There is an article at NBC5 in Dallas, Texas about a man who retrofitted a used car bought from a junkyard with an electric motor. The car cost $4,750 to build, including the car itself and the electric motor. It gets 300 miles per charge and only costs $7 to charge. Not bad.
It really makes you wonder why our government is pushing crap fuels like ethanol, or grilling the oil industry on high prices instead of subsidizing production of electric cars and pushing for a true solution to the problem. If some dude in Texas can build a decent car in his garage out of spare parts don’t you think Honda or Ford could build something awesome?
I watched a movie a while back called ‘Who Killed The Electric Car’ about the history of GM’s electric car the EV1. The basic premise was there was not enough profit to make the electric car, and that diversions like ethanol and hybrid cars kept the status quo alive for everyone who profits from oil sales.
Here is the movie, courtesy of google:
If you have an hour and a half to spare it’s a pretty interesting documentary. Mel Gibson is even featured in the movie as a former EV1 owner. If you’re short on time you can jump to the end to find the conclusions on why electric cars are no longer around.
I remember when I lived in San Diego there was a target near our apartment that had designated electric car parking complete with recharging stations. Too bad electric cars don’t actually exist other than home brew cars and boutique cars like the Tesla. Maybe one day people will make the choices necessary to really bring about change. Until then I don’t think fuel prices are going lower.
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