Re: Electric Vehicles saved from the shredder




"Eeyore" <rabbitsfriendsandrelations@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message news:48453EF8.FE216274@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx


Rob Dekker wrote:

"Eeyore" wrote
Rob Dekker wrote:

There were a few of these EVs that survived this 'genocide' of EVs.

And every single one of them is ***.

If you haven't seen "Who Killed the Electric Car" yet, go and rent it
and weep.

Yes, weep at the gullibility of people who thought these were viable cars.


I would have expected a slightly more intelligent answer from you Graham.
Care to elaborate on your judgement call ?

In the case of the EV-1, it would have been far too expensive to be a practical
purchase ($80,000 in the dollars of the day ?) and was merely a limited range 2
seater.

That number is the total amount that GM put into the program ($1 billion), devided by the number of cars shipped.
Half of the The $ 1 billion is R&D, which would not normally count if shipments are in larger volumes (for example, if you would
continue to ship vehicles rather than recall them and shred them).

That is like developing the Pentium IV for $2 billion and selling only 100,000 of them, and then terminate the program claiming they
were too expensive at $10,000 a piece.

The actual cost per vehicle would have been more in the $40,000 range, which kind of matches the lease prices that EV1 users had to
pay.
And that cost is revolutionary low for a production vehicle that is so different than anything else in the GM production lines.

The $ 1 billion was also partially covered by the government under the Partnership for a New Generation of Vehicles (PNGV) program.
And lastly, just to put stuff in perspective, that $ 1 billion is less than 5 % of what GM spends annually on
marketing/advertisement alone.

It's very clear that GM build the EV1 for the CARB regulations, but they realy, realy really do not want EVs around. And that is not
for their cost (or lack thereof).


Were there any other EVs you care for.

I care for all EVs that people want to buy. And I care for a free market in bringing


In the meantime technology has moved on and the advanced PHEV looks well placed
to take on the mantle and be practical to use ( 4 seaters) plus ussentially
unlimited range and be practically priced. You'll be able to use them just like
normal cars.

Which PHEV is shipped today ? None. Some models will be available in 2010. When oil prices will be ... maybe $250/barrel if we are
lucky.
Until then, we drive ICEs.

And why would I want a PHEV, if all-electric works for me ?
The EV1 running on modern batteries would get 300 mile range, and would recharge in 10 minutes on a recharge point (or in an hour or
so in your garage).
The 4-seater that GM never brought to production would get a 200 mile range.
Which would cover the needs of 95% of the population (including me).

Most people would like a car that fills up for $5 rather than $50, for the same range, even if it is with a different energy
carrier.

But because the EV programs were aborted, we do not have that choice.
That's all I'm saying.


Graham


--
In many ways, the US is currently like the Titanic heading strait for that huge ice berg. The difference is that the Titanic's
captain actually ordered full reverse, and hard change of course just before the disaster.


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