Plugging In

by Shiloh Ballard

Tuesday night I pulled into my garage, got out of “my” car and plugged it in to the wall.  This sounds like a seemingly mundane action but I found it to be more special than I had anticipated.  I felt a new kind of freedom, and had I exclaimed anything, it would have been “neato!”  Done I am for the time being with that pesky, out-of-the-way, weekly, guilt-ridden gas station visit.

The organization I work for, the Silicon Valley Leadership Group, has received 3 Toyota Prius plug-in hybrid prototypes.  For 18 months, we’ll get to drive these cars around, test them out and provide Toyota with data on driving habits.  More info is here.

These cars are essentially a hybrid with an extra bonus—an EV mode.  On one charge, which takes approximately three hours and is equivalent to running a hair dryer for that long, the car will go 13 miles in electric mode before switching to hybrid.  That means I could drive it to work, plug it in, drive home and never have to use gas, which is not unlike most folks in terms of commute distance.  Right now, there are companies, like Coulomb and Better Place that are working to make sure the charging station infrastructure is tended to.  For those of you worried about where you might charge up, there’s an app for that.

Electric vehicles won’t solve all the woes of the world and there are healthy questions to be asked about the enviro trade offs but they are a step in the right direction.  And, in the wake of the BP debacle, we need people and companies that are willing to invest in new technologies that promise to lessen our dependence on nonrenewable resources.

With that said, I still maintain that a wonderful solution is one that is available right here and now and requires no technological innovation.  Go by bike!  But when you can’t, the plug-in is a good alternative