But here on earth, dwindling fuel reserves and increased fuel prices have driven the need for alternative energy sources for daily travel.
Toyota started the trend with the oddly shaped and eventually trademark "electric car", the Prius. Toyota set the standard before the fuel crisis began... but it hardly has the market cornered.
Tesla motors is creating a vehicle that makes the Prius look like a hippy-mobile, and will likely leave the Prius to the same fate that befell the VW Vanagon... A funny looking vehicle that sparks nostalgia in our Woodstock Friends. Tesla's Roadster is 100% electric, high performance (0-60 in 3.6), and gets over 200 miles to the charge. Unfortunately the cost makes the Roadster a playtoy for Playboys.
Meanwhile, the American Automaker, General Motors, has made an announcement that could signal the death of the Internal Combustion vehicle as we know it... at least for SUV's.
General Motors has announced that it will begin suspending production of their SUV's, selling off the Hummer division, and making the staple "American Made American Car" the Chevrolet Volt. The volt is an E85 / electric hybrid, with the potential for fuel cell upgrades as technologies advance. The primary power source is an electric motor, which can travel 40 miles before a charge is required. The internal combustion engine will run as a generator only, powering the charge of the batteries... it will not be used for propelling the vehicle directly.
GM is betting the bank on this move, and I think it will work!
I recently posted a blog about electric cars, and how solar cells on rooftops could be used to provide for the core of our national energy supply, if implemented properly. Electric cars need to also mean that we are getting off of oil and coal burning power sources. Unless we do this, we are still at the mercy of "Big Power".
The Internal combustion vehicle may be a thing of the past... But the future never looked so sweet!
