Electric Cars and Infrastructure

The government of Denmark is offering big incentives to encourage citizens to purchase electric cars. The vehicles are being produced by a company called “Better Place”. The financial incentive is there: A minimum $40,000 tax break on purchasing a new car! New vehicles in Denmark are taxed a whopping 200% (so a 20,000 car here costs $60,000 there). But the electric vehicles are exempt. There is just one problem: To recharge and replace the batteries on electric cars being driven on a regular basis requires an entirely new infrastructure in Denmark. New charging stations and battery replacement stations are nearly one million dollars apiece! But these new cars could be powered by wind energy, a huge boost for environmental concerns.
This article made me think about the introduction of our current combustion engine cars, a little over a hundred years ago. When they first came about not only were there not gas stations everywhere, but there weren’t even paved roads to drive on! Certainly the development of the necessary infrastructure for our current automobiles took time to develop, but it eventually did and, until recently, the auto industry has thrived. In this case, history shows us that if the product is truly useful, and people demand it, then the infrastructure will follow, even if it's at a slow rate.
The electric car is different from what we’re used to. But the economic incentive to purchase it is there, and the environmental incentive is there. It is likely that such alternative means of transportation will eventually become necessary as we run out of fossil fuels over the next forty to 100 years. The transition would be much easier if it could occur slowly and voluntarily. Denmark is making a bold move to become a leader in clean transportation. If we created an entire new infrastructure to accommodate the original automobile, certainly we can modify that infrastructure to fit a new type of vehicle.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/02/business/energy-environment/02electric.html?em