Considering that RMI is the world-respected organization that literally wrote the book on “Green Development” centered in alternative transportation, please include trains, bicycles and pedestrians in your vision. In 2050, if these modes are missing from the American transportation system, then America will have missed an enormous opportunity for a brighter energy future, and will be at a serious disadvantage compared to most developed countries, in terms of economics and health. Electric cars are certainly part of the solution, but they are not the complete solution.
Even if the intended audience for this slide is the automotive supply chain, electric trains and electric bikes offer interesting market opportunities for electrical components that could be created with automotive-centric expertise: in massive, centralized EV projects for high-speed rail, and innovative motor/controller/batteries for electric bikes and scooters. Thanks.

Hi Levin, and many thanks for your comment.

This issue of Spark, as well as RMI's work with electric vehicles, focuses on automotives in part because of their heavy fossil fuel consumption and the associated opportunities for reducing that dependence. But you're quite right that trains, bicycles, and pedestrians need to be a part of that vision as well. To varying degrees, those considerations are already a part of our work. For example, the transportation analysis in Reinventing Fire took into account not only vehicle design (such as electrification) but also vehicle use - particularly reducing vehicle miles traveled - through a variety of mechanisms, including increased use of rail, telecommuting, carpooling and other forms of alternative transportation, and Smart Growth (which inherently includes a pedestrian/bicycle component). Never the less, yours is a good reminder, both of the importance of those opportunities and the potential for us to more explicitly talk about them.

Thanks,
Pete

Peter Bronski
Editorial Director
Rocky Mountain Institute