Ford is betting on a technology Toyota foresaw twenty years ago. Hybrid vehicles are the most feasible ones because they integrate thermic engines with an always ready supply of electric juice, without the need of an electric power grid which requires many years to set up and be available to the majority of circulating cars. In addition to that, new technologies in oil prospecting led to new, unsuspected reserves, mostly in the Arctic area. This will make, according to experts, oil as still the most efficient source of energy for the next fifty years. There is no other source at the moment - from nuclear to solar - as cost effective and powerful as petrol. It's a matter of price per calories ratio which has nothing to do with environment and politics. When it's down to melt steel at industrial level, power the giant servers of Google or make an airplane to take off, I dare everybody to convince me you can do it with windmills or hydroelectricity. Our world is, willing or not, run by oil. And Hybrid vehicles are the best way to reduce our dependance on foreign black gold.
Carlo Muttoni
“The Morning Briefing” is SmartPlanet’s daily roundup of must-reads from the web. This morning we’re reading about electric vehicles (EVs) and their future.
1.) Ford thinks hybrids will beat electric cars. Electric cars are clean and high-tech and seem like they should be the future, many say. But while visionaries and gadget-geeks alike clamor for more automotive electrification, the big global auto manufacturers continue to hedge their bets, with Ford the latest to join the chorus of concern.
2.) As battery prices drop, will electric cars finally catch on? At the moment, Americans aren’t exactly dashing out to dealerships to buy electric cars. The plug-in Nissan Leaf, which runs 75 miles on a single charge, has seen sales plummet since June 2011.
3.) Group aims to develop electric cars for Singapore. A Singapore-based investment holding firm led by a Chinese entrepreneur announced an ambitious plan on Saturday to develop and market electric vehicles from the city state.
4.) 10 electric cars you can buy this year. [Gallery]
5.) The extra mile: Solar car charger panel tracks sun. The summer of 2012 has been scorching hot. The heat at times has been practically unbearable. There is one advantage to the rays emitting from the sun these days: free energy for electric vehicles.
Image credit: Coda
