LETTER- NY TIMES

Dear Editor:

Re: The Riddle of Electric Cars (Opinion by Joe Nocera,

NY Times, Feb.10) 

There is a clear solution, and it does not lie in the 

quest for a magic battery. 

Ordinary batteries are good enough and in modest capacity

- not more than what would be required for short range

commute.The approach is wrong  in seeking to produce

electric cars with long range mileage and the ingrained

concept  of charging batteries off the grid runs counter
to efforts to mitigate climate change.This is because 

about 50 per cent of grid power is produced by coal 

burning plants. All but two states have such plants, so

the odds are many electric cars will be coal burners, at

thermodynamic efficiencies at about half that of modern 

motor cars. 

The solution is on-board power generation. which would be

the case if fuel cells were to be successful.
The truth is that car manufacturers are already backing 

into a technology that has been around for a hundred 

years  - the Diesel Electric locomotive. 

Chevrolet Volt II is almost there. It features on-board 

power generation,with a gasoline engine powered generator

keeping a modest bank of batteries charged. It offers 

little to improve emissions quality. But change the 

engine to a biodiesel engine, and now GM can offer a car

with near zero carbon footprint. Germany is already on 

track to produce such vehicles. 

We don't need magic batteries. Just common sense in 

applying on-board power generation.

Sincerely,

Edward Hujsak