Every ten years or so, during an oil price panic, it seems that the electric car comes back to promise a brave new future.
I happened to drive past these “Zapcars” on display at Venice and Abott Kinney yesterday afternoon. I stopped by to have a look. The cars are three wheeled and powered by batteries. They come in various colors and are priced at around $9,000.
These are being marketed for the “local” Venice Beach person who does local errands and works nearby. I’m not certain how many of these potential consumers exist or even if there is a factual, statistical number for how many people might want to drive these. They certainly don’t look like they would be suitable driving next to a 2 ton SUV on Ventura Boulevard or driving on the 405 at 2am.
Beyond the promise of electric cars (no air pollution, no money for Arab terrorists), what would the effect of a complete switchover to battery powered autos be? I can imagine that sprawl, which is a byproduct of the auto, would get even worse. The roads would still be insanely crowded in a nation of Zapcars.
But for one lovely, sunny afternoon in Venice Beach yesterday, the utopian ideal seemed real.
Here in Van Nuys 
Horizontal expansion of urban areas would not necessarily accelerate if electric cars became universal, because electric cars with the range of gas-powered ones are pretty much in the realm of science fiction. That lack of range is why pure electric cars will never gain acceptance outside of central cities.
Even if electric cars existed that could get 500 miles on an overnight charge, the distance constraint would never bind. Instead, commuting time preferences would limit people’s commutes to pretty much exactly what they are today.
To put it another way, most of America sprawls as much now as it possibly could, because in most urban areas there are no constraints on horizontal expansion and enormous constraints on densification.
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