Thomas A. Edison and the Holy Grail

This is a photo of Thomas Edison taken in 1887 when he began his mission to create a long-lasting, powerful battery for commercial automobiles.

After ten years he gave up.

This year, after decades of trials and errors, the automotive industry at last offers a number of models for sale.

Here are three comments on sneak previews:

Checkout the Porsche 918 Spyder hybrid – now that’s a car! A hybrid I could see myself behind the wheel! – well except for the price tag – yikes! — Kevin McGourty, California Polytechnic State University

I have no idea why you included the BMW concept cars and the Porsche 918 but left out the plug-in Prius and Smart EV? The plug-in Prius has a very short range, but the gas engine and Toyota brand will make it a big seller, and the Smart EV is in production, the range is tight, but it’s a cute little city car. — Pat Bahn, Tgv Rockets

My next car! Ha, ha. I Wish. — Gene Hillegass, Oley Valley Area High School