Motors of Ohio. They have changed the name of the vehicle to the "NmG".)