Sustainable transportation is a crucial part of global efforts to reduce carbon emissions and their unhealthy effect on the planet.

Here in the United States, the automobile has been synonymous with our lifestyles as well as our industries. While the first automobile was invented in 1886 by Karl Benz in Germany, it was the Ford Motor Company in Detroit, Michigan that began mass producing them in 1908, with the Model T.

The rest was history, progress and good times, until the impact of massive air pollution began to catch up with us. Over the years the federal and state governments have recognized the damage caused by carbon emissions, and have put regulations in place to regulate them. California, where I live, is one of the strictest places for automobile emission standards.

However, reducing emissions was only the beginning. With the advent of the electric car, we have the possibility for converting to truly clean, emissions-free solutions. In Palo Alto, California, where I live, local inventors have been tinkering with electric cars for decades. The first Electric Car Rally in Palo Alto dates back to 1972, and it has continued every year, now going strong for over 40 years.

In fact, the invention of cars powered by electricity goes back to the 1800s, but the technology did not develop for modern use and mass production for a very long time. With cheap gasoline and lack of environmental awareness, the gasoline-powered vehicle remained the dominant type of transportation vehicle.

That changed when the large car makers had to face new competition. The first highway-capable, fully electric plug-in car was the Tesla Roadster, first sold by Tesla Motors in 2008. Before that, Toyota had introduced the Prius, the first hybrid electric plug-in automobile, in 2000.  Today, the top-selling fully electric plug-in cars in the world are the Nissan Leaf and the Tesla S.