China Outlines Plans for Making Electric Cars

by Andrea Hehn

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China hopes to become the world's largest producer of electric cars, and their biggest challenges are making the cars safer and less expensive. The cars are currently twice as expensive as same-sized gas-powered cars but less reliable. These cars, the article says, are one solution to three of China's population-related problems: air pollution, increased use of imported oil, and traffic jams. It doesn't say how the cars are a solution to traffic jams (perhaps the electric cars are smaller?).

I know the U.S. tried electric cars a short while ago, and the owners were pretty happy with their cars. But then the cars were recalled, for reasons explored in the documentary "Who Killed the Electric Car?" It's a pretty good documentary, aside from the sentimental appeals with people crying about not having an electric car anymore. It would be great if we could get some real electric cars in the U.S. again, not just hybrids.