NPR had an interesting "green" piece on the demise of the last of GM's EV1 electric cars. According to the piece, folks who worked on the project and were electric car fanatics weren't allowed on the lot as the last fifty cars were being packed up to be crushed. Lots of heart-wrenching stuff about how they don't pollute and how popular they are and how wonderful for the environment. The piece ended with the last car into the gate was (gasp) a HUMMER.
GM (according to NPR) spent a billion developing the cars. The cars have 2000(?) unique parts. The cars went about 140 miles on a charge. If kept on the road, GM would be responsible for keeping up a supply of spare parts for 50 of these cars. Seven makers jumped onto the electric car bandwagon and all have jumped off.
Electric cars may reduce pollution from automobiles, but, for me, the jury is out on whether there is an overall pollution reduction. The electriciy has to be made somewhere, using fuels that would otherwise go to the cars. We've heard a great deal lately about how ghastly bad the power plants are. Hybrids seem to be better for those who want to reduce cost of fuel and save the planet. The electric car didn't fail because of some diabolical scheme by GM, Ford and the others. It failed because of the inconvenience, expense and the plain fact that people just didn't want them. I'm willing to bet a bunch that if there was a real demand for the beasts, GM and the others would be making them. It's ECON 101.
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