[conradpdx]

No, I do realize that it's currently a regional thing. The west coast in generally is ahead of the curve when comes to new tech. And it's not just a regional thing west vs. east, in as much as urban vs. rural. It goes without saying that if you live 20 miles from a town you're going to need a longer range car. Portland is especially good for this tech too, since we have the Urban Growth Boundary which help contain sprawl. Thus we are fairly compact here which makes us an ideal city for EVs.

But honestly, most people can get by with an EV for 95% of their driving even one with a short range. Most people put on the miles in many short trips. Sure you can't cruise the strip for hours on end on a Friday night in an EV. But most people live within 20 miles of work, school and shopping.

What makes me cringe the most at your post is that you imply that success is the complete replacement of "the fleet". Now come on "the fleet" includes that old Studebaker pick up that's been for sale near me for the last year that still runs (and it calls my name quietly at night too, if it wasn't so heavy I'd be gutted in my garage getting an electric motor), it includes cars sitting in dealer lots, rental cars, and collector cars etc. I'd consider success of the EV when parking meters include metered outlets and the cars that you actually see on the road driven by everyday people are mostly EV's. The gasoline fleet will never disappear, their will always be collectors and what-nots.

And I'm the first to admit that work trucks, semi's, tractors, etc will probably be combustion engines for a long time. After all I drive my Dodge cause I'm often carrying nearly a ton of gear, and I know full well that an electrical car to replace my gas engine would be way too expensive to make, especially considering the the hills I gotta climb and the off road conditions I often have to haul my welding equipment in.


Now as for the Volt I seriously doubt it'll be available in 2010. What ever happened to the Hydrogen car that they were promising in 2008-10 a couple years ago? It's a marketing gimmick to bilk a bailout of the government, and to keep their name in the media for something other than them running themselves in the ground. Truth is that most the breakthroughs in the alternative transport movement are coming from upstart companies in US and from foreign companies. I seriously doubt that when the poop hits the stator that the big three will still be three. They're just to stubborn, arrogant, and big to make the changes that they need to make to take on the upcoming onslaught.