Texans: Trading In The Past For The Future

Sure, Texas is famous for the way so many oilmen transformed the energy economy

. These men figured out how to take advantage of the potent energy source right under their feet, paving the way for the heavily industrialized world in which we live. As we all know, the world's petroleum supply will not last forever, and burning fossil fuels has many unpleasant environmental side effects. The fact remains, however, that we need the use of automobiles to get to work, take the kids to Little League and maintain our standard of living. Texans are being given the opportunity to be the first to trade in their traditional gasoline-fueled automobiles for the next-generation electric vehicles offered by both American and foreign companies.

Those in attendance at the 2010 State Fair of Texas spent their day eating funnel cakes and seeing the best of Lone Star livestock. The Fair's auto show was a sneak peek at the first all-electric cars to hit American dealerships: the Chevy Volt and Nissan Leaf. Even better, the Volt will be in your driveway sooner than in most places. General Motors announced in July that the city of Austin would be among the company's 2010 test markets for the Volt. In fact, as part of the promotional campaign for the car, company representatives took the car on a 1,776-mile drive to celebrate Independence Day and independence from oil.

Even though Texans are traditionally open to innovation, many people have concerns about how an electric car that uses Texas electricity from their home would fit into their lives. The Toyota Prius has been on the market for a few years and has satisfied most customers. The Prius, however, is not an electric car, but a hybrid. A powerful gasoline-powered engine takes over for the car's batteries when you accelerate to higher speeds. In fact, according to Brad Berman, writing for Plug-in Cars, the 2010 plug-in edition of the Prius will only act as a pure-electric car for approximately 13 miles before driving like a standard Prius.

Those lucky enough to get a Chevy Volt out of the Austin market can hope to have better performance. According to Bob Cox, staffer at the Star-Telegram, the Volt will have an all-electric range of 40 miles, a number that comes much closer to meeting the commuting distance of the average American. (The U.S. Census Bureau reports that each of us drives an average of 24.3 minutes per day.) Once your Volt is in your driveway, you can charge it simply by plugging the car into a standard 110-volt electrical outlet. Another of the Volt's innovations relates to its frame: some of the batteries and electric motors are built into the car's frame.

The Nissan Leaf, on the other hand, will require you to have a 220-volt connection. These high-capacity outlets are often currently installed in homes to power electric dryers and particularly large television sets. These cars will also take a little bit longer to reach showrooms, with production starting in early 2011.

As with any big shift in technology, there are tradeoffs. Owning one of these next-generation electric cars gives you a good chance at saying goodbye to the gas station forever. However, you will have to pay for the electricity the car takes from your home electric grid. In order to generate that electricity that flows to your car's batteries, your local Texas electricity power stations will have to work that much harder. In time, electric cars could be in every driveway. As power facilities work harder and new plants are built to accommodate the increased load, plants that burn fossil fuels will spew more carbon dioxide and other chemicals into the atmosphere. In the long run, however, this increase will be more than balanced out by the positive effects of taking millions of gasoline-powered internal combustion engines off of the road.

Cox also points out that both the Nissan Leaf and Chevy Volt deliver when it comes to the biggest issue that will determine whether or not electric vehicles will make quick headway in the Lone Star State. Both the Leaf and the Volt will have the battery power necessary to run the car's air conditioning: a necessity during the hot and sticky Texas summer.

by: Terry Mickelson

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