Imagine an electric car with modern, lightweight batteries that could be charged in just a few hours and that run on little or no maintenance for years, supported by a network of recharging, or battery-swapping, facilities powered by green energy
Imagine an electric car with modern, lightweight batteries that could be charged in just a few hours and that run on little or no maintenance for years, supported by a network of recharging, or battery-swapping, facilities powered by green energy alternatives, like windmills.
The idea isn’t as new as you might think. It’s been around since the turn of the century — the 20th century.
According to the book “Internal Combustion,” Thomas Edison worked with Henry Ford to produce this vehicle of the future, and by 1914 had announced a plan to produce thousands of Model T-priced electric vehicles.
Nearly a century later, in 1996, General Motors — which, along with Ford and Chrysler, continues to petition Washington for billions in bailout loans — introduced the environmentally friendlier EV1 electric car.
The program was soon pulled and, according to the documentary film “Who Killed the Electric Car,” the last EV1s were taken away to the Arizona desert and crushed in March 2005.
Now, it’s Shai Agassi’s turn to try to get a viable large-scale electric car program up and running. The former silicon valley software executive plans to bring electric cars to Hawai’i.
According to a news release from Gov. Lingle’s office this week, the governor and Mr. Agassi, founder and CEO of Better Place, a Palo Alto, Calif. company and “the world’s leading sustainability mobility operator,” are working together to position Hawai’i as one of the first models for the adoption of electric cars in the nation by unveiling a plan to bring an electric car network to the islands.
According to the statement, “Better Place plans to begin permitting for the network within the next year and begin introducing vehicles within 18 months, with mass-market availability of electric cars in 2012. Hawai‘i joins Israel, Denmark, Australia and California in its commitment to deploying the world’s first electric car networks.”
According to Agassi, Hawai‘i’s high gas prices and ready access to renewable energy resources make it an ideal spot for an electric car program.
A Memorandum of Understanding was signed between Hawaiian Electric Companies and Better Place Hawai’i, the statement said. The memorandum describes an agreement to collaborate on infrastructure and energy sources to power the network of public “charging spots” and “battery swapping stations” with renewable energy.
The governor said that the plan is in keeping with the Hawai‘i Clean Energy Initiative, signed in January, which seeks to guide Hawai‘i into using 70 percent renewable energy by 2030.
Ed Coll, a technologist at Kaua‘i Community College, said that he decided to start his own alternative mobility initiative in 2006 by ordering his $9000 Global Electric Motorcar from Honda Windward in Honolulu. The car — which looks a little like a luxury golf cart — is completely street legal and can cruise along at up to 35 mph.
Coll calls the gutsy little car a “purebred,” as opposed to a hybrid, “because it’s 100 percent electric.”
Coll said he bought the car not just to save money (though maintenance and operating costs have so far been negligible), but because he liked the idea of “role-modeling” smart and sustainable technology.
“You can talk about the benefits of green technology and not get a lot of interest. But once people see it demonstrated, it makes a much more powerful message.”
Because Coll maintains a 1 kilowatt photovoltaic grid-intertie system at his home, he said that — though he hasn’t worked out the math to precise numbers — he figures the car likely runs on no more than what the solar panels produce.
“I love it,” he said. “I like to think that my car runs on sunshine.”
• Luke Shanahan, business writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 251) or lshanahan@kauaipubco.com
