Energy Efficient Choices

Sudbury, MA (PRWEB) -- Before the summer of 2008, very few people had ever heard of electric cars. Then as gas approached $5 per gallon here in the US, electric cars became all the rage. Now, with gas prices at lows not seen since 1999, is the electric car once again just an idea that is too impractical to be adopted on a mass scale? Bo Bennett and Ryan Levesque, hosts of the podcast on electric vehicles at EVcast.com, have interviewed over 60 of the industry's leaders in 2008, and compiled these audio interviews into a comprehensive collection available to the public free of charge. Bennett and Levesque state with confidence, that the electric car is the future, no matter where gas prices are today. The question is, how far away is that future?

"Prior to the market crash in October of this year, it looked like 2009 would be the year of the electric car", says Bennett. "But now, many electric car manufacturers are having great difficulty obtaining funding, and have altered their plans for production - some by a year, some indefinitely." Although dozens of electric cars are still planned to be introduced in 2009, very few will see any kind of large-scale production and even fewer will make their way on US roads. But Bennett reminds us that major shifts in markets do not happen overnight. "When I got involved in the business end of the Internet back in 1994, it was not yet an 'industry', but really just a glorified hobby for geeks like me. It wasn't until several years later when people started to make some real money that it caught the world's attention and became not just an industry, but an 'age'" recalls Bennett. "Where there is desire, there is innovation. Where there is innovation, there is money to be made. The American people have a desire to get off foreign oil and no longer be held hostage to ridiculously volatile gas prices. In 2008 alone the electric car industry has seen massive innovation that, with proper funding and implementation, will lead to a new level of fortunes to be made with a fantastic side effect - clean cars and a strong economy."

No single factor will lead to the success of this industry. Bennett claims it will be a massive collaborative effort on the parts of auto makers, entrepreneurs, engineers, battery makers, investors, politicians, activists, and most importantly, consumers - all of whom will be responsible for ushering in the age of the electric car. As for 2009, while it might not go down in history as the year of the electric car, it will be another year closer to our inevitable clean future.