Cars entirely powered by electricity are already a reality. In the Netherlands, there is already a small amount of people making the trip between home and work only spending power outlet. However, electric cars still need adjustments and did not come cheap.
Marjan Minnesma is director of Urgenda, a foundation that promotes the use of electric cars. She is also one of the Dutch who already uses the electric car.
Behind the wheel, Marjan is thrilled with its 'Think', an electric car manufactured in Norway. But he admits he has run in a different way. He had, for example, to get used to the idea that the maximum distance that can travel is 180 kilometers. When you have a commitment to more than 80 miles away and can not make the trip back with the same battery, you need to make some arrangements beforehand.
"I wonder if people have a chance to take where I can, with an extension, recharge the car during the meeting or whatever. People find it cool. I saw several secretaries crawling on the floor for an outlet. You go through curious situations ... "
Although Marjan find these funny situations, she immediately puts the nail on the head: a network of recharging - and preferably for quick recharging - not yet. For large-scale introduction of the electric car still lack infrastructure.
But building a network so in the coming years is already in the plans: a millionaire investment from the Dutch government will provide ten thousand points of recharge by 2012. But are not there yet.
Plugged
You also need to get used to always turn the car in the making as soon as you arrive home. The 'Think' has to be more than 10 hours in the socket to charge fully. This should improve with time. Reload will be faster and the cars will have a greater radius of action.
But this is still to futuro.No However, the electric car already offers great advantages. It costs only 4 euros to recharge the battery and run with it up to 180 kilometers. No need to do a lot to know that with gasoline, ethanol or diesel spending would be greater. And the 'Think', like all electric car, is great to drive. Quiet and tough. For the day to day, the maximum capacity of 180 km is usually sufficient. In the Netherlands, the middle path traveled by day by those working in other cities is 60 kilometers. And it's great to know that you are driving without emitting an ounce of CO2. This is the main reason of all.
Very expensive
In fact, the biggest problem of the electric car at the moment is the price: about 39 thousand euros for the cheaper models. For businesses, it is interesting due to the subsidies offered by the Dutch government to invest in the environment, but for individuals is a premium price. Too expensive, admits Marjam Minnesma while driving your electric car on the road and explained that the foundation Urgenda is trying to "force" a drop in prices.
"We're trying to make a mega-shopping with several companies. We order 4 thousand electric cars - buy one million - and the manufacturer will have to meet certain requirements. These requirements relate to the range, the battery recharge, but especially with the price, which will have to comply with the market. "
Which means: no more or a little more expensive than a similar car diesel or gasoline. According to Marjan, it will happen in the latest three years.
Source: Radio Netherlands Worldwide
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