A recent article in The Tennessean claims that 5,000 Nissan plug-in electric vehicles are expected to hit the market in the fall of 2010. The Electric Transportation Engineering Corp. has a deal with Nissan to provide private and public charging stations in Knoxville, Chattanooga and Nashville, Tn, San Diego, Ca., Seattle,Wa., Phoenix and Tucson, Az., and the Oregon cities of Eugene, Corvallis, Salem and Portland.
For those states that don’t rely mostly on coal for power, this might be an eco-friendly move. Unfortunately, coal is the source of 63.3% of Tennessee’s electric energy. (30.2% is nuclear power.)
Tenn. governer Phil Bredesen has high hopes for the electric cars. A quote from the Tennessean article:
“For Tennessee, investing in electric vehicle technology is not only about doing the right thing for the environment . . . It’s also about creating jobs and strengthening our economy.”
What are your thoughts on electric vehicles?
The good news is that folks in Nashville who are looking to save money AND help the environment can ride the bus – and maybe even get an autograph from the driver while they’re at it! That’s right. Nashville’s own Jack White (The Raconteurs, White Stripes and Dead Weather) is “making rockstars out of MTA” (metro transit authority.) Jack White’s label, Third Man Records, is releasing a single by the group “Transit”, whose members are all Nashville MTA employees. Third Man started taking orders for the single on August 5th. You can buy the single and plenty of other cool stuff on their website: http://www.thirdmanrecords.com/store.html
Also, you might recall my previous post where I urged you guys to send in ideas to TVA for alternative energy sources in Tennessee. The deadline is August 15th, so if you haven’t done so already, get on that! http://www.tva.gov/environment/reports/irp/
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