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Electric Cars Help Wean America's Oil Dependence
From NewsChannel 4 Anchor Chuck Scarborough
NEW YORK -- This was my assignment: find out what's happened in the year and a half since I first broadcast a fascinating story about fighting terrorism and global warming with a new kind of car – a plug-in hybrid.
VIDEO: Part 1: New Cars Of The Future
VIDEO: Part 2: Tesla's New Electric Sports Car
VIDEO: Part 3: Are Electric Cars The Answer?
The national security angle went like this: currently we're funding both sides in the war on terror, taxing ourselves to pay for the military and, at the same time, because of a rapacious appetite for oil, sending petro-dollars to regimes that fund our enemies.
Since most of the oil we import is used to fuel transportation, a car that uses little or no gasoline would be a potent weapon in the global struggle with militant Islamists. And, of course, that car wouldn't be spewing greenhouse gases, which brings us to the plug-in hybrid electric car.
By adding batteries to existing hybrids and charging those batteries on house current, prototypes on the road today are already able to cover twenty-five miles before they ever start their gasoline engines. That means a lot of drivers who primarily run errands with their cars, like taking the children to school and grocery shopping, would never have to include a stop at the gas station – zero gasoline consumption. Even those who travel longer distances would see their average fuel economy top 100 miles per gallon in a plug-in hybrid.
Impressive. But in my reporting, I discovered a new car that will cover 250 miles for the price of one gallon of gasoline, without burning a drop of the stuff, and will do it on a single battery charge while leaving most of the hottest cars on the planet in its dust. It's the Tesla – the only product so far of Tesla Motors, a Silicon Valley company founded by Martin Eberhard. He is a very interesting man, so interesting that I thought you might like to see my entire, unedited interview with him.
NEW YORK -- This was my assignment: find out what's happened in the year and a half since I first broadcast a fascinating story about fighting terrorism and global warming with a new kind of car – a plug-in hybrid.
VIDEO: Part 1: New Cars Of The FutureVIDEO: Part 2: Tesla's New Electric Sports CarVIDEO: Part 3: Are Electric Cars The Answer?The national security angle went like this: currently we're funding both sides in the war on terror, taxing ourselves to pay for the military and, at the same time, because of a rapacious appetite for oil, sending petro-dollars to regimes that fund our enemies.
Since most of the oil we import is used to fuel transportation, a car that uses little or no gasoline would be a potent weapon in the global struggle with militant Islamists. And, of course, that car wouldn't be spewing greenhouse gases, which brings us to the plug-in hybrid electric car.
By adding batteries to existing hybrids and charging those batteries on house current, prototypes on the road today are already able to cover twenty-five miles before they ever start their gasoline engines. That means a lot of drivers who primarily run errands with their cars, like taking the children to school and grocery shopping, would never have to include a stop at the gas station – zero gasoline consumption. Even those who travel longer distances would see their average fuel economy top 100 miles per gallon in a plug-in hybrid.
Impressive. But in my reporting, I discovered a new car that will cover 250 miles for the price of one gallon of gasoline, without burning a drop of the stuff, and will do it on a single battery charge while leaving most of the hottest cars on the planet in its dust. It's the Tesla – the only product so far of Tesla Motors, a Silicon Valley company founded by Martin Eberhard. He is a very interesting man, so interesting that I thought you might like to see my entire, unedited interview with him.
© 2007 by WNBC.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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