Dec 05 2008
Hawaii Goes Electric!
Following up on our story on the automakers bailout, the so-called “Big-Three” are vying to get in on government loans for new electric vehicles, for which there is going to be a serious demand in the coming years. In a huge victory for environmental activists, Hawaii will become the first state in the country to transition towards electric vehicles on its roads. Governor Linda Lingle has pledged to reduce the use of fossil fuels in Hawaii by 70% in the next 30 years. To do that, the state’s six large islands will see an infrastructure of 100,000 charging stations in car parks, and an influx of imported electric cars, currently as part of an agreement with Nissan-Renault. Meanwhile here in California, the mayors of Bay area cities have also launched a program to create a network of electric charging stations by 2012. The California based company, Better Place, has been contracted for the Hawaii and California projects.
GUESTS: Peter Cooper on the Global Vehicle Team with Better Place, Paul Scott, board member of Plugin America, President of the Electric Vehicle Association of Southern California
For more information, visit www.betterplace.com and www.pluginamerica.org.
One Response to “Hawaii Goes Electric!”
Way to go Hawaii! As an owner/driver of the all electric, 2002, Toyota RAV4 EV, this is a wise decision to go electric. These battery electric cars hardly ever need maintenance (except the routine brakes and tire replacement)since they only have 10% of the parts of a regular internal combustion engine. The best thing about EVs is that they are completely zero emissions – especially if you charge them from solar electric systems, which we do. It’s easy being energy independent!