Biodeisel is all the rage, but there’s something so clean about an all-electric vehicle.
I was talking to a stranger at a party many years ago in the Santa Cruz (CA) mountains. I was leaning against a car in the driveway, and noticed some strange fins sticking out of the hood. I commented. The guy I was talking to said “oh, that’s my car. It’s electric. Wanna go for a ride?”
So we sat down—me in the passenger seat. It looked just like a regular car. He reached over and flipped a switch on the dashboard (OK, so that was a little odd…). With a gleam in his eye and a mischeivous tone in his voice, he said “It’s on now.” No noise. The light started going on for me…
Then he screeched the tires out of the driveway. And took me for a short spin up the road and back. The car MOVED. He said “you can’t chase me up these hills—all the car’s weight is 6 inches from the ground.” He was talking about the batteries.
When we got back, he showed me what was under the hood. The engine looked like a larger version of one of those motors you get with a set of Legos building blocks. And very, very little else. Just a lot of batteries. Batteries in every nook and cranny, front and back.
Anyway, ever since then… (embarrassed now…) more than 20 years ago… I’ve wanted to build a car like that.
Oh, by the way… turns I was talking to the editor of Home Power magazine.
