Chevy Volt a Failure - GM to Layoff 1,300

Keep dreaming.

 

Interesting idea here about computers and electric cars going forward.

www.slate.com/blogs/moneybox/2013/02/15/autonomous_cars_and_electric_vehicles_a_match_made_in_heaven.html

I also wonder if maybe we haven't buried the lede on some of these Tesla stories: that their Supercharger stations can completely refill an 85kW battery in an hour. That may turn out to be the company's most profitable longterm contribution to EVs.

 

I dreamed of getting an Iphone when they first came out. Then a few years later Verizon was giving me one when I renewed my account.

I loved the Tivo technology when I first saw it, now it comes with cable subscriptions.

Technology gets cheaper, not more expensive. This is technology.

 

http://nwpr.org/post/future-energy-storage-electric-cars-batteries

The company that can produce a better car battery will be very, very rich. It will happen. Just a matter of time.

 

Who said they did?

 

A quick-charge technology - like the Supercharger - made applicable to all EVs solves the chicken/egg problem of low EV sales due to extended recharge times - and extended recharge times due to low sales.

Using a Tesla style supercharger, you might fully recharge a Nissan Leaf in half an hour.

www.technologyreview.com/news/429283/will-fast-charging-make-electric-vehicles-practical/

"The charging capacity of DC fast chargers varies. Some only deliver 20 kilowatts, but some experimental chargers deliver well over 100 kilowatts (in comparison, most 240-volt outlets will deliver 3.3 kilowatts). A 50-kilowatt charger would be more than enough to charge a Nissan Leaf to 80 percent capacity within half an hour (it has a 24-kilowatt-hour battery pack and less than 100-mile range). Charging times will vary widely depending on the temperature outside for the Leaf, but less so for other cars that have better battery cooling systems (see “Are Air-Cooled Batteries Hurting Nissan Leaf Range?”). But the standards for DC fast chargers are evolving—not all electric vehicles have fast-charging outlets (GM’s Volt doesn’t have one, for example), and adapters may be required for those that do. Only a couple of hundred have been installed so far in the United States."

Which was my original point. If someone figures out how to make a viable fast charge solution applicable to all EVs, it would spur EV sales. And create a further market for recharging infrastructure.

 

You don't think there's a business model serving commuter cars in US urban centers?

I do.

In fact, I'd do the opposite of what Tesla has done. I'd get out of the car business all together. And rather than install my Fast-Az superchargers out along the highway to prove that one day long distance road trips will be possible in my supercar EVs, I'd build recharging stations in urban and suburban settings right now to attract early adopters of cars like the Leaf and the Volt and the Prius plug-in. I'd do this in partnership with all the car manufacturers, who'd help fund my endeavor because it's a huge chicken/egg sales tool for them.

 

Quick back of napkin # , how much would you charge for a recharge? Lets assume that it takes an hour for full recharge. Seems like $25 per hour would be about right from the market without accounting for what the electricity actually costs. Say that you had 5 charging stations at an investment of $500,000.
5 cars an hour would generate $125 per. It would take 20 hours to charge 100 cars and bring in $2500. You would also have to factor in cost of your land. In the Northeast in desirable locations this cost would be fairly high.