Jon Stewart talks about the future of cars

Well, how excited are we at We Are Futureproof, when one of our favorite talk show hosts discusses the future for automobiles?

Finally, low carbon car policy makes it to prime-time as Dan Sperling of Institute for Transport Studies, UC Davis, talks to Jon Stewart on The Daily Show.

Sperling is an advocate of alternative energy sources.

According to Sperling, “I think the future is going to be some mix of advanced biofuels, not corn ethanol.” He favors electrification of cars, plug in hybrids and fuel cell technology.

The technlogy is there, but he says we need the industry, the consumers, and the politicians to embrace change.

Watch Jon Stewart’s very informative show here, and enjoy:  Daniel Sperling / Jon Stewart

Blake, for We Are Futureproof

Bailout deals for the car industry would hurt innovation

We’ve been hearing a lot in the press about the Big Three automakers in the US asking for a huge bailout loan to help them survive during the economic downturn.

Well, the response from the new car innovators who have put some serious investment into the future of electric cars are worried. According to ft.com, “the US electric car industry could be put at risk because of the short-term focus on bailing out the Big Three carmakers, according to two of the leading Silicon Valley entrepreneurs involved in the field.

Those entrepreneurs are Elon Musk, founder of Tesla Motors and Shai Agassi, founder of Better Place, which aims to build the recharging infrastructure to support electric vehicles.

Mr Agassi, a former head of technology at software company SAP, and Mr Musk, whose other ventures have included PayPal and the SpaceX private rocket programme, have become the leaders of a new movement.

“It’s kind of silly to say that the Big Three are going bankrupt making the gas-guzzlers they’ve always made, and then give the money to them,” said Musk.

According to Agassi,  “substantial capital injection is needed” for the electric vehicle industry to reach significant scale… significant government support and an overhaul of incentives are needed to boost supply and demand for electric vehicles.” Otherwise, “none of this will happen in the US”, he said.

So, we’re watching closely to see what happens next. The question is, how long will we continue to bail out old technologies and old companies when much brighter and greener solutions are already here? In the UK, Jaguar Landrover (owned by Tata) are also asking for significant loans.

Blake, We Are Futureproof