Comments on: While the Automotive Dinosaurs of the 20th Century have Two Feet in the Tar Pit….. http://www.evolutionshift.com/blog/2009/04/02/while-the-automotive-dinosaurs-of-the-20th-century-have-two-feet-in-the-tar-pit/ A Future Look at Today Fri, 03 Feb 2012 22:38:37 -0700 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.5 hourly 1 By: Grant http://www.evolutionshift.com/blog/2009/04/02/while-the-automotive-dinosaurs-of-the-20th-century-have-two-feet-in-the-tar-pit/comment-page-1/#comment-65567 Grant Sat, 04 Apr 2009 20:46:51 +0000 http://www.evolutionshift.com/blog/?p=324#comment-65567 Tesla has been a truly exciting entity to watch, and I think they'll be the first major player to revolutionize the auto industry. I liken this to the computer/electronics industry, where you pay for the latest and greatest, but over a short time span, volume drives down prices to the point where the once expensive product is now mainstream (a la the big screen TV you mention). Tesla has been a truly exciting entity to watch, and I think they’ll be the first major player to revolutionize the auto industry.

I liken this to the computer/electronics industry, where you pay for the latest and greatest, but over a short time span, volume drives down prices to the point where the once expensive product is now mainstream (a la the big screen TV you mention).

]]> By: Patrick Serfass http://www.evolutionshift.com/blog/2009/04/02/while-the-automotive-dinosaurs-of-the-20th-century-have-two-feet-in-the-tar-pit/comment-page-1/#comment-65550 Patrick Serfass Fri, 03 Apr 2009 04:34:37 +0000 http://www.evolutionshift.com/blog/?p=324#comment-65550 Thanks David for acknowledging what few do--the fact that both hydrogen fuel cells and batteries can work together, making a versatile electric car. What Tesla and others are doing with battery electric vehicles is admirable. Batteries can do many positive things to help us reduce our dependence on imported fuels. And I think that running vehicles on electricity is the future. At the same time, it's so important to remind ourselves that there are limitations (due to space and weight) once you start talking about cars with more than 2-3 seats. When you get down to it, batteries cannot be the only solution if Americans will still want to buy cars that seat 5 or more and go 300+ miles. But batteries can work with another technology to extend range and help to reclaim cabin space. One way to do that is using the electricity from hydrogen fuel cells. Now I admit that the battery technology for cars is more mature than fuel cell technology today (even though there are more fuel cell electric vehicles on today's roads than battery electric vehicles). So it makes sense that Tesla's got orders out for it and buyers. I hope it succeeds. But while we celebrate the battery-only vehicle success, I hope we also remember that, in parallel, we need to keep developing other technologies like fuel cells for electric vehicles that can literally get us further down the road. Electricity from batteries + electricity from fuel cells = hybrid with the best of both worlds. Sounds like the Administration could use a reminder of this as well. Thanks David for acknowledging what few do–the fact that both hydrogen fuel cells and batteries can work together, making a versatile electric car. What Tesla and others are doing with battery electric vehicles is admirable. Batteries can do many positive things to help us reduce our dependence on imported fuels. And I think that running vehicles on electricity is the future.

At the same time, it’s so important to remind ourselves that there are limitations (due to space and weight) once you start talking about cars with more than 2-3 seats. When you get down to it, batteries cannot be the only solution if Americans will still want to buy cars that seat 5 or more and go 300+ miles. But batteries can work with another technology to extend range and help to reclaim cabin space.

One way to do that is using the electricity from hydrogen fuel cells.

Now I admit that the battery technology for cars is more mature than fuel cell technology today (even though there are more fuel cell electric vehicles on today’s roads than battery electric vehicles). So it makes sense that Tesla’s got orders out for it and buyers. I hope it succeeds. But while we celebrate the battery-only vehicle success, I hope we also remember that, in parallel, we need to keep developing other technologies like fuel cells for electric vehicles that can literally get us further down the road.

Electricity from batteries + electricity from fuel cells = hybrid with the best of both worlds.

Sounds like the Administration could use a reminder of this as well.

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