Letter-writer Donald Nelson (“Issues with electric vehicles,” Aug. 28, TribLIVE) makes several comments which call for discussion.

First, he says electric vehicles are not suited for long trips. For the most part, they aren’t intended to. Cars like the Chevy Leaf are mostly for a daily commute to work, and to be plugged in at home in the garage. If only everyone would do this, we would come a long way in solving our greenhouse emissions problem. However, Tesla does have a car with a 600-mile range.

He says the electricity must be generated by gas or nuclear. True, but those should be augmented with even better alternatives, like solar and wind. Anything but coal, which is filthy from start to finish. Filthy to mine, filthy to transport and filthy to burn.

If the power grid is insufficient, let’s break the gridlock and pass the infrastructure bill.

He is flat wrong that we aren’t working on hydrogen. There are already hydrogen-powered cars, but the industry had a setback by some explosions at hydrogen production plants. Storing and transporting hydrogen is very dangerous and inefficient by any technology we now have. But they’re working on it.

Climate change is already upon us in a savage way. We must act now if we want to bequeath a habitable planet to our children. Electric cars are here to stay.

Al Duerig

Salem

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