GM continues to lead the charge for the electric car shift to create a new market and drive the global automobile market away from petroleum based engines. The technology that they are using to lead the charge is that of the lithium-ion battery. GM is actually working with quite a few companies in developing and advancing the lithium-ion batteries capabilities and what I really like about these collaborations is that all the companies are pro actively sharing their findings to help the speed in which they improve.
Make no mistake there is a big time race in the industry to get out the right alternative to gas engines. GM has clearly taken the lead role since 2007 when they officially announce that they were releasing a full production plug in electric car by 2010. This was seen by many insiders as a ludicrous statement with a timeline that was much to short. GM fortunately has been working on the the concept of a full production electric car since 1996 when they launched the EV1.
As a consumer I for one am very thankful to see other companies are starting to announce that they to are working to release plug in alternatives to the gas engine. Gas prices continues to skyrocket and here in the southeastern part of the US there has been a gas shortage. It’s a strange feeling driving by all these gas stations everyday and seeing no price on their signage because they simply have no gas. Then when you do see gas the lines going down the streets with police directing traffic make it seem like it’s the 1970’s again.
The electric car is coming and with a gas crisis like the one we are in now 2010 can not get here too soon for me. Here are some of the highlights of the new Chevy Volt which in schedule to be the first mass produced electric car. What are your thoughts on the move to electric cars? The car will plug into a standard 110 volt plug and will take approximately 6 hours to get a full charge, so while you are sleeping I suppose. The charge will get you going for the first 40 miles then if you are going further there is a 1.0 liter turbo gas engine that will create more electricity to keep the battery going. So the car will always run on electricity! When the gas engine does kick in the estimates are still putting the car running at about 50 mpg with an estimated distance of 400 miles on one charge/tank of fuel. Hopefully this will increase even more as they advance in the technology.
So what are your thoughts on the plug in electric car being the solution to the gas crisis? Is this the right direction to be going or should they be pursuing one of the other alternative fuels that are out there? Please share your opinions and thanks for reading.
