The Electric Vehicle Mirage

It is worth noting that electronic vehicles are not a new technology. In fact, as energy expert Robert Bradley noted in his presentation to the Rio Grande Foundation audience yesterday, Henry Ford hoped to collaborate with Thomas Edison to build an electric car nearly 100 years ago.

Curiously-enough, I ran across this review of the Nissan Leaf electric car from Consumers Reports. Driving one of these contraptions around New York City is obviously problematic from the author’s comments — constant worries over battery life, inability to use heat or A/C. Could you imagine driving one of these in New Mexico with our open spaces and weather extremes?

Of course, people can and should be able to buy whatever car they want, no matter how poorly it operates, but the Obama Administration’s $2 billion in spending on electric vehicles (and that’s just the start of the federal subsidies) means that we are all on the hook for this waste. I’m not against electric cars, but they (and any other technologies) need to compete in a free and open marketplace.

H/T Paul Chesser