Hawaii gets $$ to study electric cars
The only place we can think of that is more perfectly suited for electric cars than an island is an island paradise far, far away from the mainland. Hawaii, for instance. It seems the thought also occurred to them as they have already been in talks with Project better Place and still keep the first EV in Hawaii on hand. Now, to help them out with their electric-car contemplation comes a grant of 50,000 big ones from the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices. Obviously not a king's ransom, the money is better, to paraphrase Frank Sinatra, than a kick in the pants.
Actually, Hawaii and the Department of Energy are partnered in the Hawaii Clean Energy Initiative which aims to have 70 percent of the islands energy derived from renewable sources and the money is in support of that program. Governor Linda Lingle also sees the economic advantages in moving transportation in this direction. She says, "This grant will help Hawaii build the foundation needed to transition to electric vehicles and help reduce the need for expensive gasoline...". And expensive it is, with people paying as much as $4.75 a gallon for regular within the past few days.
[Source: Pacific Business News]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Serge 3:45PM (7/01/2008)
They are moving in the right direction. Back in '98, I was very impressed by the public transportation system on Oahu (second, in my opinion only to NYC's). You don't really need a car when visiting the island. Other islands in the State could use their own public transportation systems too.
They have a lot of potential for renewable sources, with constant trade-winds, leeward sides of the islands constantly exposed to intense sunlight, tidal and wave energy, and a lot of exposed volcanoes.
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Doug 4:31PM (7/01/2008)
"grant of 50,000 big ones"
So the grant is for $50 million, then?
I agree with Serge, Hawaii has lots of renewable resources. They just need to be a little extra careful about environmental impact. E.g. bird safe wind power, tidal energy that safe for fish and coral, etc.
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John 4:49PM (7/01/2008)
I really don't understand all the money going to these "studies". What are they studying? I think, TOO much studying and not enough doing.
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GM Volt Fan 5:17PM (7/01/2008)
I think it is a good idea to make Hawaii the first state with mostly electric cars. I bet they'll buy the Chevy Volt bigtime once it comes on the market. Hawaii could be a very good "pilot project state" to show the rest of the country that BEVs and ER-EVs are viable and a good idea. Hawaiian drivers don't need much range you know. Their gas prices are one of the highest in the US. It's logical for Hawaiians to buy a lot of them in the next few years.
Maybe if GM sells their new Opel Flexstreme ER-EV vehicle over there they'll sell even more of them. Hawaiians need to be able to fit their surfboards into their vehicles.
http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/images/front_picture_library_UK/dir_446/car_photo_223127_7.jpg
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Lance96816 6:14PM (7/01/2008)
I've been electric for over a year now.
1980 CommutaCar!
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Graham Lester 7:49AM (7/02/2008)
Is the goal 70% or 20%?
http://hawaii.gov/dbedt/info/energy/policy/
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Suda 8:01PM (7/10/2008)
Is there any grants to Electric Vehicle (EV) builders/conversions of gas-based cars? Locally built and locally driven highway capable EV's would make a small step in the right direction. http://www.nsis-us.com
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