Rethinking the Ride

If nothing else, the Gulf oil disaster should wake us up to one inescapable conclusion: we have spent the last century worshiping at the altar of dead dinosaurs. It’s not the fault of the saurians—we’re the ones who elevated them to godhood. There’s no way their little brains could have imagined that it would be their blood, millions of years later, that would make the sea (or at least the Gulf of Mexico) run red. And they certainly could never have guessed that their remains would have been the basis for our economy. And they sure as hell could never have envisioned global wars being fought over to what liquid bits of them lay buried in the earth.

Yet here we humans are, sycophants to the high priests of the oil industry, still bowing to their every frivolous whim. And the odd thing is that no matter what they tell you, we’re only as dependent on oil as we believe we are. It would be naïve at best to think petroleum usage can be eliminated overnight—plastic isn’t going away anytime soon. But over 60% of the oil America uses goes right into the gas tanks of our vehicles.

That’s ridiculous. The internal combustion engine is only about 20% efficient at its best, meaning that 80% of the gasoline that’s burned fueling the vehicle goes back into the atmosphere, where it lingers, creating elevated ozone levels and smog, in turn dramatically increasing the risk of skin cancer and pulmonary disease in humans. On the other hand, cup holder technology in these vehicles improves with each new model.

Regardless of what the oil mega-corporations would have us believe, viable alternatives to fossil fuels are no longer merely feasible—they’re being embraced by auto manufacturers. Biodiesel and ethanol not only are made from renewable resources—like vegetable oil and beer waste—they run cleaner and more efficiently than gasoline, often outpacing their petrol counterparts in head-on competition.

But what looks to be the keyword of the automotive energy moment is electricity. Electric vehicles are hitting the market by year’s end, with some heavy hitters throwing their weight behind the technology. Nissan’s all-electric LEAF in December, and Chevrolet is debuting the long-awaited Volt very soon thereafter. In fact, Ford, Chrysler, Volkswagen, BMW, Audi and Mitsubishi are signed on to enter the market by 2012.

Actually, electric vehicles have been around since the mid-19^th century, and were more than twice as popular as gas-powered vehicles until around 1910. The invention of the electric starter (which eliminated the need for hand-cranking the gasoline engine), along with the Texas oil boom and Henry Ford’s invention of the assembly line all made the internal combustion engine the preferred choice of consumers, and electric vehicle sales dwindled to the point they were little more than a novelty.

That was then, this is now.

Recent developments in battery technology, particularly in lithium ion battery packs, have rekindled interest in electricity as a viable fuel source for vehicles. That, coupled with the growing awareness that our dependence on oil has to be curbed if the planet (not to mention transportation as we know it) is to survive has prompted automobile manufacturers to finally actively develop vehicles using alternatives to depleting fossil fuels.

Without a doubt, the Tesla Roadster is the spark that ignited the revolution in electric vehicles. It does 0-60 in less than 4 seconds, and has a range of 200 miles on a single charge. It’s a head-turner in every respect, including its price—over a hundred grand USD. Even at that, Tesla’s shares jumped 41% on the first day of its IPO. The company is not content to hedge its bets on the exotic roadster, now in its third generation, with a growing waiting list. Tesla is now prepping the Model S, to be introduced early in 2012. It’s a stylish sedan with seating for seven and the appointments one would expect in a luxury car. At a list price of $49,000, it’s not cheap, but it does put it at a competitive price point.

Both General Motors and Nissan are introducing EV’s that will be available by the end of this year. While GM is touting its Chevy Volt as an electric vehicle, it’s more akin to a hybrid. It’s lithium ion battery pack only has a forty mile range, after which its gas (or biofuel) generator, or “range extender” kicks in to power the car’s battery for up to 300 miles before recharging. In a pinch, it can run on conventional fuel alone, thanks to its four-cylinder engine/generator. The Volt is an attractive, very aerodynamic vehicle that seats four and has abundant cargo space. It’s not perfect, bur it signals a new direction in GM’s design concepts.

Nissan’s LEAF (a roundabout acronym for Leading, Environmentally Friendly, Affordable, Family Car) is a 100% electric, zero emissions vehicle capable of a 100 mile range on a single charge. About the size of a Corolla, it comfortably seats five adults and, since it’s hatchback, has ample cargo space. Nissan if billing the LEAF as the world’s first affordable electric vehicle, and at a list price of $32,000, less the $7500 Federal tax credit, plus the up to $5000 tax credit states offer, it’s not an empty boast. The LEAF goes on sale in December 2010, and 16,000 are already pre-booked.

This is not some Utopian vision of the future—all these vehicles are in production, albeit in limited quantities in most cases. What’s really exciting about the surge in EVs is that we finally have the technology to make the dream of clean, renewable energy a reality. Naysayers will say we don’t have the infrastructure to make EV’s viable, but that’s simply not true. True, recharging stations don’t dot the landscape yet. Neither did gas stations when the internal combustion engine made its debut. It will be a gradual process, with hybrids and bio-fuels overtaking the pure gasoline-driven engines as the world transitions from fossil fuels.

Whether electricity becomes the fuel of the future remains to be seen. One thing is certain, though. Our vision of transportation will be fueled by technology, not by the remains of dinosaurs.