Building a “network of battery-swap and recharging stations in Hawaii that would make the use of electric cars feasible” is a very practical solution for an island where gas is very expensive. In terms of conducting everyday activities, such as driving back and forth from work, electric vehicles have the ability to provide a great utility for the average American.

When gas prices were flirting around $5 per gallon, the average family’s budget in certain areas of the United States was being devoured by these high fuel prices. The cost of recharging an electric vehicle is far cheaper than paying these high gas prices.

Furthermore, if Obama carries out his plan to foster the renewable energy revolution and implement plans to update our electric power transmission infrastructure to a smart-grid electric power transmission system, then electric vehicles will become even more practical. Electric cars, renewable energy, and smart-grid technology are all no-brainer ideas. It’s too bad that the Bush Administration never had the political will to advance any of these progressive ideas, and it’s too bad the auto industry has been slow in providing alternative, electric, and fuel-efficient vehicles. From Scientific American:

Better Place plans to build between 50,000 to 100,000 charging stations across the state by early 2012, and run them using renewable power it buys from Hawaiian Electric Co., according to the Associated Press. The plan will help the state cut its fossil fuel use by 70 percent by 2030, Gov. Linda Lingle told the AP.

Hawaii is an attractive test site for Better Place because of its size. Trips on the island are rarely longer then the 100 miles (161 km) electric cars will be designed to make before they need more juice, the Times notes. Renault-Nissan, whose eMegane vehicle would go that distance, is working with Better Place to deploy its e-car prototypes in Israel this winter, Wired Magazine said in an August profile of Agassi. The company is in talks with other automakers about whether e-cars they’re developing could be recharged at its stations.

Several car manufacturers, including Tesla and Chevrolet, are developing electric cars, but none have become widely available. Still, global-warming carbon emissions have given the idea urgency, and Agassi has managed to raise $200 million from investors to implement his plan.

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