Mar 25 2008
Will CARB Kill the Electric Car Again?
GUEST: Chelsea Sexton, executive director of Plug In America
Perhaps you are one of millions of Californians concerned about smog pollution, global warming, and fossil fuel consumption. Perhaps you’ve seen the acclaimed 2006 documentary, Who Killed the Electric Car? and are outraged that existing technology for making zero-emission vehicles was squelched by political maneuvering. In 2003, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) killed the effort to produce electric cars and instead put into place a research program to investigate hydrogen fuel cell technology. Thousands of electric vehicles on the roads, were wrangled away from their tearful lease-holders and destroyed. Today a little over 1000 electric cars remain on the road. On March 27th, CARB will meet to once again decide on the fate of Electric cars, or so-called Battery Electric Vehicles (BEVs). At issue is the original goal of auto makers producing 75,000 zero-emission vehicles between 2012 and 2017.
CARB will meet starting at 9 am at 1001 I Street, Sacramento.
For more information visit www.pluginamerica.org.
3 Responses to “Will CARB Kill the Electric Car Again?”
Only in loose-thinking California can they call an electric car a zero emissions vehicle when they have no zero emissions electricity on the grid. Anyone who thinks such a law will do anything other than the damage caused by the last one, which
led automakers compeletely astray and into fuel cell technology, is a fool. A very BIG fool.
I agree with the last comment.. electric cars are not zero emissions – but neither are hydrogen cars when you look at the total process of the “life” and “after-life” of the vehicle.
We need to push towards vehicles that have the least TOTAL emissions..which of course in this case would be hydrogen.
BUT no doubt electric cars should be a PART of our options especially when they are ready for consumers right now.
There must be a balance in the current situation as well as keeping in mind the future.
P.S. – Does anyone know how to find out more about the music that is played on the show?
Kent is way off base with his comments on the California grid. We have one of the cleanest grids in the nation And Kent, I can attest that there is a lot of zero emission electricity on the grid since my family, and thousands like us, are doing just that with solar PV.
We’ve been driving our EV and running our house on sunshine for over 5 years and 58,000 miles. Works like a charm. Our electricity bill last year was a mere $44.08.
Kent, how much money did you give to the oil companies and Saudis last year?
If Kent has such a problem with dirty electricity, then why does he use that same coal fired power to run his house. Seems a true enviro would have fixed that part of his carbon footprint before casting aspersions about others.
Kent, you might be interested to know that over 50% of the EV owners in California use solar. If that statistic held true for the nation as a whole, we’d need to import no more oil from the middle east.