I originally wrote this post in 2010, after speaking with Bill O’Driscoll of the Pittsburgh City Paper for an article he was writing about electric vehicles. My perspective from 11 years ago is as accurate today as it was when first published.
I had a slightly different take than EV enthusiasts: changing the source that powers a large vehicle does not begin to address the rest of the problems caused by developing our cities and countries around privately-owned vehicles.
“An electric car is “still a multi-ton vehicle that requires a lot of money and resources from all over the world to produce,” notes Lolly Walsh. Walsh, a staffer for advocacy group Bike Pittsburgh, speaks as part of the loose-knit international Car Free Network. “If we just develop a different type of car… it’s just going to push back any change that we need to make.”
Electric cars still use as much space as other cars

Though not included in the feature story about Carnegie Mellon’s electric car, I also noted that land use is one of the major problems with continually structuring our transportation system around cars — electric or otherwise.
If we just redevelop the car so now we plug it in to an outlet powered by dirty mountain-stripping coal, we’re not improving much.
We still allow cars on nearly every single street no matter if the residents of that street are young children, elderly, deaf, or blind.
An electric car isn't the magic solution
Electric cars
- are still dangerous to pedestrians, bicyclists, and other drivers;
- still requires a tremendous amount of land to rest and operate;
- depend on dirty coal-powered electricity in most situations;
- cannot alleviate congestion;
- will not level the mobility playing field.
Free public transportation now
A different type of car is not the answer because cars are not the answer.
Fully funding public transportation is the ONLY way we can give every single person the means to get to work, to school, to fun, to appointments, to recreation.
As I’ve said before, we should invest in excellent public transportation that is:
- Fast
- Free (to the user)
- Predictable (schedules available at all stops and on phones)
- Attractive / Beautiful
- Clean
- Frequent (always less than a ten minute wait)
- Everywhere (less than a ten minute walk from most locations)
- Efficient (Local and Express)
- Resourceful (should maximize options of local terrain. Pittsburgh for example could use streetcars, along side ferries and the incline to take advantage of our rivers and hills)
- and has the right of way against all other modes of travel.
Reliable, Safer, Faster Public Transportation
Investing in superb public transportation is the way to go to make transportation accessible to everyone. The public transportation that we have in the US is basically an insult — no wonder so many people will do almost anything to avoid it.
Making public transportation spectacular is a much more economical and environmentally-friendly lift than ignoring all the other pitfalls of electric vehicles.