The push for electric vehicles makes no sense or cents economically or environmentally. Compressed natural gas-powered, or CNG, vehicles are cleaner and cheaper than electric vehicles — think power sources and manufacturing and disposal of batteries. Also, CNG vehicles don’t put a drain on the U.S.’s already stressed electrical grid — think California. Subsidized solar and wind can never produce enough electricity to overcome the drain. Plus, we don’t need to import gas, as we currently have more than 1,000 years’ worth of natural gas.
The West Coast has removed dams in an effort to help dwindling salmon stocks; several were hydroelectric dams providing much-needed clean power in states that have difficulty keeping light bulbs lit and air conditioners running. Brownouts and blackouts are common in California. How are they planning to charge millions of automobiles? The rest of the states are in no better shape to charge millions of electric vehicles.
A 2017 study by researchers at the University of Michigan found that the amount of CO2 emitted by electric cars varied wildly by country, but it certainly wasn’t zero. For other countries, the cars fare even worse. In China, which has been pushing widespread adoption of electric vehicles, the cars contribute as much CO2 as a car that gets 40 miles per gallon.
The Municipality of Anchorage has had a fleet of CNG-powered cars and trucks for decades. Most people can’t afford to purchase an electric vehicle, but all internal combustion engines can be converted to natural gas. Instead of the government supporting nationwide charging stations tapping an already stressed electrical grid, it should give a tax incentive for gas stations to implement CNG pumps and a similar tax incentive for people to convert their vehicles to CNG. More than 60 years ago, I saw an article in Popular Mechanics about an attachment to a homeowner’s gas meter that had a pump for charging CNG vehicles overnight. I’m sure a more efficient home charger system could be implemented today.
— Larry R. Fay
Anchorage
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