On 25 Sep 2002 at 6:21, damon henry wrote: > If the auto > industry wanted to create a "green market" they could, then they could design > and sale many EV's.
Sure they could. They have the financial resources to absorb the costs of making EVs sell. In fact GM claimed in the early days of the EV1 that they were determined to make EVs a business -- and one might speculate that they probably were, at least within the EV unit. Top management appeared to support that goal when Robert Stempel was chairman. Alas, once Jack Smith came in, whatever support there was for the EV1 began to collapse. In general the automakers are highly averse to risk, and making EVs a viable business would require time. The commercial culture of the US (cutthroat competition for sales and the enormous immediate profits that stockholders demand) encourages and rewards strategies that maximize short-term profit rather than long-term profitability and sustainability. Risk-taking is sometimes easier for a privately held company. It's easier still when public funds cushion the risk -- providing that (1) there's a reasonable expectation that the public funds will continue until the new business is viable; and (2) the company actually ~wants~ to develop the new business or product and not just feed at the taxpayers' teats for a while. The commercial culture and government design in the US doesn't do much to insure that both of these are true -- consider the DOE's now-dead 80 mpg "supercar" project as an example. I've written before that there are four elements which have to be in place before EVs will be accepted in a particular nation: 1. Adequate economic advantage for EVs (expensive fuel) 2. An activist government (incentives for manufacturers and users) 3. An educated, environmentally aware population (uncompromised media) 4. Full cooperation from vehicle producers (they really want to) In short, you have to legislate them. Sorry, libertarians and conservatives, but short of a shattering crisis (and maybe not even then), the US lassez-faire economic model is very unlikely to encourage the development of EVs. For the foreseeable future, one-off conversion will continue to be the most practical way to obtain an EV for personal use. = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = Want to unsubscribe, stop the EV list mail while you're on vacation, or switch to digest mode? See http://www.evdl.org/help/ = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = David Roden - Akron, Ohio, USA 1991 Solectria Force 144vac 1991 Ford Escort Green/EV 128vdc 1970 GE Elec-trak E15 36vdc 1974 Avco New Idea rider 36vdc = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = Thou shalt not send me any thing which says unto thee, "send this to all thou knowest." Neither shalt thou send me any spam, lest I smite thee. = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
