Aptera
Peapod
I live in a city where electric cars can be seen around town daily. Here in Sonoma County our county government has pledged to reduce greenhouse gases by 2015 to at least 25 percent below 1990 levels. Electric cars are one way to work towards this lofty goal.
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Currently the City of Santa Rosa's fleet exceeds 1,000 vehicles, including heavy-duty construction equipment. Twenty six are hybrid vehicles and 12 are all-electric. Santa Rosa also boasts hybrid electric-powered buses that can be seen all over town. These numbers will be increased soon and hundreds of employees of Sonoma County and its nine cities could be driving electric cars by 2010. Love it!!
Currently the City of Santa Rosa's fleet exceeds 1,000 vehicles, including heavy-duty construction equipment. Twenty six are hybrid vehicles and 12 are all-electric. Santa Rosa also boasts hybrid electric-powered buses that can be seen all over town. These numbers will be increased soon and hundreds of employees of Sonoma County and its nine cities could be driving electric cars by 2010. Love it!!
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While some electric cars on the market look so cool and futuristic, others just look like any car you might see currently on the street. I would love to own an electric car but it would have to be practical, affordable and safe. Maybe someday soon - electric cars will sit in driveways across America.
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P.S. Don't the cars above somehow remind you of the one used in Woody Allen's film "The Sleeper" from 1973?
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9 comments:
that is awesome. the inside looks surprisingly spacious :)
I would love to have an electric car. Make mine look normal, please. I have several strategically located outside outlets just waiting for such an automobile. I agree with you that it must be safe and reasonably priced so it will be a while before one sits in my driveway.
reminds me of the jetsons!
I think styles are relevant to the times and whatever the norm is currently. I just don't want to feel as of I could be squashed like a bug at any moment with my kids in tow. There are many electric cars that look like sports cars or any standard sedan but need some tweaking before the average person would take to them.
What a car? I can live inside forever :D
totally woody allen! the peapod is adorable, looks a lot like a smoother smart car.
Unfortunately electric cars simply shift the carbon footprint. 85% of the electricity in the U.S. is produced by coal, oil, or natural gas. The increase in electric usage would only increase the coal and gas consumption. I researched all this awhile ago because I wanted to know the story behind the 28 COAL TRAINS that run through a nearby town every day. I was really surprised. Somehow I had no idea that our electricity was produced by burning coal. We have a nuclear power plant nearby and I assumed that it produced all of our power. Until we find alternative sources of energy it seems were tied to fossil fuels.
Having said all that - I think these cars are cool. They'd be great in a city setting but in the country they're probably impractical. I'm with you about the design changes.
- Suzanne, the Farmer's Wife
Thanks so much for the comment Suzanne. I looked into this very issue. Where I live these questions and comparisons are in the news quite often. While it's true electric cars are not a zero-emissions vehicle EVs still come out ahead of cars featuring internal combustion engines, especially in terms of carbon dioxide emissions.
According to the Energy Information Administration, a gallon of gas produces 19.564 pounds of carbon dioxide. That figure, of course, doesn't include the energy expended to pump the oil out of the ground, ship it across the oceans, refine it, and get it to your local filling station as well. I'm all for any alternative that takes us in the right direction greenwise and away from our current dependency on foreign oil.
:)
i love these! i'm so so ready for an electric car.
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