Producing Electric Cars

One can forgive politicians like Al Gore and Jerry Brown as well as Times reporters and editorial writers for their enthusiastic support of such lost causes as wind and solar power and electric cars. Their mistake is based on honest desire to return the environment to a pre-man condition and an almost total ignorance of the laws of nature and economics. On the other hand, one should expect a more rational view from the president of Southern California Edison Co. who, if he doesn’t possess the technical know-how himself, certainly should have access to that expertise somewhere in his company.

To imply, as Peevey does, that there is an electric car “technology” on a par with electronics is absurd. And that the loss of this nonexistent technology is “yet another industrial tragedy” is just as ridiculous. Attempts to drum up financial support for electric car manufacture by raising the specter of “foreigners getting there first” is nonsense. The only technological challenge associated with electric cars is the battery--and General Motors was and is only one of many organizations looking unsuccessfully, so far, for a high-performance, reliable and affordable replacement for the old-fashioned lead-acid battery. Until a replacement is found, the performance of electric cars will not find a market for the millions of vehicles required to bring the price down to acceptable levels.

MARK R. DUSBABEK

La Quinta