| January 12, 2010 Automakers plan for an electrified future, but plenty of hurdles remain Publisher: The Plain Dealer Author: Robert Schoenberger | |
| DETROIT -- The head of BYD Co.'s export division took the stage today at the North American International Auto Show and explained matter-of-factly how China's fourth-largest car company would become No. 1 globally by 2025: by building and selling lots of electric cars. "Electric vehicles have become a mainstream solution for mobility," Henry Li said. Like BYD, plenty of other car companies are also gearing up for an electrified future. But while electric vehicles show a lot of promise, there's a long way to go before they become widely available, affordable, reliable and able to meet consumer expectations. "Until the battery technologies get to the point where batteries are affordable, full-speed electrics are going to be expensive," said Curt Westlake, U.S. marketing director for Korea's CT&T, a company that hopes to sell low-speed electric vehicles in this country by the end of the year. Some of the world's largest car companies are promising electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids for sale within the next year or two. Still, many of the models on display today during a press preview of the Detroit show, which opens to the public Saturday, were either extremely expensive, highly impractical or both. Take the Tango, from Commuter Cars of Spokane, Wash. The two-passenger car looks something like a Chevrolet Aveo after an encounter with a trash compactor. Company founder and president Rick Woodbury said the plan is for consumers to buy the $150,000 car in three parts from different vendors and assemble it themselves -- a way to get around federal safety rules for cars. "It only takes a few hours," Woodbury said. "It's really easy." Myers Motors of Tallmadge, which is not represented at the Detroit show, makes a three-wheeled, single-seat electric vehicle called the NmG, for "no more gas." It plans to have a two-seat model, the DUO -- an acronym for Doesn't Use Oil -- on sale late this year for less than $30,000. The highest-profile electric is General Motors' Chevrolet Volt, a vehicle the company has promised will be available late this year for about $40,000, after a $7,500 federal tax credit. "We are doing a tremendous amount of preparation for this launch," Chevrolet General Manager Jim Campbell said in an interview. The Volt will be capable of driving 40 miles on electric power. When the battery runs low, a small gasoline engine will run the car's electric drive system and recharge the batteries. GM plans to produce about 25,000 Volts per year starting in 2011. Other more mainstream electric vehicles planned include Toyota's plug-in hybrids and battery-powered cars for 2012, and Ford's promised battery-powered Focus by 2012. Ford this week said it would spend $450 million to make battery packs in Michigan, a move that could bring 1,000 jobs to the United States from Mexico. But GM, Ford and Toyota are planning small production runs and limited sales efforts on their electric vehicles. The overwhelming majority of cars coming out of those companies for the next several years will be traditional gasoline-powered cars and trucks, said Erich Merkle, president of consulting firm Autoconomy.com. "They're testing the market," Merkle said. "You've got to have your foot in the water and be prepared for market-changing shifts. But they're not getting ready to shift large portions of their production capacity." Merkle said in the near term, expensive electric cars will appeal to niche customers -- tech fans who want to latest gadgets possible, environmentally minded shoppers willing to pay a huge premium to avoid emissions and commercial customers looking for low-speed vehicles to perform specific tasks. Companies are targeting more mainstream buyers, but Merkle said the prices are still too high to attract legions of buyers. Tesla Motors, the company that makes the $101,500 Roadster sports car, today showed off the latest version of its Model S, a family car it hopes to sell next year. After tax credits, the seven-seat Model S should cost just under $50,000 for the base model, about double the cost of the larger, gasoline-powered Chevrolet Traverse, also a seven-seater. CT&T's Westlake said commercial buyers have already turned to electric vehicles for many uses, such as moving people and equipment across large college campuses and theme parks. He said he believes there is a consumer market for low-speed, inexpensive electric cars, but he acknowledged that other electric car companies have yet to sell similar vehicles in large numbers. Still, there's BYD, the company that believes it will become No. 1 in China by 2015, mostly by selling more plug-in hybrids and electric cars. Li said that company has begun working with consultants to redesign its cars for more-stringent U.S. safety requirements, and he believes the products will be on sale here late this year. "We will be in this market with electric vehicles," Li said. BYD made similar statements last year and in 2008. -END- | |
