From: Bobby Keeland
"Before the arrival of the Nissan Leaf in 2011, the battery electric-vehicle
(EV) market was almost non-existent. The Leaf and the Chevrolet Volt proved
to be a vanguard of what was to follow."
The Chevy Volt is a hybrid, albeit a plug-in hybrid. The Toyota Prius is
also a hybrid and it was introduced much earlier than the Volt, in 1997
(source of information Wikipedia). Was that not the true vanguard for the
later hybrids, plug-in hybrids and the true battery powered electric cars?
I agree. The article was poorly-researched and over-simplified, leading
to a number of false conclusions. The Prius came out much earlier, and
sold in much larger numbers than the Volt. Similarly, more Leafs have
been sold than Teslas. But the Volt and Tesla get a lot of press. A
reporter that only does 10 minutes of research and blindly believes the
company PR is going erroneously conclude that they are all that matter,
and everything else was "almost non-existent".
The problem is, you can't really say when a new technology "takes off".
There is always a continuous growth curve, spread over many decades.
Like compound interest, it just keeps growing at some percent, year
after year.
If you put $1 in the bank each week, starting as a kid, the money just
keep growing. At what point are you "rich"? That point varies depending
on who you talk to. Your little sister thinks you're rich when you have
$100. Your high school friends when you have $1000. Your dad when you
have $10,000. Your kids when you have $100,000. And you still don't feel
rich even at $1,000,000 when you retire, given the high cost of living.
It's the same with EVs. They've been growing for 50+ years! But the
casual reporter doesn't notice the Citicars, or Toyota RAV4-EVs, or any
other pioneers.
--
I look for what needs to be done. After all, that's how the universe
designs itself. -- R. Buckminster Fuller
--
Lee Hart, 814 8th Ave N, Sartell MN 56377, www.sunrise-ev.com
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