Talking Gearheads: Electric Vehicles and the Future of Cars

As promised, Jim Motavalli of the New York Times’ Wheels blog and I engaged in spirited discussion today about the future of electric vehicles. Jim has posted the debate at Mother Nature Network, where he regularly blogs about environmental issues. (His full bio is below.)

Tuesday’s news about raising national fuel-economy standards provided unexpected context for our discussion. In order for automakers to meet the new standards across their fleets, they may have to accelerate E.V., or electric vehicle, development. Daimler is already thinking this way, by taking a stake in E.V. startup Tesla Motors. However, Jim is more pro-E.V. than I am. I’m not exactly anti-E.V., but I think our timetable for adding more E.V.s to the transportation grid should be more long-term. Anyway, let the discussion begin!

Motavalli: But, Matthew, I don