A major issue today in the world is our reliance on fossil fuels and a source of energy for transportation. There have been many advances in the field however it is still not ideal. Many people have debated on the proper use of energy and which strategy works best Ever since Ford’s Model T, the gasoline engine has been the primary source of locomotion. Recently there have been inventions of cars which use both gasoline and electric as their energy. These cars are known as hybrids. Using both electric and gasoline has saved people much money on the ever-rising price of gasoline. The price of electric is barely anything comparatively speaking. Along with these hybrids, there are also now cars that solely use electric. These cars are much more efficient than any other car on the market today. There are downfalls to using electric cars today but companies are working to make a more efficient system these cars. The article “Supplying the brains for electric cars” by Steve Hamm explains this energy efficient system which is soon to come to the United States.
This article explains how the company Better Place will be installing “Brains” into electric cars. This system or brain makes it possible for drivers of electric vehicles to know how far they can travel with remaining battery charge and where is the closest place to charge up their battery. This system will also manage navigation and track the vehicles location. This system will from learn drivers behavior and use this information to predict future driving. This system is not going to be very cheap however is will pay itself back in the long run. Each charging station will costs an estimated $500,000 and the batteries will cost about $12,000 each. It is now being debated whether or not this system should be installed into the United States. This entire system will cost $200 billion dollars for the battery switching and charging stations for the entire United States. Before making its way into the U.S., there will be other smaller countries which adopt this system. There is a plan being set into action which will have Israel in 2011 and Denmark. There will be an estimated 100,000 cars by the year 2016. Better Place has created partnerships with several companies. These partnerships include the chipmaker Intel, software maker Microsoft and electronics manufacturer Flextronics. These are well respected companies and with their help, this project should be accomplished efficiently and effectively.
I believe that this system will ultimately work. It may take some time to get this plan 100% effectively into action however this will be a much better system than relying on oil. It is a known fact that as time goes on the price of oil will continue to rise. Initially it may be expensive to get everyone to transfer to using electric cars but as technology gets better and time goes on, the price of these cars will go down. Not only will it become a much cheaper way of transportation but it will also be quite beneficial to the environment.
http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/sep2009/tc20090915_179936.htm
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This article shows the importance the environment has in our society today. I agree with what Better Place is doing, because our country will ultimately save a lot of money and natural resources. Even if consumers need to shell out a little more to purchase these advanced vehicles, the program put in place to has measurable, specific and realistic goals which are necessary for any mission in the market. Hybrids are a great alternative to regular cars and trucks, and little by little will decrease the amount of pollution caused by transportation today.
ReplyDeleteTechnology is a truly amazing thing which many people take for granted. I think the revolution of hybrid vehicles holds a very important place in our generation. If you are to look at the numbers, the United States consumes 17 million barrels of oil each day. That is equal to $1.19 billion each day, or $434.35 billion a year. There is no doubt that switching to this electric system would be beneficial, but the question is when is the best time? After bailing out the automobile industry, can the US afford to institute this system any time soon? If they go ahead with this, how could the people have enough trust in the government to support them after the bailout? The ultimate question is when will the government recover enough to even consider this project? I believe that by the time they do, technology in the automobile industry will have surpassed the technology that this article discusses.
ReplyDeleteAlthough hybrids are a great alternative to a regular car or truck and they provide environmental and cost-saving benefits, I agree that, in the current state of the economy, now may not be the best time to initiate the project at full capacity. Since the majority of consumers are interested in saving rather than spending, introducing such expensive cars may not deliver expected results. I agree that the US should be moving away from gas-powered vehicles, but perhaps the process should be more gradual. This would allow electrical cars to become more popular thus creating a need for charging stations and also it would allow more time to work out any kinks in the technology. I think these "brains" are like an extended version of a GPS system only modified to fit the needs of electrical cars. In addition, by the time smaller countries adopt this technology, the technology could improve or change all together
ReplyDeleteThis article is very interesting but I do not think that this $200 billion system will ever be successful. While the benefits of the use of hybrids and this overall system would be endless, I do not think that it's realistic. Especially during a time of economic troubles, I believe that most people would not want to spend more money on these cars, regardless of the long-term benefits. By the time that this system would be ready to be put in place, I think that there will be an even better and less expensive program to use. In the end, however, it is truly amazing at the new technology that is constantly being developed to better improve our environment and way of living.
ReplyDeleteI find this article very interesting in the sense that it involves a number of issues. Starting with the environment, a prevalent issue being enforced to the day is the theme of "going green." These electric cars stress the issue of reducing to eventually eliminating oil emissions from vehicles which will in time better the environment. Another issue concerned with this article is the status of our economy, in this time of struggle I agree with what Jennifer was saying when she said that in this time of struggle, consumers are much more interested in saving rather than spending. In time though I do see this idea of Electric cars being implemented into the United States, if over time people would be saving more money I agree with a more gradual approach to this issue rather than going at it full blast.
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