Can You Live Without A Gasoline Car?

For April 24, 2019        
Hi WN@TL Fans,
 
Since I bike to work, most of my driving is spent hauling my kids, ages14 and 11, around town to swim practice and hockey or soccer practice.  Plus to the meets or games.  As is the parlance, I am a Daddy Uber.  D’Uber for short.  
 
The other day my daughter saw a Prius and remarked that she wanted to get a hybrid, because it was better for the environment than a gas car.  I said that yes, that might be true, but a hybrid also means you have to maintain two tandem systems of propulsion—so why not just get an electric car?  
 
It’s a question I’ve been asking myself for a while.  Most of my trips are short jaunts with long layovers in my garage.  I’m ideally set up for an electric car.
 
For longer trips with the fam, I’d still have the van.  The Sienna clocks in at 25 mph, has captain’s seats, and we just put on 2,888 miles driving from Madison to Maine and then Montreal and back to Madison over the 9 days of spring break. 
 
Therein lies the rubber hitting the road. What are the analyses and the accommodations that I’d need to bake into the DNA of my road trips if I were to try to get by without a gas car?  Where could I go, and not go?  How often would I have to recharge, and how long would I have to linger each time?  
 
This week (April 24) Bruce Johnson will be back at WN@TL along with his Tesla, and he will be joined by a half a dozen or more of his friends (also with electric cars), all of whom are willing to give you a ride after the Q&A.  All zoom, no vroom.  
 
Bruce will be addressing the question, “Can You Live Without A Gasoline Car?” 
Here’s how Bruce describes his talk:
 
Electric cars have made enormous progress in less than a decade. It is now quite possible to drive long distances with little to no “range anxiety.” Bruce Johnson, a solar energy and electric transportation activist, will demonstrate the feasibility of a gasoline-free life – one that is fulfilling, lowers your carbon footprint, and not incidentally is a blast to drive!”

About the Speaker:
Bruce A. Johnson has spent over 35 years as a television production professional, first in the commercial and public TV sectors and now with a non-profit. He is also a fierce advocate for alternative energy, having installed his first set of solar panels 12 years ago, and having owned three electric cars in the last seven years. Johnson lives on the far east side of Madison with his wife and two college-age daughters. This will be his fifth appearance on Wednesday Nite @ The Lab.
 
Here are two of his previous talks to WN@TL:
 
https://wpt4.org/wpt-video/university-place/university-place-insights-conflicted-solar-farmer/

https://wpt4.org/wpt-video/university-place/university-place-living-solar-suburbs-ep-764/
 
=== 
Next week (May 1) artist, illustrator and entomologist Jacki Whisenant will be here to share her insights into the history & current state of scientific illustration, with an emphasis on current uses in entomology.  
 
You can read more about her exhibitions, including “Art on View:  Tiny Wonders” currently at the Steinhauer Trust Gallery at the Visitor Center at the UW-Madison Arboretum, at https://arboretum.wisc.edu/news/arboretum-news/art-on-view-tiny-wonders/    and at http://madisonbubbler.org/artist-in-residence-jacki-whisenant.
 
Hope to see you soon at Wednesday Nite @ The Lab.
 
Thanks again!
Tom Zinnen
Biotechnology Center & Division of Extension
UW-Madison