Whenever I spot one of the dual electric/petrol cars I always find myself a little fascinated and a little envious. But I have to admit the likelihood of my actually owning one seems remote. Maybe I need to be pushed along, as this article from the Herald Sun suggests:
A proposal to ban sales of new petrol-powered cars in Norway from 2015 could help spur struggling carmakers to shift to greener models, Finance Minister Kristin Halvorsen said.
“This is much more realistic than people think when they first hear about this proposal,” she said, defending a plan by her Socialist Left Party to outlaw sales of cars that run solely on fossil fuels in six years’ time.
“The financial crisis also means that a lot of those car producers that now have big problems … know that they have to develop their technology because we also have to solve the climate criss when this financial crisis is over,” she said.
I know there are many issues around the use of biofuels and that electric cars are still only a small proportion of the market, but change away from what we’re used to (and what’s most affordable) is always going to be difficult. For example if we do end up with electric cars as the dominant type where do we get that extra electricity from? There is no one answer to our future transport needs but we do need to encourage different options (which is why the Meridian/ Mitsubshi trial looks interesting). Any bets on what mode of transport will be moving our grandchildren around?
Powered by WPtouch Mobile Suite for WordPress