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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Hybrid Cars

Posted on: Sunday, 9 October 2005, 03:00 CDT

I cannot share your optimism about Ford's announcement on manufacturing hybrid cars, given the company's recent experience with an alternative energy vehicle ("Thinking hybrids," editorial, Sept. 27).

For more than two years, I drove Ford's totally electric Think City. Living in a New York City suburb, this car was perfect for driving between my home and train station, supermarket, cinema, my child's school and other local destinations without using any gas or emitting pollutants. It could go as far as 55 miles on a fully charged battery, which took four to six hours to recharge while parked at the train station during the workday or in my garage overnight.

The Think was offered as part of a pilot program sponsored by the New York Power Authority, in partnership with Ford and the commuter railroad system. For the nearly 100 participants, the program was deemed a success by the power authority.

However, the electric car was doomed by America's complacency with relying on foreign oil and gas-guzzling sport utility vehicles. Both the auto industry and government showed little interest in developing the technology. Ford sold its Think manufacturing plant in 2002, and later canceled leases. I reluctantly returned my Think in December 2004.

As political instability in OPEC countries and the natural disasters of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita have renewed concerns about U.S. energy security, electric cars should be attractive but, due to shortsightedness, none are available. Meanwhile, electric chargers at several suburban train stations, and one in my garage, are all that remain, symbols of America's failing energy policy.

*

Kenneth BandlerWhite Plains, New York

Source: International Herald Tribune

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