Tesla & the Innovation of Alternative Fuel Automobiles

My Kindergarten-age child is learning at school about energy use and the environment. She is quite concerned about our use of the car that drives her to and from school, and trips to the gas pump are met with troubled stares. "I wish there was a better way to drive," she told me last week. "I think we are going to ruin the earth."

My daughter is not alone in her concern. Overuse of fossil fuels and its resulting pollution scare a lot of people, no matter on what side of the political fence you stand. One solution proposed to allow us to maintain our car-dependent lifestyles while stabilizing the climate is the use of vehicles not completely dependent on gasoline. After years of false starts that forced consumers to fit their needs to the alternative-fuel car, Tesla Motors has developed vehicles that finally allow the dog to wag the tail. Tesla wants to change the world, and they just may be able to do it.

Electric Vehicles

Electric vehicles, usually in the form of electric-gas hybrids, have been in existence since the mid-1800s but were not made practical. Limited battery power and range of distance were often drawbacks, but even their brief use in the late 19^th Century was hampered by the building and use of roads that required cars able to travel long distances. Throughout the 20^th Century attempts were made to rejuvenate interest through the use of new and emerging technology, but with the comparative smaller expense of the gasoline powered car widely available, interest was small to none [...]