Lightning in a Bottle

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Did you hear yesterday’s Fresh Air? It was very interesting indeed, being, as it was, about a subject that you probably know interests me a lot – electric cars. The guest was Seth Fletcher, and he was talking about electric cars, hybrids, and so forth. Not focusing on far futuristic matters so much as what is possible now (with all the exciting things going on in the market), and where we might go next in terms of the development of the science and technology needed to continue to change our world by moving away from gasoline as our primary energy source for transport. A lot of his focus in on the development of batteries, and he does a good job of explaining the science, the history, the challenges that have been overcome, and the current challenges involved. He also talks a bit about the perceptions of electric cars among the populace, and of course about the politics. I recommend the interview. He’s a guest because of his new book, entitled Bottled Lightning, which I suspect may be good, given how he interviewed, and given the extract on NPR ‘s page for the program. There should be audio of the interview there by time you read this.

Enjoy. Thoughts welcome.

-cvj

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4 Responses to Lightning in a Bottle

  1. Clifford says:
    June 9, 2011 at 4:16 pm

    Hi AS,

    That would only be true if that was all that was done. But that should clearly not be the case. Electric cars should be just one small part of a larger movement. No one technology is going to be the solution to the various problems we face in weaning the culture off fossil fuels…

    Cheers,

    -cvj

  2. Anonymous_Snowboarder says:
    June 9, 2011 at 3:53 pm

    But C, assuming that electric cars were widely adopted (ignore the rural markets) and that the electric grid could handle the demand… isn’t this just transitioning us from using petroleum for a transportation needs to coal?

  3. Plato says:
    June 9, 2011 at 6:24 am

    I understand your excitement Clifford.

    It is definitely more then just the batteries as I link on name.

    Best,

  4. John Romeo Alpha says:
    June 9, 2011 at 5:59 am

    I don’t know if the visions of making Pittsburgh the electric car capitol of the country will come true, but the conversion kits being developed at CMU look very promising, and the extremely low maintenance aspect sounds terrific:
    http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/business/s_723449.html