I guess it's nothing new

[Sage]

 

[QuiQuog]

Here's today's updated version of that car.

 

[jswordy]

Oh no, nothing new. In the early automotive days, they had electric and steam car manufacturers. Many people don't realize that the first internal combustion engine designs ran on powdered coal for fuel. Once the carburetor was invented, the reasoning was solid about why internal combustion won out. There was a burgeoning supply of this stuff called gasoline that was a previously useless byproduct of production of kerosene for lamps, so it was cheap, and it is a very easily transported energy. Range was just a function of fuel tank size and efficiency.

But the equation has changed now. Electric will be the future. It's not there yet. But it is coming. That's because, when you factor in all the true costs of running an IC engine including CO2, it turns out not to be such a good deal after all.