Why do electric vehicles interest me so much? I think it’s mostly technical curiosity as I’ve always been fascinated by automobiles (although I’m not much of a mechanic) and electronics (nor am I handy with a soldering iron). However, the other part of it is that my personal automobile history sounds like it was taken from the pages of Edward Gorey’s¹ The Gashlycrumb Tinies:

1. T is for Tercel, who rusted away.
2. T is for Tercel, who’s engine blew up.
3. P is for Protegé, tranny no more.
4. A is for Accent, who lives on today².

The Cars

My first Toyota Tercel (who rusted away³) lasted me a good five years, but I did snap a band in its first transmission, blow the head gasket, and have to put numerous exhaust systems on it (not including all the regular wear and tear). In the end, it was the rust that got it.

My second Toyota Tercel was purchased cheap, already burned oil, and the thermostat failed. During a week of -20°F temperatures, it threw a rod as it ran low on gelling oil (this was only about six months into our relationship).

The Mazda Protegé lasted nearly a year, but I ended up torching the transmission (an automatic) and blowing the tranny seal in one fell swoop. Unfortunately, it too was not worth trying to fix by that point.

And now I’m on my fourth car in nearly nine years: a nice white Hyundai Accent. It marks a bunch of firsts for me: first car purchased with less than 100k miles on it (only 14k, in fact); first with a warranty; first requiring me to get a loan (ouch); and first requiring full insurance (not just liability; double ouch). It has been a good, reliable, and relatively efficient, car so far.

Environmental Impact

Having already donated three cars to the junkyard (not including the car that I learned to drive on, which rusted out shortly before mine) and having been commuting approximately 100 miles to and from work for the last three years (and no small amount of miles put on my cars before that), I feel that I’ve burdened our planet with much more than my fair share of an environmental impact. And that’s only the automotive front.

I’ve looked for better automotive technologies, but electric is the only technology that can be made clean enough to really have the least environmental impact as we move forward. Yes, I realize that a lot of electricity is currently generated from fossil fuels, but it doesn’t have to be, and it still tends to come out cleaner to drive an electric car than a gasoline or diesel powered vehicle.

Most of the changes needing to be made to reduce pollution and the overall environmental impact are personal and societal habits, such as: carpooling and taking public transportation more, walking & bicycling more (therefore driving less), telecommuting more (again, driving less), but we still need to cut down on the emissions from our vehicles when we drive. Electric vehicles can provide a truly zero emission solution and companies such as Tesla Motors are proving that electric vehicles with good ranges can be developed.

¹ I grew up with a poster of The Gashlycrumb Tinies outside my bedroom door.

² I apologize for my atrocious attempt at an automobile-related tribute to The Gashlycrumb Tinies. It’s not really an alphabet and although I got the meter right, I didn’t bother to actually do the AABB rhyme scheme. {sigh}

³ Here in Vermont, they salt the roads so much in the winter that your car isn’t likely to fight off rust for more than 5 years (judging by my experience) unless you get it oil undercoated (a messy, and definitely not environmentally friendly, process) before its first winter. Even then, it won’t last more than ten years unless garaged and washed regularly. Obviously, not everybody can be so fortunate.