Electric Car: Something I Could Never Do

I have three brothers, and we all do different things.

My oldest brother Mark is a school administrator in Connecticut. Before that, he was a math teacher.

My youngest brother Brett is in grad school in Virginia. He's married to a Navy officer. They both graduated from George Washington University (Brett with a degree in History).

I work in public relations outside Boston.

And my next older brother Scott, he turns gasoline-powered trucks into electric cars.

Scott is a brilliant inventor and mechanic. He knows engines and cars like the back of his hand. He's always the first person I call when something weird happens with my Honda (which lately has been often).

Scott owns a marine engine dealership in Mystic, Conn. Recently, the New London (Conn.) Day published a story on how he was hired to turn an old Chevy truck into an electric green-friendly car. It's an amazing story.

What I find so interesting is one of the reasons he did the job was to practice. Marine engines are gas-guzzlers. The time is coming when boat owners will want to conserve money and make their boats re-chargeable. I can't imagine any other person is more knowledgeable on how to make this happen than Scott. Al Gore, if you're out there, maybe you should give him a ring?

NOTE: Photo taken from The New London Day, April 11, 2008. Photo Credit: Tim Martin, The Day. Original Caption: Scott Levanto, a mechanic at Masons Island Marina in Mystic, raises the hood on the 1989 Chevy S-10 pickup that he converted to run on power supplied by 20 electric batteries. The truck, owned by Orin Robinson of Mystic, can travel up to 40 miles on a single charge.