Mygreenwheels

Call me cynical, but if I was a betting man, I would say this is really just a PR puff riding on the back of Jan Olaf’s Business 2.0 article in the States last month. The thought of GM actually getting ready to engineer the Volt in time for a 2010 launch does not ring true given their current finances and the mountain of costly development work needed to put a volume production Volt on the road.

If you believe the media reports the Chevy EV will have a battery range of just 40 miles…in the Detroit winter too? In my book, a successful EV Plug-in needs s range of 80 to 120 miles. Get this and for urban use you have a workable unit. 40 miles is just too dodgy even on an island like Antigua.

Now if it’s true I will eat my sporran, and that will be good news, but the important point here is the realisation that an auto maker can go to market with one price for the car and another for the battery. This proposal opens the door to the financial leasing companies to develop a whole new business and then once the car owner is finished with his battery, they can be used by electric utility companies to balance out the peaks and troughs of the diurnal energy demand cycle.

Across the auto world there is still the recognition that battery safety is an issue and heat control on large lithium-ion units is a concern. You get one chance to get a car launch right and media frenzy as we saw recently regarding the Sony made “self lighting” batteries in- flight is not a thought I would wish on the EV world.

It’s enough that poor old Reva has had so much stick recently regarding quadracycle safety to cast a long shadow on the acceptance of EVs in London, so what we need is for GM, Ford, Think Global AS and others to adopt the good old fashioned Ford Product Planning mantra, “If you’re gonna do it, then you better get it right first time!” Funny how these auto-man sayings stick with you in life, but baby is it true.

Just let’s fantasise for a mo’. Just say Bob Lutz is talking to plan. This is good news for the EV world in general as it will spark an acceleration in competitive activity and the genie will be out in the wild EV-wise. “Let the Good Volt Roll!”