Could Norwegian milk trucks point to the best next step in vehicle electrification?

Photo: Semcon

Don’t get me wrong. As much as any car enthusiast, I love the explosiveness, sound, and feel of raw power under the hood that you get from a strong internal combustion engine. And on a certain level, it’s hard to imagine the idea of a motoring life without those dynamics.

But I also think that the benefits of electric powertrains, like the power of immediate torque at the wheels and the downforce benefits of a chassis-length, bottom-mounted battery—even if we leave aside for the moment any remaining debate about the net economic and environmental impacts— cannot be dismissed.

Waking up to the debate about the efficiency and environmental impact of electric vehicles

I guess I really do eat this stuff for breakfast.

When I awakened this morning, the first things I saw in both my Facebook feed and my email inbox were highly relevant to the ongoing debate on the merits of electric vehicles. The first was a Facebook post featuring photos of a Tesla at a charging station, and the second was an e-mailed press release announcing a partnership between technology company Semcon and hydrogen fuel-cell producer Powercell.