I watched a movie last year called "Who Killed the Electric Car," and have carried around a pit in my stomach about it since then. Perhaps electric isn't the way to go, but why would someone eliminate possibilities? Two weeks ago I watched "Fuel," which was far more educational and enlightening than "Who Killed...", but it still offered up some conspiracies about Henry Ford and his Ethanol cars during the prohibition era that shocked me. My head flooded with other theories about all those who have suffered death or torture in contradicting the oil industry over the last 100 years. And as a green enthusiast since the early 90s when I turned of voting age, I have spent the last two decades wondering, when, if ever, will things change?
Then I saw Nissan's latest commercial. A polar bear is lounging on a last chunk of ice in the glacier melt. He jumps off and swims south, then walks further south, past what is obviously the Alaskan-Canadian-Pacific Northwest coast, down to, presumably, California. He trots up to a little blue car, stands on his hinds, and hugs the driver, who is just about to get into his Nissan Leaf. The ad reads "Nissan's first Electric Car."
WHAT?
Electric car? Wait a minute, Big Oil killed the Electric Car, I watched it all.
But no. Nissan fights back with the Leaf, and Green Car Journal Editors awarded it the 2010 Green Car Vision Award at the Washington Auto Show in the spring, and it hit the lots shortly after.
The Leaf is truly visionary. But it's not alone. The Ford Focus went electric (Henry would be proud), Mercedes-Benz released a hydrogen fuel vehicle, and the Toyota Prius hybrid just went plug-in as well. I am astounded by the progress and innovation this year in the automobile industry.
But some questions remain.
1. Is zero emissions a good trade-off for plugging into the grid? General consumers are not yet taught to alter where their energy is coming from, and while Nissan claims that the upfront cost and monthly electric bills are comparable to a traditional combustion vehicle and its cost of gasoline, are consumers thinking about where that electricity is coming from? Is coal a good tradeoff for oil? Perhaps not, but it seems like a good temporary detour.
2. When will the government subsidize these alternative vehicles, like Germany did, in order to encourage the transition away from oil? If these alternative options stay at $25,000 and above for a new vehicle, the general public won't buy them. When the administration launched "Cash for Clunkers," they never encouraged alternative fuel options, and most consumers chose guzzlers like Hummers and Tahoes over hybrids.
3. Where are these cars being made? Consumers are also not yet fully aware that when purchases come from abroad, they come with a hefty carbon footprint already. No matter how small the item's future footprint is, is that sensible? Does America still hope to support itself on Chinese industry? Do the rigs who bring cars here run on diesel? Do most people even know who Rudolf Diesel was?
Heck, are cars even our future? Sometimes you just have to stop asking questions though and support progress. Either way, way to go Nissan for its award in excellence and ingenuity this year. I want one! My husband is still holding out for his Porche911. Luckily that just went hybrid too.
Then I saw Nissan's latest commercial. A polar bear is lounging on a last chunk of ice in the glacier melt. He jumps off and swims south, then walks further south, past what is obviously the Alaskan-Canadian-Pacific Northwest coast, down to, presumably, California. He trots up to a little blue car, stands on his hinds, and hugs the driver, who is just about to get into his Nissan Leaf. The ad reads "Nissan's first Electric Car."
WHAT?
Electric car? Wait a minute, Big Oil killed the Electric Car, I watched it all.
But no. Nissan fights back with the Leaf, and Green Car Journal Editors awarded it the 2010 Green Car Vision Award at the Washington Auto Show in the spring, and it hit the lots shortly after.
The Leaf is truly visionary. But it's not alone. The Ford Focus went electric (Henry would be proud), Mercedes-Benz released a hydrogen fuel vehicle, and the Toyota Prius hybrid just went plug-in as well. I am astounded by the progress and innovation this year in the automobile industry.
But some questions remain.
1. Is zero emissions a good trade-off for plugging into the grid? General consumers are not yet taught to alter where their energy is coming from, and while Nissan claims that the upfront cost and monthly electric bills are comparable to a traditional combustion vehicle and its cost of gasoline, are consumers thinking about where that electricity is coming from? Is coal a good tradeoff for oil? Perhaps not, but it seems like a good temporary detour.
2. When will the government subsidize these alternative vehicles, like Germany did, in order to encourage the transition away from oil? If these alternative options stay at $25,000 and above for a new vehicle, the general public won't buy them. When the administration launched "Cash for Clunkers," they never encouraged alternative fuel options, and most consumers chose guzzlers like Hummers and Tahoes over hybrids.
3. Where are these cars being made? Consumers are also not yet fully aware that when purchases come from abroad, they come with a hefty carbon footprint already. No matter how small the item's future footprint is, is that sensible? Does America still hope to support itself on Chinese industry? Do the rigs who bring cars here run on diesel? Do most people even know who Rudolf Diesel was?
Heck, are cars even our future? Sometimes you just have to stop asking questions though and support progress. Either way, way to go Nissan for its award in excellence and ingenuity this year. I want one! My husband is still holding out for his Porche911. Luckily that just went hybrid too.
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