The phrase "Who Killed the Electric Car" has been in the press again lately with the recent release of the documentary, "Revenge of the Electric Car".  While it is our dire desire to be rid of all dependency on petroleum for our transportation needs, current generation EV technologies are still far from viable per a list of issues... economically, environmentally, safety, human health, longevity, scalability and sustainability.  These high-tech vehicles simply do not make sense for the vast majority of American drivers.  Per our exhaustive evaluation, we consider the EV "dead" to the general American public until the various technologies surpass a long list of reasonable thresholds.  The following is the postmortem report on the current generation of EV vehicles.

Everyone today seems so focused on MPG, yet this unit of measure is outdated.  If the fuel is scalable, sustainable, economically viable and environmentally friendly, then MPG is actually not that important.

Petroleum is a finite resource. Focusing our resources to double or even triple the Miles Per Petroleum Gallon (MPPG) for vehicles is wrong headed in that this direction only delays the depletion of this finite resource.  The correct focus is sustainability.  We must migrate to sustainable fuels as soon as possible to reduce the impact the end of the petroleum era will have on our economy and on all our lives.

The Japanese have been searching for an alternative to Chinese rare earth minerals for more than a year and claim to have found it with this recently published paper.

Rachel Rye Butler
National Conservation Organizer
Sierra Club, Green Transportation
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RE: Invitation to participate in your Transportation Activists Blog

Dear Rachel,

Thank you for the opportunity to contribute to your Transportation Activists Blog.  Working together we can move this nation into more environmentally friendly solutions while still supporting our economy and way of life.