Going Electric

(submitted to Stamford Advocate, November 2, 2009)


Dear Editor,

James Boncek makes an interesting point at the end of his inspiring account of giving a second-hand car a new lease on life ("Fairfield Man Crafts a Plug-In Toyota", October 17, 2009, p. A-10), when he wonders why the big car companies aren't doing the same. The answer is that several already have, including the maker of his Tercel, but after brief trials, subsequently cut short their rollouts in most of the United States.

According to the Toyota website, the reason their short-lived all-electric RAV4 EV SUV (1997-2003)--in almost all respects, virtually identical to its gasoline-fueled counterpart--failed to sell well was because of insufficient interest and a lack of supportive infrastructure.*

As anyone familiar with the fate of GM's EV-1 knows (as documented in the 2006 film Who Killed the Electric Car?), this is not quite the case. Despite the popularity of GM's electric vehicle with Californians freed from having to visit a gas pump, or deal with the assortment of maintenance routines associated with internal combustion engines, GM did not simply stop making the cars, but actually destroyed those left in their inventory. While Toyota also junked their cars, they took the further step of effectively confiscating RAV4 EVs from satisfied customers that wanted to renew their leases.

The infrastructure argument is pretty weak, as well. Honda, whose Fuelmaker subsidiary makes residential refueling devices for Honda Civic GXs that run on compressed natural gas can do nothing until its parent acts (Update: in fact, Fuelmaker went bankrupt earlier this year). Even when Spokane Community College expressed interest in equipping its fleet with CNG Civics, the company, after dragging its feet for months with one excuse after another, refused to sell the school their vehicles.

Yet, clearly conscious of how comparatively car-dependent U.S. culture is, outside of a few domestic markets, these same companies are happy to sell alternative-powered cars in Europe.

Despite recently reversing its position following public pressure from concerned Prius owners, among others, Toyota's original support of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's opposition to climate-change legislation makes it clear the entrenched auto industry is reluctant to evolve, unless it is on its own terms.

Short of encouraging FedEx, UPS, or some other international businesses with a large fleet to become influential adopters, Boncek's approach could be a window on a future of a more grassroots transportational transformation. Edwin Black's The Plan: How to Rescue Society When the Oil Stops--Or the Day Before empowers communities to take matters into their own hands, by explaining how to implement mass automotive refit projects across the country.

*Correction: Though a common excuse by manufacturers for not more aggressively marketing EVs, Toyota did not cite a lack of infrastructure as a barrier to the success of the RAV4 EV, but industry-related problems with battery efficiency and lifespan.

Rolf Maurer
Green Party Mayoral candidate