Electrifying news

This week's column is by Deputy Editor Claudine Weber-Hof.

In this month's issue of Spotlight magazine, there is an article by Douglas Bolduc on a topic of interest to many: the electric car. In industry-speak, it is called an EV, short for "electric vehicle". The story starts on page 24.

When the story was assigned, I wondered whether it would be too technical. After all, Doug also writes for Automotive News Europe, a magazine and Web portal that reports news that — from a regular reader's perspective — is specialized industry information.

When the article came in, I was pleasantly surprised. Doug had written the story from the consumer's perspective. As I read the text, I wondered whether I might consider buying an electric car — or its cousin, the plug-in hybrid — sometime in the future. Doug writes:

"Within the next three years, car showrooms around the world will feature electric vehicles. Some will be fully electric; others will be plug-in hybrids with a small internal combustion engine that helps to recharge the battery when on the move. When the battery is empty, it can be re­charged by plugging it into the grid."

Doug then looks at the "green factor" of driving an electric car by comparing an EV's CO2 output in different places in the world. Do EVs make sense in certain countries, but not in others? What advantage, for example, might France have in this regard over Germany or the US?

For the answer to this question, and more information on this fascinating topic, see the April Spotlight.