Greased Lighting
Photo Credit: gmvolt.com
I’ve read several articles over the past little while that are hailing 2011 as the Year of the Electric Car (this one, in particular: chevy volt). I find that a pretty bold statement to make, seeing as how most experts have been emphasizing how much more work needs to be done to make our society decrease our gas dependence.
I guess your opinion is heavily dependent on who you work for, too. Personally, though I think that we possess the technology and ability to make this year a breakthrough, we are still much too dependent on gas and our current comfortable way of life to make such a drastic change. Yes, electric vehicles aren’t exactly new, per se, but given the current circumstances, the surge predicted to occur in 2011 doesn’t really convince me.
A primary issue in making this happen, as the case is in quite a few situations, is awareness. A large majority of people will be satisfied with receiving second-hand, filtered information & rumours, rather than seeking to inform themselves personally. Once information has passed through so many different biases and personal filter, it’s virtually unrecognizable. Since this is the main variety of (mis)information present, it’s difficult to present the actual facts when new technological advances actually appear on the market.
Setting up charging infrastructure and changing the mindset of an entire society is a lot of work, and though we’re slowly working towards this point, I sincerely doubt that any major advancement will be made in this year.
-vedrana
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