Who Says You Can’t Pimp An Electric Ride?
Countless men and women across the country will agree with this one: your first ride was your first love. You probably remember it as junky and cheap, prone to breaking down every morning, but you loved it just the same. Let’s face it: even though it probably guzzled gas like Gatorade and needed to be started just the right way or else it might have blown up, it was still yours. In the near future, 16 year olds will remember the first time they plugged their car in, rather than the first time they filled up the gas tank.
Let’s hear about some electric cars and green jobs, after the jump!
When I say electric car, bells and whistles go off. I automatically think of a car no bigger than my shower that is as fast as a skateboard being pulled by a golf cart. But some crazy changes have happened in the past 10 years to completely revamp the way Americans get around, making the institution of the automobile cheaper, more environmentally friendly and basically.. cooler.
In the picture above, you’ll see what’s called a Tesla S Model. Named for eccentric scientist Nikola Tesla, who revamped the study of electricity, it’s an American car, run completely by electricity that is both stylish, fast and.. well, out of my price range. It’s about as fast as a Porsche and costs about $50,000.
But some news just came out today: in what can be called huge news on the green jobs front, Nissan is opening up an electric car plant in Tennessee, that will reinvigorate the economy of the area by investing in green technologies. This could mean that an affordable, ecofriendly car could be in homes nationwide relatively soon… at least, that’s what President Obama is pushing for. Here’s a quote from a recent speech he delivered at an Electric Car Research Center in California:
It won’t come without cost, nor will it be easy. We’ve got 240 million cars already on the road. We’ve got to upgrade the world’s largest energy grid while it’s already in use. And other countries aren’t standing around and waiting for us; they are forging ahead with their own bold energy plans.
But we have faced tough challenges before. And at our best, we have never relied on hope and chance alone. Time and again, we have tapped those great American resources: industriousness and ingenuity.
President Obama has invested $2 billion into the research and development of new electric vehicles, so the era of the cool electric car may be closer than we ever imagined.
