The “Heard Around the West” note about the
introduction of the “Smart fortwo” car in the U.S. should, I
suppose, seem to be good news (HCN,
5/26/08). We should not be distracted, however, from the
fact that the sooner we convert to all-electric vehicles powered by
wind turbines or another solar source, the better it will be for
the planet. Toyota has plans for an all-electric vehicle, but no
plans to introduce it into the U.S. until sales of the Prius drop
off; think about that if you are thinking about buying a Prius.
Mitsubishi is introducing an all-electric vehicle in Japan in 2010.
This car will travel about 90 miles on a charge and is expected to
cost under $19,000 — but it won’t be sold in the U.S. “unless
there is consumer demand.” Hybrids have satisfied most of the
demand for “environmentally friendly” vehicles — ironic, given
that the latest generation of hybrids (in larger vehicles) is not
all that environmentally friendly.
Zachary
Smith
Flagstaff, Arizona
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Don’t fill ’er up, plug ’er in.
Read More
Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license.
