First GM and now, the 'blue oval'. I my view, EVs could make good public carriers. Instead of personal transportation, they could be used for public transportation. I have been thinking of trying to attract investors for an EV venture, and am sure I'll find a few, for such a venture here in India.
If someone could clarify my doubt......while GM and Ford are moving away from EVs, there are a lot of small investors working on electric passenger cars (Reva being one of them). What would be their fate??? These small companies, most definitely, will not have the funds to invest on HEVs and FCVs. Wish I could take over a plant like that..........!!! Prasad http://www.geocities.com/aquariangenius http://home.talkcity.com/earthteam2000/aquariangenius ____________________________________________________________________________ ----- Original Message ----- From: "Dave Goldstein" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Cc: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Friday, August 30, 2002 11:44 PM Subject: Re: No more Ford Th!nk EV - The Clues Were There All Along [Long] > > On Fri, 30 Aug 2002 08:16:40 -0700 josh <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: > > http://biz.yahoo.com/rb/020830/autos_ford_think_2.html > > > > Reuters Business Report > > Ford Ending Investment in Electric Car > > Friday August 30, 9:49 am ET > > > > DETROIT (Reuters) - Ford Motor Co. (NYSE:F - News) on Friday > > said it was pulling the plug on its Think electric vehicle division > > due to poor customer demand and lack of government support > > for the environmentally friendly cars. > > > > Ford, which bought Norway-based Think in 1999 for $23 million > > and invested $100 million in electric vehicle battery technology, > > will instead focus on developing fuel cell and hybrid gasoline- > > electric vehicles to meet environmental regulations for cars and > > trucks, spokesman Tim Holmes told Reuters. > > > > "The bottom line is we don't believe that this is the future of > > environmental transport for the mass market," Holmes said . . . . > > -- > > Dear Josh, > > Holy Cow! And yet, I am not entirely > surprised, either. Last Xmas, we happened > to be visiting La Jolla, and on the way up the > coast to visit relatives in LA, we stopped off > in Carlsbad just to see what the TH!NK facility > looked like. > > The rather ordinary-looking two-story silver > office building with a "TH!NK" sign on the > second floor seemed strangely out of place > in an office park and was, of course, deserted > for the holidays. But what struck me was a > big "For Lease" sign in front of the building, > listing a real estate management company. > I don't recall how many square feet they > were advertising, but it appeared to be the > entire building. > > I sent a note to Bill Moore at EV World > the next day, suggesting that there might > be a story there. Bill called John Wallace, > head of TH!NK, who denied that there were > any problems or reductions in the TH!NK > program and gave the excuse that they were > just "subletting" some unused space on the > 2nd floor, or something like that. It did not > sit right with me, because the amount of > space offered was quite large and seemed > to me to represent the entire building. (Why > did Ford lease all that space to begin with?) > > During that trip I happened to visit a > Ford dealership in LA where a friend of > mine was having his TH!NK City in for > maintenance after his mileage dropped > and he got warning messages on the > dash at about 2700 miles on the odo. > > There were *4 technicians* working > on the car when we got there, including > two factory reps (one of whom I recog- > nized,) and they were having a HELL of > a time figuring out what was wrong with > the car. This, despite the fact that they > were using a custom "OBD-2" type > diagnostic tool designed just for the > TH!NK. > > To make a long story short, I discovered > that there had been *lots* of problems with > the NiCad Euro TH!NKs, possibly related > to the Battery Management System, and > that even in the best of circumstances, > these cars required the battery equivalent > of a major oil change and tune up every > 3,000 miles! (Batteries flushed, refilled > with deionized tap water and run through > a lengthy charge-discharge procedure > that could take up to 2 days.) > > My friend, Dennis' TH!NK was kept in the > Ford shop for *3 weeks*, during which he > was NOT given a loaner. They finally "fixed" > it by borrowing a battery pack from another > TH!NK. > > We knew the long-anticipated "US version" > of the City was supposed to have a different > battery type -- speculation centering on sealed > PbA (Lead-Acid) -- but the factory techs refused > to answer any questions about this. (Not a good > sign, in retrospect.) I also knew that the City's > steel chassis was fairly heavy compared to the > Toyota ecom or Nissan Hypermini (which use > NiMH and Lithium-Ion respectively as well as > aluminum and other light weight chassis and > body materials) and that a PbA pack would > represent added weight, reduced range and > performance, and poorer ride quality (which > was never a strong suite for the TH!NK to > begin with!) > > Recent announcements of delays in production > due to "battery related problems" seemed to > confirm my suspicions. And now this. > > The real question that this begs is, "Will CARB > ever get tough with these auto manufacturers and > start handing out fines for noncompliance, or is > CARB only a *paper tiger*?" Ford is now betting > with GM and DaimlerChrysler -- who are doing their > worst to make a bonfire of the ZEV regulations in > the court system -- that Sacramento is a town built > out of *paper mache*, and that sooner or later this > will all go up in smoke. > > Regards, > > Dave Goldstein > President, EVA/DC and > Program Development Associates > Gaithersburg, MD 20879 > > -- >
