Future of Electric Cars
The future is here, as far as the automobile and the electric car is concerned. The only thing that can be improved upon now, with respect to electric cars, other than style and cabin presence, is increasing the power storage and recharging capacity of the batteries that drive them. The horsepower of the electric cars is already spledidly acceptable, with many models beating their gas-fuelled cousins to the 60 mile-per-hour mark, with 4-second marks often reached.What needs to be addressed with the electric car is increasing the mileage between charges. As childish as it sounds, many people are avoiding electric cars right now due to their relatively low distances between charges. For now they are great for going to work and back, or to the stores, but the cottage may just have to wait. never mind that the Shelby name is now going to be associated with electric cars, bringing the "power of the pony", otherly known as the Mustang, to the electric car field. The future of elecric cars can be seen in the designs showing at recent car shows, with racy and sexy lines, sleek windows reminescent of the '69 Mustang GT Fastback or the '54 Corvette. When the power of electric-powered cars can match the power that electrified the entire world when "muscle cars" were introduced and sung about, they will be accepted amongst the greats of the automobile industry, and no longer laughed at in football stadium and NASCAR parking lots. All hail the redemption of the automaker. Speed, power and, as the commercial asks, "when you turn your car on, does it return the favor?".The future of electric cars lies in the acceptance of them as our saviour, since a charging network would have to be installed, like gas stations, but instead a super-charged refilling station. It would not be acceptable to the paying public to have to sit around in a parking lot for 4 to 12 hours, just to get enough of a charge to continue on with their journey, over the hill to grandma's house. With the government needing to be involved, as infrastructure and power generation and distribution, two largely taxable resources, will be in the offerings, waiting six to ten years before a National Infrastructure System would be initiated is not acceptable.
The proof that the consumer would fully accept the electric car as the car of today, not the car of the future, would lie in the government's full inclusion with, and acceptance of, high-amperage electric power charging stations. Car batteries would need to be mass-produced that would be able to take a large enough of a charge, within a very short time, to drive the car more than 100 miles. The current 40 or 50 miles between over-night charging sessions is not good enough for the car-buying public, even if those cars do look like an Austin Martin DB-9 and a Lambourghini Coupe had a baby. The Tesla Roadster fits the bill, and gets to 100 miles per hour in an amazingly sprite 4 seconds, but again with the staying power. She may look sexy, and get fast real quick, but she won't take you for a long trip; you still need to get gas for that.The technology may already exist, who knows what is being held back? But what the electric car needs is the ability to recharge quickly, as in a 10-minute to 20-minute charge taking you comfortably another 100 miles. A higher-amperage charging system, and batteries that can both receive and retain the charge, and power the car like a high-octane gas-fired engine from the 1960's, when a real car made the sidewalk vibrate the way a Harley-Davidson Low-Rider used to do. Or, a biker gang full of them, or some Nova's, Mustang's and Road Runners, when souped-up by backyard mechanics used to sound as they rumbled into town, hearld long before they were seen. When power meant brute force, not enough of a charge to get to the store and back.The future of electric cars is pretty solid as a consumer option in the automotive industry. As long as people will be driving, electric cars will now be needed, as we now know that our natural resources are not going to last forever. People are opting to buy electric, or hybrid vehicles, and renting gas-guzzlers when vacation time comes a calling. A few more generations and people will be looking for a quick fix with regards to how to move around. Walking? Riding horses and horse-drawn carriages again? We may just have no choice but to improve the electric car's staying power with respect to being able to drive longer distances on shorter charges, or owning a Mustand may just go back to the original meaning.We must ween the automotive industry off of it's addiction to fossil fuels, and then ween the gas-guzzling cars off of the road. Only then will electric cars be given the attention and public resources that they require. Electric cars are no longer a novelty. The hard part will be weening the government off of all of the money that they make off of oil and natural gas, and their gasoline by-product.Drive safe. Drive informed.
