The weird thing is, only Australia seems to be reporting this story. I haven't seen it from any other source.

Electric vehicles are quite feasible, but not as long-distance highway cars. Their logical niche is for low speed (35mph/55kph), short distance (15-25m/25-40k radius) trips. The size of battery to move a small, lightweight vehicle these distances and speeds is small enough to keep the cost of the vehicle reasonably affordable. If you are looking for the future of private passenger automobiles, you have just seen it, this is it.

The good news is that "affordable" looks pretty good: That US$2500 Tata would probably be something closer to at least US$5K with an electric motor and battery pack, maybe more. The best selling NEV in the US right now is selling in the range of US$6K base to US$12K (typical package). Compare with the typical new compact car selling around US$18-20K or more -- plus the premium expense of petrol instead of electricity over the life of the car.

Such small EVs will do for short commutes to a nearby workplace or MT station, to drop off or pick up kids from a neighborhood school, and for the usual weekly shopping trips. People with longer commutes need some sort of MT solution. For communities where electrified rail MT is not feasible, at the very least they could create "park and ride" aggregation nodes for commuters to transfer to buses for the trip to their workplace. Employers located off the main routes may have to invest in a shuttle bus service to get their employees back and forth between their facility and the nearest transit node -- if they want to continue to have any employees that can actually report to work, that is.

How are the EVs to be recharged? For those employees whose commute is within their EV's maximum radius, or those who drive their EV to a transit node, there is an elegant solution: erect PV panels in the parking lots, and install metered recharging station. This matches peak daily insolation with demand, assuring that commuters have a fully charged vehicle waiting for them at the end of their work day. It also answers the question about where to find the space to locate large PV arrays. Metering the recharging station creates a cash flow to finance the cost of the PV panels. By erecting PV panels to recharge the EVs, there is no increase in demand on the existing grid and its installed generating capacity.

What do people do when they need to get somewhere farther away, but a bit off the beaten path as far as mass passenger transport options are concerned? They need to rent/hire an automobile with the capacity to go the longer distances. Most people only need to make such trips occasionally; why drive a vehicle with the capacity for such trips all the time when one is not making such trips all the time? The same logic applies for those needing a small truck/lorry to transport large or bulky items. An implication of this is that the existing network of locations where one can rent/hire a vehicle will have to expand considerably over the next decade or two, so that hardly anyone in or near a town or city is more than a few mliles/km from one.

Thanks for keeping this story alive. So far no play on US MSM.
Wagoner video link

(Crossposted from DrumBeat)

Here's Wagoner's statement from the North American International Auto Show 2008:

Earlier this month, the price of oil hit a hundred dollars a barrel, as demand for energy around the world is growing faster than supply. And that's not just a cyclical phenomenon; it's structural, given the growth in emerging economies, which we fully expect to continue.

Wagoner is quoted in the Royal Oak, MI Daily Tribune (15 Jan. 2008) saying:

As we look at the global energy and environmental picture today and consider the future of the automobile, one fact stands out above all others: the auto industry can no longer rely almost exclusively on oil to supply the world's future automotive energy requirements.

CNET is running an interview with Wagoner that took place just before the auto show and was published today (15 Jan. 2008):

Can this CEO paint GM green?

CNET: How do the petroleum companies feel about some of the things that General Motors is doing to shift the auto industry away from petroleum?

Wagoner: To be honest, I haven't really had direct conversations with them. It's a fairly broad-based issue. We're not saying that we don't see our sector continuing to use petroleum. But with the cost of petroleum these days and broader sensitivity and ever increasing demand for it, alternatives have to be developed. I note with interest a number of the oil companies talk about their positions as energy providers, rather then just oil companies. I'm not in that business, that's the way to think about the future.

...

CNET: Is the relatively high price of crude oil causing different planning in General Motors than ordinarily is the case. Are you now feeling a certain urgency to provide these alternative vehicles?

Wagoner: My sense is there's a fundamental change here and simply stated it's the growth of the emerging markets in places like China, which are huge consumers of energy and I don't see anything which is going to diminish that over time.

The battery technology keeps getting better and better. I think that weight, storage, and range issues are likely to look a lot better in ten years. In the meantime, we have PHEVs. Hopefully we'll seen them sooner rather than later. One Chinese automaker -- BYD -- has made the outrageous claim that it will produce a PHEV with an all electric range of 62 miles by 2008. Though I'll believe it when I see it, I think it is at least evidence that the heat is on to produce these things.

I think the electric vehicle is coming back -- with a vengeance.

Lithium Iron Phosphate cells
Morgan LaMoore wrote:
> I don't think that anyone has yet purchased an affordable set of
> Lithium batteries for a full EV. Just these past few months we've been
> talking about new, cheaper manufacturers, though.
>
SteveS wrote:
Actually I didn't mention affordable; though of course that is
important. I would just like to narrow my focus down to companies that
are actually delivering product. I'm looking at an EM too, so it is a
little more affordable. The weight issue is even more important. I've
been building up a spreadsheet to compare options. So far ($ is for 2KW
system) I have not personally checked out all of the actual availability
and prices; they were gleaned from web sites and postings.

Headway - cheapest, but available? - $1250
A123 -available, but very expensive (looking at the experimenter
packs) - $4750
Thundersky - next cheapest, but evidently not reliable - $1515
Dewalt packs (A123) - available, can either be broken apart or kept as
is - $3115
K2 - prices seem good, pre-built packs, but available? - $2430 (using packs)
Valence - available, expensive, but have built-in BMS - $2500

I would like to make Lithium Iron Phosphate cells batteries myself to do this In the u.s. for the u.s. market and to use glass rather then plastic for shell