Once again, our Federal Government is betting on a lame horse. The DOE has loaned $465 million of your hard earned tax dollars to Tesia Motors. They are supposed to make a 7 passenger electric vehicle. All electric. They make the Tesia Roadster which you can buy now for only $109,000 after another $8,500 tax credit. The Roadster Sport is just another $19,500. Your government is shelling out billions to make the electric car the car of choice in the US.
Remember when cars had strong names like the Mustang? Soon you will be proud to show your neighbors your new Leaf by Nissan. Or, your Volt from GM. All will require big government subsidies to attract consumers and give the manufacture a decent margin.
Once you buy your new Tesia Roadster, you will have to wait to take it very far, since you can’t leave home without an extension cord. Does it seem funny that our government would be loaning money to a car company that caters to the very wealthy and using your tax dollars to help them along?
But, that’s not the worst of it. The DOE has been throwing money at electric cars for 30 years. Now, there is an option, but the government and the DOE are turning a blind eye to that option. Natural gas and CNG fueled vehicles will be the future for this country.
Where will the electrical power come from for electric cars? Hundreds of coal fired power plants will close here in the next few years. To be replaced by what? Wind and solar. Best estimates are for those two to be 10% in the next ten years despite the billions your government will throw at them. And the power cost will be much higher than the coal fired plants they replace. And, infrastructure to add range to electric cars are years and billions more ahead.
Exxon just invested $31 billion in XTO Energy. XTO produces natural gas in the United States. Lot’s of new natural gas. New technology allows companies like XTO to go through shale and get natural gas that old technology could not access.
To convert the US transportation fleet to CNG(compressed natural gas) would be very cost effective. Existing engines can be easily converted and new cars can be converted with minimum retooling by the car companies. If you have access to natural gas in your home, you can buy a compressor to hang on the wall that will fill your car at night. Cost is $3,000 installed. Retail gasoline fueling outlets with natural gas can put in a compressor on site for less than $50,000. The distribution system is in place in this country to move natural gas at a cost effective rate.
Is your government investing billions in CNG? No, nothing. For 30 years the DOE has blown billions and billions on the wrong ideas for alternative fuels. Why would that change now? The gentleman in change today may be the worst of the worst, sorry, Dr. Chu.
Will electric cars succeed? No. Why? Because, with zero investment from the public sector, Exxon and the other companies who are going to bet on natural gas will team up with the non-government owned car companies and produce CNG vehicles. The petroleum retailers will make the CNG conveniently available. The consumer will buy the cars and buy the fuel. It will work for one reason only. It’s practical. Someone the government never understands.
