1. Attachments are working again! Check out this thread for more details and to report any other bugs.

Electric cars to dominate green car race

Discussion in 'Prius, Hybrid, EV and Alt-Fuel News' started by zenMachine, Oct 8, 2008.

  1. zenMachine

    zenMachine Just another Onionhead

    Joined:
    Mar 3, 2007
    3,355
    300
    0
    Location:
    Texas
    Vehicle:
    2007 Prius
    "The automobile manufacturers are not going to be able to afford to keep investing in all these different technologies," he said. "You see the long-term R&D effort focused on the electric car. People talk about fuel cells, but I don't really see the kind of energy and effort around that that I see around the electric power train."

    ... About 90 percent of Power Solutions' research and development spending is going toward lithium-ion batteries, Molinaroli said. Those are lighter, smaller and longer-lasting than the nickel-metal hydride batteries that power the current generation of hybrids, including the Prius.

    ... Despite its focus on hybrid growth in the world's biggest auto markets, Molinaroli said electric car growth could be faster in China, where electric vehicles akin to golf carts will replace transportation such as bicycles and scooters rather than SUVs...

    Electric cars to dominate green car race | Industry Summits | Reuters
     
    #1 zenMachine, Oct 8, 2008
  2. drees

    drees Senior Member

    Joined:
    Oct 31, 2007
    1,782
    247
    0
    Location:
    San Diego, CA
    Vehicle:
    2008 Prius
    Well, to me, it's a no-brainer.

    Electric cars are much more efficient than fuel cells, where fuel cell cars won't be signifcantly more efficient than today's hybrids. Short term and long term, electric cars show a lot more promise than fuel cell cars, so any smart company is going to focus on what will bring in the most revenue in the near and not-so-near future, instead of focusing on a technology which will likely not be mainstream viable for at least 20-30 years.

    Don't forget that fuel cell cars are basically electric cars with an additional fuel-cell. They all have lithium batteries in them, so any improvements made to electric cars will also improve fuel-cell vehicles, too.
     
    #2 drees, Oct 8, 2008
  3. miscrms

    miscrms Plug Envious Member

    Joined:
    Aug 21, 2007
    2,076
    523
    5
    Location:
    Phoenix, AZ
    Vehicle:
    2005 Prius
    Agreed. Its the one clear strategy to doing something about the problem now. There's nothing to invent, no real infrastructure to create, we just need to build them in volume to get cost down and we can start taking a big chunk out of our oil consumption today. I always got a kick out of the BTU efficiency report that said a 2005 FCV was about 25% less efficient than a 2005 HEV (Prius). They were estimating that a 2030 FCV could be 25% more efficient than a 2005 prius. LOL! Meanwhile, if you do the numbers a 1990s EV was already ~75% more efficient. Sounds like poeple are finally coming to their senses.

    Rob
     
    #3 miscrms, Oct 8, 2008
(You must log in or sign up to post here.)