John Edwards says he will revive EVs, attacks Hillary on ethanol
In an interview with TechCrunch, presidential hopeful John Edwards says he will bring the electric car back from the dead. John says there is a trend of having America develop technologies like the electric car only to have other countries lead on deploying and marketing. Many candidates have mentioned hybrids and fuel efficiency but John is the first I have heard to mention electric cars. Here is his exact quote:
I will reverse the trend of having America invent transformative new technologies like the electric car and the solar panel, only to have other countries lead in deploying and marketing them.
The Edwards camp also attacked Hillary recently for her voting record on ethanol. Obama has done the same, calling her energy bill a major reversal. Hillary has explained her change in position on the growth in ethanol in her state but John's energy plan gives much more support to ethanol by calling for all cars be flex fuel and for more ethanol pumps at gas stations.
In a video below the fold, John explains that he supports the not-very-efficient corn-based ethanol right now because investment in further ethanol infrastructure won't come without such support and the investment will build a pathway for more efficient biofuels.
[Source: TechCrunch, The Courier, YouTube]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Tim 3:17PM (11/20/2007)
Love the picture, but which one is the monster?
Oh, I know... BOTH!
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Dave 3:21PM (11/20/2007)
If these folks really want to be green, they should figure out why a sunny state like Nevada is building coal-fired power plants instead of solar.
http://www.westernresourceadvocates.org/energy/coal/nevada.php
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Dave 3:39PM (11/20/2007)
We need more of these:
http://blogs.business2.com/greenwombat/2007/06/big_solar_stirl.html
Then we can run our cars and heat our homes with the CNG we've saved.
Internal combustion engines are still the best cradle-to-grave transportation solution we have. Giving lipservice to electric cars will not change that.
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bjd002004 5:41PM (11/20/2007)
John Edwards is wise to play the EV card. Hillary and Obama haven't done it yet. Hillary's newfound energy plan completely lacks any incentives or subsidies to help the mass production of EV's. Instead, her plan focuses on improving efficiencies of gasoline cars and tax breaks for buyers of plug-in hybrid cars. These products are not effective solutions to global warming. They force us to continue down the carbon emmissions path. Obama?...Sorry my man, but you need to get your game-on and expand your vision from supporiting just ethanol. Your co-sponsored FREEDOM Act earlier this year was a good start but all the original incentives for EV production and battery development were stripped away from this fine bill as the debate in Congress ensued. You need to get those EV technology and incentives back into your plan. Until you do, Edwards will continue stealing the limelight and take this idea further to its logical conclusion that EV's can be an effective tool in solving the global warming crisis, can improve energy security, can stimulate local job growth, can lead to a balanced budget and trade defecit, and most importantly to some, can prevent foreign oil wars.
Cradle to grave, EV's have the greatest potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions....more than any other technology (internal combustion engine, hybrids, plug-in hybrids, compressed natural gas, ethanol, and hydrogen). You don't have to be a rocket scientist to understand that. EV's require no gas, no engine oil, no transmission oil, no lubricants, no filters, no moving parts, no fueling infrastructure, no muffler. EV motors are upwards of 90% efficient whereas gasoline engines are only 10-20% efficient with all else lost as heat into the air.
If people continue to say that "well...battery technology is just not powerful enough or safe enough", I'm going to tear my hair out and scream. I believe the battery technology from the likes of Altair, A123, SAFT, Johnson Controls, EnerDel, Abat, Valence, Electro Energy, Electrovaya, GS Yuasa, NEC, Panasonic EV, Sanyo, and others are powerful enough and safe enough today.
In summary, Edwards may be truly be pulling a rabbit out of the hat by acknowledging that EV's present one the greatest viable solutions to global warming. People must listen up!!
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Phil L. 6:49PM (11/20/2007)
bid002004 -
Yes, battery technology has improved greatly.
So... I'd like to test drive a new, family affordable EV this weekend.
There's... Nothing. No EV out there anywhere near me that's anywhere near affordable by typical working folks that can do anything near what typical folks need.
I'm familiar with lots of the companies you mention, and their products. In general, they're products I simply can't get my hands on.
I'd love to do an EV conversion project (well, if I didn't have 3 kids taking most of my time). But I can't yet buy any of these advanced battery technologies. They're either outrageously expensive, or simply not sold to the common individual.
Is the technology really there yet? I don't know - because their products haven't yet made it to me.
You can tear out your hair and scream - but battery technology is still the missing key to widely available EVs priced for the mass market. They aren't there yet.
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bjd002004 11:08AM (11/21/2007)
Phil L.
-Yes, I admit, you are correct that a family affordable EV sedan is not yet available. Which is exactly my point. We need government incentives and tax credits to give this industry a helping hand, so that a vehicle that fits your needs and the needs of your family can be made available for public purchase within the next 3 years, which is the time it will take for government policy to be established. The small niche outfits like ZAP, Phoenix, Miles, REVA, Tesla, Think, Smith, and ZENN are trying their damndest to come up with such a vehicle.
All I'm saying is, if tax credits and incentives are going to be handed out to convert a hybrid to a plug-in, to buy a plug-in, to buy a hybrid, or even to buy a flex fuel, than the same incentives should be given to the purchase and development of EV's.
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bjd002004 5:41PM (11/21/2007)
As I look at the Edwards interview (TechCrunch interview, the video, and this blog article), nowhere does Edwards specifically mention that he will lend support to the development of electric vehicles. He only says he'll reverse the pattern in which the US develops a new technology and then loses the race in deploying and manufacturing that technology. Where is the specific reference to electric cars?
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Lascelles Linton 9:14PM (11/21/2007)
Bjd002004, Technologies "like the electric car" is right in the quote. It's short on details but he is the first candidate I can find to say "electric car" AT ALL! Plenty have said hybrid and even Hillary calls for a flex fuel plug-in hybrid but where the full EV love :D
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MikeInNC 12:02PM (11/22/2007)
Eventually even a blind ambulance chasing squirrel finds a nut. I do like the idea but this may be the first substantive thing that's ever fallen out of his mouth.
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