Charging Along

I went to a small Electric Vehicle show that a couple of friends were attending, just to hang out with them. While most of the cars were modern, purpose-built EVs, Teslas and the like, there were also a few that had been converted from internal combustion.

EVs are interesting, but conversations with the owners revealed that the United States is going to be a while in fully adopting them, and not simply because of the oil industry. The United States is a big place, and cities of note can be pretty spread out. None of the vehicles on display today could get one from Seattle to Portland, or Seattle to Spokane, without stopping to recharge. My car can easily do Seattle to Portland without stopping. I've never tried to make the round trip without filling up, but I suspect that in the absence of any traffic snarls, I could make it... or the one-way try to Spokane. But even if I needed to stop, it only adds several minutes to the overall drive time.

Since EVs are unlikely to ever match the range and ease of refueling of gasoline vehicles, they'll likely need a boost from other modes of transportation, such as trains, to really meet their potential. Which means that the EV world will likely look very different from the current one. I'm curious to see how it shapes up.