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Yesterday I was in Belgium, a small Kingdom in the neighborhood of Germany. Almost everything is a size smaller than at home. Although only eleven million inhabitants it has big problems like three official languages, which splits the country.
But in front of my hotel the tomorrow was already there.

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OK, Gerd, please explain. It LOOKS LIKE an electric car charging station next to a gas pump inside a no parking zone.

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If it's a 'NO PARKING ZONE', how does one charge or fill up their auto without actually parking?

Sorry, I forgot to embed the explanation.

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There are a bunch of those charging stations in the Northern Virginia/Maryland area. There is nothing new electric cars, just these new stations. Trouble is, these charging stations aren't much use to a Packard ...

Fact of the matter is - electric cars are an environmental menace. Why? Because manufacturing them uses gobs more resources and electricity is a less efficient medium than plain old distillates. The politicians, who are the concubines of lobbyists, will pass legislation tomorrow repealing Newton's law of conservation of energy. That doesn't mean it will no longer be valid, only that using it will be a crime.

Oil production at some of the majors declined last year, and replacement ratios for reserves are falling. Still the solar industry has been killed off. Use of solar could actually result in global cooling because stored energy is not being released via combustion.

It's all politics. With a little dose of quackery thrown in to give it curb appeal.

China, Brazil, India and Russia with billions of people started the motorization for the masses just a few years ago ...
I don't know if electrically driven cars are the right way but the combustion engine is past its best.

Telecommuting is the best "EV" currently available. If Congress were to give tax credits to companies who prove they allow X number of employees to telecommute Y number of days per week, we would reap the same fuel savings as deploying Z number of EV cars, and freeways would flow better, road rage would diminish, worker sanity would rise, kids would see their parents more often and corporate productivity would increase. The fact is, many office workers park themselves in their cubicle and telecommute even to the coworker in the next cubicle over.

As for road-going EVs, there comes a consumer product size of sufficient smallness where battery electric makes sense; i.e., one wouldn't package an I/C engine in a cell phone. Personal mobility vehicles fall into this category. More than a motorcycle, less than a car, where usage patterns would be fairly well aligned with battery range. Personally, I think Packard has a chance to get back in the game with such a vehicle. A grey wolf speedster, if you will. This will get more young folks interested in Packard, folks who will become older one day and take care of the Packards that today's older folks currently own. EGB is about to be renovated and the guy leading it would not think twice about adding Packard vehicle production to his list of tenants.

Every week I walk a mile to the grocery and so I'm not in a big hurry. Today there were two electrics at the charging station which has four spaces but only two attachments. Imagine the break down in civility over that situation.

They were two brands charging and the fumes were noticeable, even though it was breezy. Imagine that in your garage and the corrosion problems associated with those giant batteries. I'm waiting for someone to light up a cigarette while they are in the garage.

I've driven the electrics and they are pleasant. But only if you don't plan on going very far. It's a tribute to engineering that they don't break down in the middle of the 59th street bridge.

The biggest non-discussed petroleum problem is that the oil companies have a lot of operating leverage so when production falls below breakeven the losses explode. Thus, get ready for some oil price shocks. I don't drive a monster truck so I don't really care and the older I get the more I like the Packard 110.

I was costing a Crown Victoria because they go over 500,000 miles and reckoned a $10,000 starting fuel cost differential for 100,000 miles. That's $50,000 over the life of the vehicle before tires, brakes, and exhaust.

The other problem with this electric stuff is that the power grid capacity does not exist. If the crazy politicians mandate electric tomorrow they will have to build a million power plants and dig up half the USA. Heck, they won't spend money to build water treatment plants, won't fund public transit, won't provide tax incentives to reduce consumption. They would rather invade foreign countries and subsidize drug use. Not to mention hand outs to crooked bankers.

But I have to give credit to the automakers, they are doing a fantastic job with these electrics, even if they are just a plaything for the rich.