Hawaii to be 1st state with electric car stations

California did this already in the early 90's. It worked great, until it was lobbied out of existence.

I lived in Arizona for a little over a year in the late '90's, and I was surprised to find designated electric car parking spots with power plugs at government buildings such as the post office. Of course, that was before the electric was said to have been killed. It's good that this is coming back around.

Hawaii burns fossil fuel to generate almost all of it's electricity, the electricity that is needed to run the electric cars. Hawaii needs a way to generate enrgy that is clean, not just a different way to continue burning oil to create it.
This is just another BOGUS photo-opportunity for Lingle to try and prop herself up. Lingle has nothing to offer except petty partisan politics and more of the same rotten leadership that has put our country into this mess.

good for them. it is easier however when you are around 42nd least populated in the country. its a good step though

A. We been had them shits in California
B. Cars are stupid. Ride a bike.

um california totally already has electric car stations. they just aren't in use.
every go rent or buy "who killed the electric car?"

Wow, I am not surprised. Leave to to Hawaii to be on the forefront of making the earth a better place!

jess
http://www.privacy.de.tc

It least it is a step in the right direction! Just need to work out the kinks and off we go! Hawaii is such a trend setter!

Hopefully a step forward!

This is a great idea for Hawaii. I just hope that they can find a clean energy way to provide the initial power to charge the electric cars in the first place.

Good for Hawaii.

Why would Hawaii not only be the first but only state seriously making this happen? The sad thing is the Big three trashed their electric cars years ago.

A penny saved is a penny earned.

We are doing alot with sustainability here in Austin, Texas.The world at large is posing the right questions, and is beginning to become the right attitude.
And the question is this. Is there a way to power a car purely by the sun ? And convert an old engine and roof to do this with existing cars ??

In my minds eye I see a crystal but my family says I"m thinking sci fi and unrealisticly.. :)

Love and light

Perfect site to pilot new transportation infrastructure. Small, self-contained. Great. Good luck to them!

Yeah, homestate!! :)

glad to see someone step it up.

i went to the big island, Hawaii, last summer and noticed how there isn't a lot of road. only 40 minutes or so of scenic driving to get to the other side.

if we reduce all that pollution cars generate, we can save one of the last few paradises on earth.

that is rad, only 49 states to go!

That is a great idea. Maybe California will follow!

and Detroit the last!

Hawaii has the potential to become what Iceland was before the financial crisis knocked them around. A test bed for sustainable energy.. both have incredible geothermal potential, not to mention Hawaii's abundance of sunshine. Icelanders were working to build a hydrogen economy based upon their geothermal resources. Hawaii can work to build an electric economy based on geothermal. Exciting times!

Hawaii ranks third in the nation use of renewable energy relative to the state's total electricity production. 25% of that energy production is Geothermal. One biomass power plant exsists on the "big Island",supplying about 7-10 percent of the island's power needs. The rest of the power plants use combustion turbine generators (Coal), a major source of air pollution. Electric cars will put a tremendous strain on that system. It cant make it better.

I want one.

Good idea for Hawaii. They can use them far more than most States.

we're first in black presidents, first in electric cars, first in non-white governors, mayors, congress people.

Wave powered generators? Hawaii has a lot of waves.

Geo thermal? I hear Hawaii has some volcanic activity.

It's quicker to put the cars on the road than to build a new power station....so I can forgive them for going with cars first.

Even if it takes some time to replace how the energy is produced it's still ultimately cleaner for the islands because you've removed engine exhaust from the equation.

The energy in the batteries still has to come from somewhere! On an island hundreds of miles into the Pacific with a delicate ecosystem, there is much consideration into how to supply all that extra energy that will be replacing gasoline.

AND... if they can't afford to ship old cars out for scrap, they how do you think they are going to pay the thousands of dollars per car to be converted into electric?

The whole point of electric is to do it efficiently. Old gas hogs and even newer ones are too heavy to be efficient as an electric car.

Hawaii has mostly tiny little two lane roads and a max speed of 45 to 55 on their freeways, 25 on most other roads. I think what they're wanting to to is get smaller and lighter cars, that are built for electric power, imported to replace the bigger cars that are way overpowered for such slow speeds.

But the question remains as it does in San Fransisco,,, where is that electricity going to come from???

Sounds good if there are any electric cars on the island. What comes first: the electric cars or the electric car stations?

Hey guys here is the company rolling out the infrastructure: http://www.betterplace.com/

Please check out their website and get involved! They are also rolling out in the Bay area, as well as Denmark, Australia, and Israel so far.

Well... there are still problems with this. I was in Hawaii this summer and was talking with a tour guide about how power is produced on the island. He said that they have power plants on the less populated side of the island, but there is still problems with pollution. They need to also adopt some large scale clean energy to help fuel all of these cars.

Funny thing is that I don't remember seeing any electric cars there, not in Waikiki nor Maui... but there were WAY MORE cars than I expected to see on such small islands. They need to ship cars out if they want to bring in new ones!

I specifically remember the tour guide saying that because of all the rental cars on the island and the fact that the old cars never leave, there are almost 2 registered and running cars to every 1 resident of Hawaii. It's actually a problem because people end up with junk yards full of old cars and it's too expensive to ship them out for scap so they just continue to pile up.

They will run out of island before they run out of juice. Brilliant!

Teabag!

Hawaii is probably one of the better places for the United States to implement this. Driving distances are limited, so these vehicles will be efficient on the islands. Also, the lower demand for oil will mean fewer shipments to Hawaii. It's cost effective all around!

well isn't that just a good idea. Way to go Hawaii, keep your beauty, and innovate at the same time