If you missed the story of this 1981 Ford Fairmont EV, click here.

Portland General Electric is gearing up to move Oregon into the plug-in vehicle future. The utility will be installing a dozen charging stations for EVs in Portland and Salem in the next two months. Sure, that might not seem like a lot, but this is just the demonstration part of the project; the utility is laying the foundation for mass adoption of plug-in vehicles in the next two to five years. An ambitious timeline? Sure, but that's what we need right now and public charging stations are vital to allowing people who don't have a garage at home to fill up their new electric cars.

Back in May, PGE got approval from the Oregon Public Utility Commission to install a lot of smart meters (850,000, to be exact) in people's homes. For the public vehicle chargers, PGE is working with ODOT to install the devices and let people know what they are. The Daily Journal of Commerce claims that there are already 400 EVs registered in Oregon.

[Source: Daily Journal of Commerce]

Where does the state government get the money to maintain roads? Gas taxes. What if your car does not use gas? How is the state suppose to know if an electric car is using the road? Some states are planning on requiring GPS units in cars, tracking the distances you travel, then tax you for every mile you drive. Oregon just finished testing a year-long "virtual tollway" and will probably be the first state to have a GPS car tracking system working. Oregon's FAQ for the program explains why state-mandated GPS in cars is all the Prius' fault:

• "Fuel efficiency of Oregon's automobile fleet has eroded fuel tax revenues over the past 30 years. Further improvement of automobile fuel efficiency, particularly with the adoption of the hybrid electric vehicle engine, will have an even more dramatic effect on fuel tax revenues in the not-too-distant future."

You might say, why not just increase gas taxes? The legislature does not want to and Oregon says that at the heart of the matter, it's really a fairness issue. If electric cars "use the roads, you ought to pay for them." Wait a minute, you might say, isn't this the same State that gave perks for everyone to get hybrids and full electric cars? Now, they are going after us with a this tax? Basically... yes. I will let them explain:

• "From the transportation revenue perspective, fuel-efficient vehicles produce less fuel tax revenue because they consume less gasoline. While it is good policy to preserve our environment and our resources, it is not good policy to let transportation revenues decline so that the transportation system cannot be properly maintained or modernized. This may sound like a policy contradiction, but it need not be."

What about our privacy? The FAQ says "a GPS device only knows where it is; no one else does." LOL! Yeah, I believe that one. Why not just use a state odometer? An odometer won't work because it does not know when you drive out of the sate where they can't tax you legally. GPS is the only solution. Thanks, Treehuggers for buying all those fuel-efficient cars (he said sarcastically). Way to help the state invade everyone's privacy and usher in Orwellian tracking of cars.

[Source: USA Today, Oregon DOT]

Most of the green we talk about here at AutoblogGreen relates to a car's engine, fuel tank and/or tailpipe. Today we've got a story from the Salem, Oregon Statesman Journal about a common harmful toxin that is often found in cars, but this one's in the trunk.

Turns out, until 2003, most cars used a small switch made with a gram of mercury to light up under the hood and the trunk. Of course, there are mercury-free alternatives, and in Oregon, 116 auto shops participate in a free program to replace the switches with a switch that contains a steel roller. Shops in Idaho will also remove the mercury switch and safely recycle it. If you live in one of these two states, click here to find a local mechanic who will perform the surgery.

The Statesman article mentions a related issue that parents should know about: those little flashing lights in kids' shoes contain mercury.

[Source: Statesman Journal, Hat Tip to Joel A. Photo Credit: Statesman Journal]

Ethanol continues its impressive expansion throughout the United States, with construction of a new 35-million-gallons-a-year production plant in Port of Morrow, Oregon recently announced by Pacific Ethanol, Inc. Pacific Ethanol, whose mission is to "become the West Coast's leading marketer and producer of renewable fuels", will start construction of the plant in about 30 days and expects to start churning out ethanol a year later. The plant is one of five the company plans on operating in the West by the end of 2008. Pacific Ethanol was founded in 2003 and is currently building an ethanol plant in Madera County, CA. The company's website has a slideshow of that plant's construction.

[Source: BizJournals.com]