WEBVTT

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- Hey folks, I'm here with Ed Begley,

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actor, environmentalist,
all around cool guy.

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We're talking about the future,

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the past and the present of electric cars.

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Thanks for being here with me.

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- What a pleasure, Andy.

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- You mentioned that you
got your first electric car

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back in 1970, so you've
kind of seen pretty much

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the entire arc of EVs
in the last 50 years.

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How would you say they've changed

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and where do they still need to go?

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- I guess I was trying
to prove a point in 1970,

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I didn't wanna be part of the smog machine

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and I did that to a certain extent,

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but it was not an electric
car like I thought it was,

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it was an electric cart.

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It was a Taylor-Dunn,

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they still make electric cars to these day

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or should I say electric
carts to this day.

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It didn't go very far or fast,

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but I vowed I would return to them

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and a few years later I did.

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- I'm guessing you still drive EVs now?

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- I took a break there
after the 1970 period.

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I had that one for a few years,

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but then I realized I
could go further and faster

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on a Puijo Bicycle than I
could on the electric car.

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But finally I got into a
really good electric car,

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one manufactured by General Motors.

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- [Andy] I was gonna
say, you had a GM EV1.

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- [Ed] I did.

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- I've never met anyone
who's ever even seen an EV1.

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What were they like?

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- It was a beautiful car.

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It was a two-seater, so I
had it when I was single.

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I didn't need a vehicle
that could accommodate

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a car seat, a baby seat.

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So, I drove it for years
and it was a great car

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'cause it had a range.

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The first were sealed lead acid batteries

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that could get you, I think
it'd go about 70 miles

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and for me to go 70 miles
in electric car was like,

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"Oh my God, so I can drive to Ojai

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"and then maybe roll
downhill that last few miles

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"into the Ojai Valley."

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Unfortunately, they took
those back as you know

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and crushed 'em.

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But that was a great, great car.

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- What do you say to people who are like,

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"EVs don't work for me.

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"They're not gonna ever
be what I'm looking for,

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"I need gas."

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What do you say to the
people who believe that?

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- Electric cars will not
serve 100% of the population.

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It can only be possible
for 95% of the population.

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That's the only people that
can use it, just 95% of us.

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It also would not eliminate all pollution.

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It'll only eliminate 90 some
odd percent of the pollution

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'cause it's still making
pollution at the power plant,

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unless you tell me you work
at an all night donut shop

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or a 24 hour pharmacy,

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you're gonna drive it during
the day and charge it at night.

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A very efficient time to use power.

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Now when you marry it
with a nice solar system

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on the roof of your house,

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which many houses could accommodate

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and the price of solar's gone down a lot,

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now you're really doing something great.

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You can't make gasoline
on the roof of your house,

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but you can make electrons

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and I've been doing it since
1990 and believe me, it works.