cars

Can a suburban mom survive without a car?

When Christine Gardner proposed a story about going car-free for a month, we hesitated -- until we found out she lives in Normal, Ill. How could we resist? Halfway through her experiment, and a world away from the life she temporarily left behind, the journalist and suburban mom reports on how things are going so far. Watch for a full report in Grist later this summer, and visit Christine's blog in the meantime to keep an eye on her travels and travails.

She finally talked to me.

The Orange H bus driver, the friendly one with the nice voice, finally spoke directly to me.

"I'd like to have your hours," she said.

I was returning home from an interview about the new performing arts center, a four-mile round trip that was taking three hours. In a lapse of judgment, I'd sat toward the front of the bus, and told the driver I occasionally wrote for the local paper.

That was enough for her to hear. Among other things, she told me about the pond by Kmart that was a breeding ground for mosquitoes and West Nile virus. I needed to write a story about that, she said.

An obese woman who smelled like old underwear sat next to me, even closer to our white-haired driver. She piped up to say that her doctor had found blood clots.

With a baby, a toddler, a stroller, and a bus pass, I've given up driving this month to see if it can be done. People have told me I'm crazy -- and lugging an economy-sized box of diapers down my quiet suburban street has brought that point home well enough.

Now, more than halfway through the month, I realize I'm not only crazy, I'm all alone.

Stuck in neutral

According to The Washington Post, U.S. fuel economy is stuck in neutral: despite high gas prices, vehicle fuel economy hasn't improved a whit compared with the previous year.

But wait, it gets worse.

The Apollo creed

You can't swing a drowned polar bear without hitting a new report that says America needs a massive, Apollo-like program to rebuild its bloated, fossil-dependent industry into something more sustainable. The latest isn't about sustainability per se, but rather my nemesis, the dread "energy security." The Southern States Energy Board commissioned a report (PDF) charting America's survival in an age of precious oil, as the age of cheap oil passes.

The study's conclusions are about what you'd expect -- and exactly the problem with the whole energy security notion: Essentially, a military-industrial problem is identified and a military-industrial solution is proposed (coal-to-liquids, enhanced oil recovery, even oil shale for @$%#'s sake). There's a nod toward biomass, but no real effort at sustainability.

Ex-GM employee responds on electric car

A man who claims to have worked for GM's Hughes division, which created the electric car, has responded to the documentary Who Killed the Electric Car? on a usenet thread. He says:

Speaking of EVs

I've picked up a copy of The Car That Could by Michael Shnayerson, the 1996 book about the birth of the EV1. This quote really summed up the whole sorry tale, and it appears early in the book (p. 24, emphasis mine):

Electric cars: Don’t call it a comeback

Though the snark against Who Killed the Electric Car? ("Who cares? It's history!") is bizarre and unwarranted, Joel Makower's post on the revival of electric cars and plug-in hybrids nonetheless contains a wealth of interesting information. I knew some efforts were underway to produce and market all-electric vehicles, but I didn't know how many.

It seems to me the only stumbling block is the development of light, economical, reliable lithium-ion batteries, and given that lithium-driven scooters are already on the market, I can't imagine they're too far away.

I predict the market will judge the Big Three American automakers' new push for flex-fuel vehicles harshly. Electric is the future, no matter how many subsidies the feds pump in other directions.

GM CEO admits killing electric car was a blunder

So Rick Wagoner, CEO of General Motors, is asked in the June issue of Motor Trend magazine (not online) which decision he most regrets as CEO. His answer is appropriate, what with a certain documentary coming out soon, and it's under the fold.

Interview with makers of Who Killed the Electric Car?

Hoping to share a little bit of the spotlight with that other eco-themed documentary -- alongside which it debuted at the Sundance film festival -- Who Killed the Electric Car? will drive (without emissions!) into theaters next month (or tomorrow, if you're in NYC or L.A.).

On June 9, I sat down for a wide-ranging discussion with Chris Paine, the director, Chelsea Sexton, an activist prominently featured in the film, and Wally Rippel, an engineer who played a role in developing the power system for the late, lamented GM EV-1.

For still more electric-car interview fun, go here.

-----

DR: So I started watching this movie, about this one peculiar car, and then about halfway through all the sudden I'm watching a movie about fuel economy and global warming and energy security. Did you use the former as a hook for the latter, or did the former just carry you into the latter?

CP: That's an excellent question. When I started filming I wasn't thinking [about the bigger issues], but by the time we were editing it's like, this is such a great microcosm.

It's more than a car story, you know. I mean, much more than a car story.

DR: How did you hear about the EV? I'm sure I'm not the only one who had no idea it even existed before the movie came out.

All About EV

Grist talks with the makers of Who Killed the Electric Car? In the 1990s, California required automakers to introduce zero-emission cars. GM put out the electric EV-1, a sporty coupe that inspired head-over-heels devotion among the few people who got their hands on one. Then California backed down, the car leases ran out, and GM […]