Why cars have to go electric (CNN)

[eppur_se_muova]

By Shai Agassi, Special to CNN
May 11, 2010 3:40 p.m. EDT

Editor's note: Shai Agassi is the Founder and CEO of Better Place, an electric vehicle services provider, who's {sic} goal is to accelerate the global transition to sustainable transportation by building infrastructure and network for the widespread adoption of electric vehicles. TED, a nonprofit organization devoted to "Ideas Worth Spreading," hosts talks on many subjects and makes them available through its website.

(CNN) -- It's hard to believe it's been more than a year since I stood before the audience at one of my favorite forums, TED. But a year later, our vision for an oil-free world where electric cars are more convenient and affordable than gasoline-powered cars remains the same.

It's been a turbulent year for the global economy and the events of recent weeks only underscore the urgency of our situation as a society and as a planet. We see firsthand the severe damage oil can inflict, not only on our global economy but also on our environment.

Just look at the tragedy unfolding in the Gulf of Mexico. We will soon see the damage of this horrific event in very human terms, as the damage to the industry, the environment and the livelihood of those in the Gulf grows and all struggle to recover in the coming months and years.

My hope is that we will soon get to a point where we see that the cost of oil in human capital is no longer acceptable and that the increasing complexity of finding and retrieving this diminishing resource no longer makes economic sense. The good news is we are already seeing a shift that will ultimately take us from a transportation system based on a volatile oil ecosystem to one based on a more sustainable model based on electric cars that creates a market for clean energy.

The shift to electrification is inevitable and we're seeing some of the world's leading countries make strong commitments to electrification. China, France, Japan and Israel are just a few. Motivations vary from country to country, but the end result will be the same: a stronger economy, healthier automotive sector and increased development of clean energy, leading to a healthier society.
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more: http://www.cnn.com/2010/OPINION/05/11/Agassi.TED.electric.cars/index.html?hpt=T2

[depakid]

1. Hope has nothing to do with it...