Big Oil’s Vendetta Against the Electric Car. LET US HAVE THE TRUTH!
By nuffsed
@nuffsed (1271)
April 7, 2007 2:47pm CST
Somewhere out there, in the dusty basements of the Chevron-Texaco corporate headquarters, there is a technology that can - in one swoop - slash global warming emissions, save millions of people from respiratory illnesses, and stop us trashing the Middle East to seize its oil. Yet it is being deliberately left to rot, in the hope we will all forget about it.This sounds like the plot to a bad retro-episode of the X-Files, but an award-winning documentary released this week on DVD in Britain reminds us this technology is real and it is still there, waiting to save us. The film is called ‘Who Killed the Electric Car?‘ (The DVD is on sale at Amazon)
The full story (by Johann Hari of The lndependent/UK)
of a 700mile/70mph car that works but big oil wont let you have it continues at:
http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2007/04/07/377/
Published on Saturday, April 7, 2007 by The lndependent/UK
1 person likes this
4 responses
@babykay (2131)
• Ireland
21 Apr 07
This seems to be another glaring example of how money hungry MNC's are killing the planet which is home to us all...it is easy to blame it on the multi national corporations but they are made up of individuals - I just can't understand it at all and I pretty much despair of our kind. The only way forward if through cooperation - the importance of the group rather than the individual, needs to be given priority in matters of global concern. it is the only way to ensure the survival of our species.
1 person likes this
@Asylum (47893)
• Manchester, England
7 Apr 07
I remember seeing a documentary many years ago, which I think was probably in the 1970s, about an electric car. The developer of the particular model drove across Europe to demonstrate that even on a cold day the sunlight was sufficient to power the vehicle.
The only drawback was that the car was limited to a very slow speed, but if they had bothered to develop the technology further then that problem would have been overcome by now.
When we consider the advancements in DVD technology or mobile phones then there is no reason why an electric car should not be equal in performance to an internal combustion engine by now. Of course the other advancements were driven by the lure of vast profits for major companies.
1 person likes this
@nuffsed (1271)
•
7 Apr 07
Asylum, you are correct about the solar car. But the electric car of the article is a proven reality and the technology is of production standard.
Profit for oil, is being put before humanitarian need and alternative profit.
I have long campaigned for a caviat to the stated purpose for listed company formation, which currently is profit. My caviat would say "where such profits are raised without damage or harm to the sustainability of human life and human health, together with the wellbeing and preservation of the environment which all mankind shares".
In such circumstances, a case could be fought to force the release of the electric car technology. It is clear that the power of the Corporations is way past the point where controls are needed. The situation is critical.
We must cause a fuss on this one!!!
@visitorinvasion (7709)
• United States
8 Apr 07
The hubs & I were discussing that this morning while waiting the the ISP techies to get their act together on our connections.
It's sickening that the man that spent $180k to build an electric car from scratch that totally recharges itself and does not cost one red cent to drive cannot get a freaking patent.
It's also sickening that the car corporations won't provide us with those types of vehicles. No way to charge us for driving them.
Bastiges must own stock in the oil corportations, eh?
1 person likes this
@coffeechat (1961)
• New Zealand
21 Dec 07
Hi there. Coffeemate has some expertise in the subject so I have co-opted his input. "The electric car has proven to be a feasible, economic means of transport. Electric powered golf carts, forklifts and even lawn mowers have done well.
The challenge for car and bus is balancing the needs of range, payload and speed with battery capacity and weight". The latest battery technology - patented by the Caterpillar Corporation's Firefly subsidiary might help break the barrier.
In layman's terms - the faster and heavier the vehicle, the more drain on battery. Then to get reasonable range you need bigger batteries which makes the vehicle heavier.
The most successful production model of car is the Reva. About 300,000 of them are on the road. http://www.revaindia.com/revaworldwide.htm
There are a few others, but none with the level of commercial success as the nippy little Reva.
So unless battery technology improves and the cost of storage per unit weight of battery improves electric cars will be just a specialty urban vehicle."Wow! that was a bit of a mouthful!
