Technology isn't the biggest obstacle, the Marketplace is

[RobertM87]

Since GM introduced the EV1, we have seen that we currently possess the technology to produce fully electric vehicles that can meet the demands of the average driver. They ended up scrapping the car, not because of its performance or reliability, but because of its cost. It could not generate any profit for the company. While it's easy to negatively judge companies for these decisions, it's important to put the issue into perspective. The goal of business is to generate profits, they will not voluntarily embark on a path that will create losses. When a company has losses, that means less employment, less investment, and in some cases the company's death.

If we are going to see fully electric cars on the road, they must be profitable. If the cost of manufacturing a car is greater than the profits it is going to generate, it will not be built. Regardless of the evironmental and moral impact an electric vehicle will have, cost determines whether or not companies are going to invest in the technology, and whether or not people are going to buy it. Materials and batteries associated with electric vehicles will most likely become more inexpensive to manufacture as time goes on.

The second issue is consumer interest. If people are going to buy electric cars, they must be just as reliable, convenient, stylish, safe, and quick as internal combustion cars. This may be one of the easiest problems to solve, as electrical systems usually require less moving parts, and generate torque more effectively. The difficulty for the rest of those issues shouldn't vary too much when compared with internal combustion vehicles, as the technology and manufacturing required is very similar.

A third issue would be infrastructure. There are petrol and diesel stations to fill up vehicles that enables them to run indefinetly so long as the driver can locate places to fill up. Electrical vehicles have limited range and must return to their place of residence after short periods of time. Due to the influence of oil companies and the wide availability of electricity, it appears unlikely that there will be stations set up specifically for recharging electric vehicles that can become profitable. Even if electric vehicles due become a major influence in transportation, it may be a while before they phase out ICE vehicles for use over long distances. Integration of solar-electric technology and other energy-saving techniques may diminish this issue.

Tesla appears to have a good plan on addressing these issue. They are starting off by producing in low volume a high-peroformance car to offset the appearance of a high cost with exclusivity. If successful, they plan on making their next model a 5 passenger, 4 door sedan at the mid-priced level. The model after that would be even more affordable, and so on until the majority of the population can afford them. While this looks like a good strategy, it will still be a short time before we will see if they are successful or not. The issue of the success of electrical cars is not so much environmental, or political, but economic.

Thoughts?

[autotex]

Have you seen the movie "who killed the electric car"? It is biased, but brought up similar points

[zzyzzx2]

I can plug in at work, so I could use an EV, even if only as a second car.

['97ventureowner]

Please check the date of the last post in the thread and avoid replying if that date is longer than 3 months from the current date.