In the ongoing debate about our energy issues, transportation is one the most frequent points of debate. In this month’s issue of WIRED, there was an extensive article about a plan for electric cars. The plan involved an on board computer that planned routes and calculated efficiency, automated charging ports in parking lots and battery switching stations. There also a boatload of articles about getting 500 miles worth of driving from a 5 minute charge.

Unfortunately, both of the plans (and most electric cars in general) pose some problems. Using a battery swapping infrastructure sounds nice, but would have it’s own set of environmental problems. These batteries aren’t exactly eco-friendly to produce or dispose of, so creating a system that makes them more disposable probably isn’t so great. The 5 minute charge is a nice idea, but most of the current technology has yielded less than 50 miles per charge or used the power equivalent of an entire office building. The big benefit of gas is that it provides a full ‘recharge’ in just a few minutes.

Some day we may have the technology to make electric cars useful, but with current and near future technology, I don’t see how it will work.

Instead of focusing on electric cars, plug-in hybrids seem like a better course of action. You get the short range benefit of an electric car, but don’t prevent the occasional road trip. It provides a useful platform to test and refine technology for use in electric cars in the future and unlike bio-diesel, electric and fuel cells, it doesn’t require massive infrastructure changes.

When it comes to living green, it’s always exciting to make giant leaps, but sometimes the baby steps make a lot more sense. Millions of people taking a small step together makes a lot more impact than a few making a big leap.