Well, will wonders never cease. The automaker many declared dead, or joked was now Government Motors, has experienced a resurrection. GM, so important to the economy of our neck of the woods, is making a steady recovery. Not only that, they now have a Car of the Year in the Chevy Volt. The Volt is one of two electric cars now available to consumers, along with the Nissan Leaf. This award intrigues me. Strictly speaking, is this car electric? It sounds as though it is a hybrid, but I quibble. And do we know enough about the Volt to declare it Car of the Year? Again, I quibble. What we do know is that a major North American company and another from Japan are making production line electric vehicles for which there is a waiting list. In the U.S. there are big government rebates for going green, and some states are allowing them in HOV lanes with only the driver. In a few cities the owners are even allowed free parking.
One day these cars may be viewed as Flinstone-like in their technological crudeness, but they prove that alternatives to internal combustion engines are possible now. Jesus was a foot-power kinda guy, but who knows, he might choose to drive an electric vehicle.
Would you want to drive an electric car? Do you think this is the beginning of a shift? Should Christians want to drive alternative vehicles?
4 comments:
The major issue with new technology such as the Volt and Leaf is cost. Until the technology becomes more widespread and ages a little, most people scoff at the initial offering as too pricey.
Along these lines, it's this factor that's kept me on the fence thus far.
I'm with Ian. Cost of initial purchase will never be made up by fuel savings. that rules me out. They are not fancy enough to attract the more affluent buyer that can afford them. That rules them out. Then who buys them?
From the enviromental side there has not been any real evidence that these "green machines" are any better for the enviroment when you take into account what to do with the batteries when they are done.
Please don't get me wrong. I'm all for protecting the enviroment. I believe there is more promise in Diesel technology. More efficient combustion, more easily adapted to bio-fuel, already higher fuel mileage. We don't need to re-invent the wheel (car). In europe they are already approaching 50% of new car sales being diesel.
I can buy a Chev truck with a diesel, why not a Malibu?
I'm not sure what I think about this. Alternatives are good, whether they use less oil or no oil. The question about the batteries is a good one. It reminds me of light bulbs. Everyone is buying these new light bulbs that last forever, but no one is sure how disposable they are. What happens with them once they do burn out? Are they worse for our landfills than the regular lightbulbs? Can they be recycled?
Why don't cars last twenty years anymore? We seem to make cars disposable. What happens with all the cars that go to the dump?
So many questions, and unfortunately, still too few answers.
Great point on the light bulbs Deb. They are one of my biggest pet peeves. They are extremely hazardous. If you break one do not touch it. It's probably worse than spilling a spoon full of asbestos. Most hardware stores have a disposal bin for these bulbs. They provide an individual baggie for each bulb. I had a dozen to get rid of, and I have had 2 breaks that I cleaned up before I knew how bad they are. I fumbled away for 15 minutes to wrap up all my bulbs to dump them in the bin.
Next, they don't last forever. Not even close! I'm so disappointed that I've started to date them with a sharpie when I install a new one. I have many old style bulbs that predate the CFL bulbs.
Next, they only use less power if you leave them on all the time. I have a 6-bulb fixture over the vanity in the main bathroom. I replaced all 6 regular bulbs with CFL. When I turned on the switch it tripped the breaker. I took out bulb after bulb until it didn't trip the breaker. 2 is what I was down to. They take a lot of power to get going. You know they start off dim and brighten up in a couple of minutes. That is when they are sucking power. I don’t see them lasting any longer, and I don’t see any difference in the amount of power we use at home.
The last thing that really gets my back up about these was a couple of years ago they tried to ban the incandescent bulbs. Environmentalists jumped on the bandwagon, and it was in the news for weeks. Fortunately they didn't get the ban. We have to be aware that there are companies out there that are looking to capitalize on our good intentions. Use the environment to eliminate your competition, because the product is not living up to it’s claims.
Who! Sorry I got carried away there…
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