On Fri, 30 Aug 2002 08:16:40 -0700, josh <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: >http://biz.yahoo.com/rb/020830/autos_ford_think_2.html
>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. Was that $100 million the ford contribution to the USABC which developed the NIMH battery which is used in the hybrids? It sure was a waste of money because the NIMH batteries are produced by Panasonic which is violating the american patent and paying no royalties to the american company that invented the battery. This case is still in the courts. >Other automakers have also backed away from electric vehicles due to their low >range and long recharging times. Anyone who tries to market a 50 mile range auto is doomed to failure in the marketplace. Joe sixpack just will not purchase such an auto. GM, which produced a magnificent EV with a 125 mile range, killed the EV-1 because they could never make a profit because of the cost of the NIMH battery pack which was around $35,000. They attempted to put a lead-acid pack in the auto but the reports are it only had a life of about 3 years. Try telling joesixpack that he would have the expense of replacing his pack every 3 or 4 years. Toyota is the only one left with an EV and the price is $42,000 mainly because of the price of the NIMH pack which is around $30,000. You can't expect them to continue producing these and take a loss on each auto sold. As you can see from the above, "ITS THE BATTERIES STUPID". Toyota started selling the Prius hybrid with an NIMH pack in 1997 and was selling them at a loss because of the $5000 price of the battery pack. With increased production due to demand Toyota is now turning a profit on the Prius and the reported price of the pack has come down to around $3000. The only path to the pure EV is thru the hybrid. Instead of knocking Joesixpack for not wanting a 50 mile range auto the effort should be put into promoting the plug-in hybrid with a larger NIMH battery. Only when the price of the battery pack comes down with mass production will the pure EV be viable.
