Ok, here's the deal.  I love electricity, I love cars, and I love electric vehicles such as the Tesla Roadster as pictured above.

Earlier this year, I fulfilled a dream.  I received the opportunity to test drive one of the fastest electric vehicles on the planet.  Zero to Sixty in 3.8...yes...it's an electric scream machine. 

I felt like blogging about it as I can't seem to shake this from my mind.  So where did my fascination start that let me to the ride of my life?

I watched a documentary called "Who Killed the Electric Car" by Chris Paine and Jessie Deeter (produced in 2006) that highlighed the rise and fall of Chevy's EV1. Unimpressively, the EV1 was said to travel about 60 miles on one charge but had a good zero to 60 in about 8 seconds. Not a bad car, really, and there are several devoted Leasees still out there who say they loved it!

My Day in Boulder

So, I met Ben Kanner at the Tesla Showroom in Boulder.  Ben's a great guy with a down to earth attiude and more knowledge about Tesla than I had ever expected.  After a bit of a debriefing, we set out. 

The acceleration was amazing.  Nothing short of a roller coaster on pavement. Imagine the silence of a golf cart with the sudden grab of the tires. You feel your body pressed against the curved racing seats as it pulls away from a stop.  The motor makes a bit of a whirling sound as you move up the speedometer and the wind blows briskly around.

Then, it was my turn.  He suggested I take it up Sunshine Canyon Drive, just West of Boulder.  Wow...it was much more of a rush than I had ever felt.  Even the "generative braking" was impressive; knowing that we were generating electricity as we slowed to a stop.  It hugged the road, like a fine European sportscar.  Just an incredible ride from the press of the start button to turning it off.  

So...What Gives??

After taking the ride and committing to Ben to be back to purchase one, I jumped back in my vehicle and realized just how far backward we really are. Fact: the first internal combustion engine was produced in the mid to late 1800s yet....we're in the 21st century!?! So, here we are: driving in style in our gas chewing and exhaust pumping antiques while our world has all but seemed to evolve toward IPads and 3D LED HDTVs that are less than 1" thick and boast prodominately from our livingrooms? 

Getting back in my car, no matter how "luxurious" the Chrysler frame, set me back to the days of the Wild West.  Going from riding in the all electric Tesla Roadster back to my car was a step back in time; as if I were in the jump seat with a team of four steeds pulling my wagon back to Denver. 

Regardless of reason, speculation or consipiriacy, it's time we moved past the need for combustible fuels and into a modern age of reason and understanding.  It seems only right and befitting that as a society, we should grow and move toward something that lessens the impact on our environment and our lives.

The Jest of It

Ok, before you judge me and think I'm a tree-hugging Boulderite or some recent grad from Stanford or Cal-Tech let me say that I'm not.  I consider myself a logical thinking person with a gravitational pull toward reducing our dependencies and increasing our self-sufficiencies.  With that in mind, I have some thoughts.

Tesla makes great vehicles.  That's a fact.  The Lotus styling of the Roadster, the fact that in 2012 they'll have their Model S Sedan in production (thanks to going public and to Toyota), are great benefits to a great vehicle.  At around $120,000 a car, however, this is not something that the average consumer can immediately adjust to.

I realize that Chevy's got the Volt coming out soon as well as the Nissan Leaf (and who can forget the Prius by Toyota) but what about all the OTHER vehicles out there now?  Is there nothing left for them but the scrap heap like the EV1? 

Here's my solution (yes...my blog...thus...my solution): why doesn't someone in Colorado (California's wannabe Green State) decide to begin a business, a thriving Donald Trump style business, in electric auto conversions on a massive level.  We have the parts, the motors, the converters, the controllers, the computers and even lithium-ion batteries!  Seems logical to me that I can ditch the motor, maybe even get a little extra cash for it not having many miles on it, to install something that's going to press my zero to 60 in 15 seconds SUV to 5 seconds flat and without burning one red cent of gas. 

I would love to get with a group of investors, thinkers, engineers, attorneys, venture capitalists, and other like minded people to get the work going.  I'm not out to bankrupt the oil and gas industry or start a war over the ever falling prices of fuel due to lack of demand.  I'm out for improving the environment while capitalizing on our need to GROW intellectually in our modes of transportation. 

If we are ever to move forward in our ever advancing technological breakthroughs, doesn't it seem fitting to finally dispose of the 1800s combustion engine once and for all?  Just a thought.

Respectfully submitted,