With Gas At $4 A Gallon: An Electric Cars Update
Публикувано на: 15-03-2012
Last night I moderated a discussion about The Revenge of the Electric Car at the University of Oregon in Portland.To prepare, I checked on the state of electric vehicles in Oregon and beyond.
You might have heard that Chevy will be halting production of its hybrid plug-in Volt for a few months starting on Monday because sales have been slower than expected.
But sales haven't been stagnant either. As MSNBC reported last week, sales of both the Nissan LEAF and the Chevy Volt are up over last year:
"Sales of both the Volt and the Nissan Leaf both increased in February. Between them, GM and Nissan sold more than 1,500 battery-based vehicles during February, making it one of the best monthly sales totals ever for the emerging technology. Leaf sales increased 617 percent, year-over-year, while sales of the Volt increased 264 percent, according to the latest sales number from February. "
It seems like everyone is anxious to see what sales will be this year, with several new all-electric cars coming out from Toyota, Chrysler, Ford and Honda.
Experts have come to the conclusion that consumers are looking for short payback time on their initial investment, a battery that can take the car 300 miles on one charge, and quick and easy charging capability. Ultimately, of course, they're looking for lower prices than they can get right now.
OPB
John Duncan of Wilsonville became the first Nissan LEAF owner in Oregon last December. He's now one of 750 drivers of new electric cars in the state. Altogether, there are more than 1,100 electric vehicles on the road in Oregon.
A special ProPublica report found President Obama's 2009 stimulus bill helped the EV industry by making big investments in battery innovation.
But sales didn't exactly skyrocket as a result: At the end of 2011, fewer than 18,000 Leafs and Volts had been sold in the US, and several battery companies have laid off workers or declared bankruptcy.
That doesn't bode well for meeting Obama's goal of a million electric vehicles by 2015. ProPublica reported "even many in the industry say the target is unreachable."
However, Obama reported this week that the cost of batteries is coming down quickly: A 10-kilowatt-hour battery for an EV with 40-mile range is on track to cost about $ 3,600 in 2015 and $ 1,500 in 2020 compared with $ 12,000 in 2008.
Obama has also proposed a more stimulating $ 10,000 tax credit to help incentivize buyers (the federal government offers a $ 7,500 tax credit now).
But in the meantime, predictions for sales of electric cars are a little gloomy - even with high gas prices and lots of enthusiasm for the technology. As The Guardian reported:
"Even industry executives are not optimistic. A survey of global car executives by KPMG recently found that they do not expect electric-car sales to exceed 15% of annual global car sales before 2025. This figure is still far higher than most independent analysts offer.
'This could be a crunch year,' said Ed Hellwig of the auto analysts Edmunds.com. Consumers will have access to more supply and more choices in alternative-fuel cars than ever in 2012. 'This could be the year when we see whether this is really ready to go mainstream or the public just aren't interested.' "
ecotrope.opb.org
Изпрати твоя новина свързана с електромобилите и ние ще я публикуваме.
Стани част от екипиа на ИКЕМ!
|
Add new comment
26-07-2024
18-04-2024
18-03-2024
31-01-2024
|
|
|
October 2024
|
|
|
Sun |
Mon |
Tue |
Wed |
Thu |
Fri |
Sat |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
|