Denmark is Going to Give Electric Cars a Chance

This is how you do it. No matter how much individuals decide to do, we will not be able to address the global warming challenge without significant changes in public policy.

clipped from www.nytimes.com In Denmark, Ambitious Plan for Electric Cars COPENHAGEN — Is saving $40,000 at the showroom enough to get drivers behind the wheel of an electric car? With a program in the works to add easy access to charging stations, Denmark is about to find out. The government offers a minimum $40,000 tax break on each new electric car — and free parking in downtown Copenhagen. The Silicon Valley company, Better Place, is making a big push in Denmark and in Israel. That makes those two countries the world’s most important test cases for the idea that electric motors and batteries can supplant the petroleum-burning engines that have powered cars for more than a century. With Better Place and the smart grid working together, cars would charge up as the winds blow at night, when power demand is lowest. Charging would soak up the utility’s extra power and sharply shrink the carbon footprint of electric vehicles.

This entry was posted on December 2, 2009 at 9:49 am and is filed under Small Foot Print. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site.

| Print