COULD YOU JUST see it? In another decade or so, scores of electric cars charging through Bay Area roadways. Not only do regional leaders share such a vision, they have put down $1 billion to support such a notion, a bold move during these turbulent times.
The mayors of Oakland (Ron Dellums), San Francisco (Gavin Newsom) and San Jose (Chuck Reed) have made a deal with Better Place of Palo Alto to install charging stations in homes, businesses, parking lots and government buildings by 2012.
This would make the Bay Area the first region in the United States to create an electric car network.
This definitely falls into place with California's quest to cut greenhouse gas emissions, and it's right in line with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's view of how private-public partnerships can deliver breakthrough projects where it couldn't happen on public funds alone.
Also standing to benefit is Better Place, which also has similar deals in Israel, Denmark and Australia, and is now on the ground floor for what could be a major step for an alternative fuel source for automobiles. The company has two prototypes electric automobiles with automakers.
What's interesting is Better Place saw the success of cell phone companies and is taking a similar path. The stations its creating will relieve the costs of batteries to consumers, often a hefty $10,000 or more, which is a big reason why electric cars never took off in the past.
The prototype vehicles have replaceable batteries that would be owned by the company and Better Place would charge a subscription fee to use its recharging facilities. Yet, unlike how things began with cell phone companies, we urge the state to monitor costs and how they are made so consumers get a fair deal considering Better Place, at least initially, would have a monopoly.
Judging how California has gone nowhere on the national stage with cutting emissions, how will we convince automakers to produce enough electric cars to fulfill this vision?
We've seen the hydrogen car fiasco with state-funded autos and a waste of millions in taxpayer funds, although in that case, the car came before the filling stations. And since Congress, with San Francisco's own House Speaker Nancy Pelosi leading the way, wants a specific plan by automakers for a juicy bailout, maybe it's an opportunity to put electric vehicles on the table.
The issue of costs for the cars themselves has to be considered. For this concept to work, people of middle and low incomes must be able to afford these cars and if they're mass produced, that's a possibility.
For the present, an electric car from Tesla Motors can cost as much as $110,000 or there's the EC-R300E Ford Mustang for $99,950. Even the 2008 Phoenix SUV is among the lowest price new electric vehicles, and it costs $49,950. A good percentage of the Bay Area population cannot afford that.
We like the idea of electric cars and the recharging station-concept is intriguing. We do need to get away from fossil fuels and become self sufficient and clean.
Yet there are many hurdles to clear and we fear unless automakers and federal regulators buy into this concept and make cars consumer friendly, it will become another good idea going to waste.
