Automakers working on next generation of engines

There weren't enough EV-1s to be a concern regarding the power grid.
However, if you had them by the 100s of thousands or millions, rather
than thousands (I think they had more than a thousand anway), it would
have been different. A friend of mine had one and liked it, but the
range would be a problem for most people, especially in cold climates.
He lived near San Fran and worked out of his home, so neither range nor
cold were big issues for him.

The cost of the EV-1 was inherently greater than the cost of an IC
powered car, and even similar volumes wouldn't get the prices to be
similar. And even if the price was equivalent, you still had the
shortcomings in range, interior space, etc.

Baloney. People are embracing hybrids rather nicely. People didn't
embrace electric cars as they have many drawbacks compared to
conventional gasoline cars. People aren't embracing diesels because
they cost more to buy, are noisier, have a different smell, have less
convenient availability of fuel in some areas, etc. Hybrids, but using
gasoline as the fuel, have sidestepped almost all of these issues except
higher initial price.

People will accept new technology when it shows a decided advantage over
the old. Neither all electric cars nor diesels have yet achieved this.
Hybrids have, and they are selling well.

Matt

 

Hmmm - I know that one of the items that is mandated by Ford and GM to
be included in a PPAP package (that's the first-item approval package)
from a supplier of *any* new vehicle parts is a signed statement that
the parts contain zero cadmium. However I guess, if the
economic/technical/political incentives are large enough, they would
make an exception where it made sense (i.e., these batteries) - as long
as some air-tight (and prohibitively expensive and/or hard to enforce?)
handling procedures were incorporated into the life-cycle controls.

Bill Putney
(To reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my
adddress with the letter 'x')