Cross-posted at Daily Kos.
It’s true. I heard it on the Rec List at Daily Kos. Wikileaks is now releasing scads of documents proving that Netflix is being sexually groped by Comcast-funded TSA agents after being sterilized by PornoScanTM radiation. The worst part: President Obama hasn’t said a word about it. Not only is he failing to message this insanity properly, he’s freezing the wages of all Netflix employees.
Meanwhile, GM is hiring 1,000 electrical vehicle engineers and researchers to push its efforts in electric vehicle manufacturing forward.
Sorry, this isn’t meta. This isn’t Obama-bashing. This isn’t Obama-worshipping. This isn’t TSA-fueled outrage. It’s not even about the Netflix vs. Comcast Rumble in the Jungle Internets.
I just wanted your attention for a second or two.
Instead, this is an American car company, brought back from the brink with the assistance of the US taxpayers. And it’s a step very far forward in the creation of a new, domestic vehicle paradigm: electric vehicles.
General Motors said today it plans to hire 1,000 electric-vehicle engineers and researchers over the next two years as it prepares to deliver the first Chevrolet Volt extended-range electric cars next month.Volt production started early this month, as reported by the Free Press. GM plans to keep the first Volt off the line to display in its Heritage Center in Sterling Heights.
The company will auction off the second Volt, with proceeds to benefit math and science education at Detroit Public Schools, GM said today in a news release ahead of a planned announcement by North American President Mark Reuss at GM’s Detroit-Hamtramck plant.
~SNIP~
The upcoming engineer hires continue a trend started after GM’s 2009 bankruptcy. In mid-January, GM started hiring college graduates and experienced engineers, focusing on green technologies, hybrids and electric vehicles. By September, the automaker had added 200 electrification engineers and at that time had 50 more openings, said Micky Bly, who heads GM’s electric vehicle, hybrid and battery development.
And did you know that the Volt gets 93 mpg in battery-only mode???
Also, too: GE is purchasing a fleet of 25,000 electric vehicles to prime the pump:
GE said on Thursday that it will buy 25,000 electric vehicles for its fleet through 2015 in the “largest-ever” purchase of electric cars. GE will begin with a purchase of 12,000 Chevy Volts from General Motors Co. The purchases will begin in 2011, said GE.GE has a current fleet of 30,000 vehicles which are used by GE employees to conduct their business. The conglomerate said it “will add other [electric] vehicles as manufacturers bring them to market.”
While we’re on the subject, a $15 million Department of Energy “Stimulus” grant is resulting in 4,600 new charging stations around the country.
A new initiative by Coulomb Technologies aims to install 4,600 free electric vehicle (EV) charging stations in nine metropolitan areas around the US by September 2011 as part of its ChargePoint America program. The project will be supported by three automotive partners—Chevrolet, Ford, and Smart—to ensure the availability of electric vehicles in those nine regions in an attempt to solve the chicken-and-egg problem of developing a viable charging infrastructure.Coulomb Technologies makes a line of ChargePoint networked EV charging stations, and also operates a network of stations for EV drivers to use to “fill up.” The company will supply, free of charge, a total of 4,600 charging stations for installation in public spaces, businesses, and individual homes. Those charging stations will hopefully blanket the Austin, Detroit, Los Angeles, New York, Orlando, Sacramento, San Jose/San Francisco, Redmond, and Washington DC metropolitan areas, establishing a viable network for charging EVs.
The $37 million project is funded in part by a $15 million Department of Energy grant from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. “The Obama Administration has set significant and considerable goals for the widespread adoption of electric vehicles in the coming years,” said Coulomb Technologies CEO Richard Lowenthal in a statement. “This grant will bring thousands of networked charging stations to nine US regions, will build upon our already growing and established network of infrastructure, and will accelerate the deployment of public and private charging infrastructure which will in turn encourage consumers to buy electric vehicles.”
Did you notice that they are free???
We’re getting a bunch of them here in Michigan. In fact, eventually, we’ll have 5,300 of them.
Anyway, just wanted to share all of that with y’all. Seemed like pretty danged good news in a sea of angst, woe, teeth-gnashing and garment-rending. I now return you to your regularly-scheduled meta pie fight extravaganza.
I’m just sayin’…
I’m just sayin’…
