Will Masses embrace Electric Cars despite High Prices?

USA Today

The biggest automotive revolution since horseless carriages first rumbled along rutted roads is about to take place — and you'll have to strain to hear it.

That's because the first mainstream electric cars in nearly a century will be hitting the streets over the next couple of months, and their electric motors are as eerily quiet as they are tailpipe emission free.

Automakers such as Nissan and Chevrolet are touting the new vehicles in splashy ads, but already there are signs that wary mainstream consumers won't be quick to embrace the largely untested electric models. Automakers likely will have no trouble selling out their initial, limited production to electric enthusiasts and early adopters who have to have the latest thing, but mass acceptance that would lead to profitable production in big numbers remains a question.

The government and the auto industry are promoting electrictransportation as a way to cut U.S. dependence on foreign oil, ease the need for more U.S. oil drilling and cut carbon dioxide in the air. But the technology remains a colossal gamble, with billions invested by the industry and billions in subsidies from the government for research, factories and a direct-to-consumer rebate of $7,500 to partially offset the higher price of electrics.

Buyers still have to be convinced that being Earth-friendly is worth several trade-offs — beyond the cars' sticker prices, which can be double the cost of a similarly sized conventional car. Most prominently, most electric cars for now will have a range of about 100 miles before they need to be recharged. That process can take as few as 30 minutes with special chargers, but in most situations will take up to eight hours.

Even if you haven't paid attention to electric cars, you soon won't be able to escape hearing about them. Nissan has started its ad campaign for the fully electric Leaf. Chevrolet is about to crank up promotion for the Volt, a plug-in electric that also has an onboard generator powered by an auxiliary gas engine. Electric advocacy groups, such as Plug In America, plan their own public education campaigns.

President Obama has set a goal of a million plug-in electric vehicles on U.S. roads by 2015, though that rollout pales compared with the more than 11 million conventional vehicles that will be sold this year alone. Even with all the subsidies, promotion and consumer education efforts, only 0.6% of cars sold in the U.S. in 2020 will be fully electric, predicts auto researcher J.D. Power and Associates. And only 9.6% will be hybrids — with or without a plug-in recharging cord.

"Barring significant changes to public policy, including tax incentives and higher fuel-economy standards, we don't anticipate a mass migration to green vehicles in the coming decade," says John Humphrey, a senior vice president for J.D. Power.

Some reasons why:

•Lack of public charging stations. All-electric cars need to be plugged in to recharge and can't always be at home, but so far there aren't many public charging stations. Supported by federal grants from the Energy Department, two companies alone are installing more than 20,000 private and public charging stations in select metro areas in Oregon, Washington, California, New Mexico, Texas, Tennessee, Michigan, Florida and the District of Columbia.

•Home chargers require garage upgrades. An electric car such as the Leaf can be charged from a standard 110- or 120-volt home wall socket, but it will take at least 20 hours to get a full charge. So most electric car buyers will want to install 220- or 240-volt chargers to cut that to an overnight six to eight hours, which can cost $1,200 or more, though a federal subsidy is available. Many urban apartment dwellers or others without home garages may be hard-pressed to find a place to install a charging station that would make electric cars practical for them.

•Stable gas prices. Average prices for regular gasoline have been fairly stable and haven't exceeded $3 a gallon in two years, undercutting one of the key economic incentives for buying an electric car.

•Sticker shock. The first electric cars are going to go on sale at a time of economic malaise that has cut consumers' willingness to splurge on pricey new cars. Electric cars' high-tech, powerful electronics and compact lithium-ion batteries are expensive. At $41,000, the Chevrolet Volt is about the same size — and shares components with — the new Chevy Cruze gas-engine compact that starts at $16,995. Less-established makers may have to charge even more. Coda, a Santa Monica, Calif., start-up maker has priced its 120-mile-range, compact all-electric car at $44,900.

The prices can be partly offset by federal tax incentives for buying an electric car — for buyers whose income qualifies — which essentially knocks up to $7,500 off the cost. Some states, including California, also offer tax breaks for some buyers.

But that might not be enough to persuade average car buyers to pay more. Nearly two-thirds of U.S. consumers in an online survey by Nielsen said they don't want to pay more for an electric car than they would for a similar gasoline-powered vehicle.

•Unknowns. While gas-electric hybrids have been on the road for about a decade, all-electric cars and plug-ins use complex new hardware and software and much more powerful lithium-ion batteries. As with any new technology — or any new car model of any kind — long-term reliability, cost, performance and resale value can be projected but remain unknown. Consumers tend to be conservative — regardless of automaker promises or warranties — with such a long-term purchase, typically the second-biggest they make.

•Range anxiety. For all-electrics cars, the estimated range before it needs a recharge is an average that varies with weather extremes, traffic conditions and driving style. And while the typical U.S. commute — 40 miles or fewer — should be no problem with current battery technology, longer or unexpected trips can raise "will I get there and back" worry. That concern, and the unsuitability for longer travel, limits the market for an electric-only car that wouldn't meet all vehicle needs.

Buyers 'need convincing'

Given that backdrop, automotive executives and analysts are thrilled that early adopters have shown as much interest as they have in electric cars.

Nissan hit its target of 20,000 potential buyers who have plunked down a $99 deposit for its fully electric $32,780 Leaf, which starts deliveries next month. They are expected to claim all of the automaker's production during its first fiscal year. On a smaller scale, BMW found enough affluent, curious drivers to lease 450 Mini E electric cars in a test on both coasts that started last year.

The challenge will come after early-adopter demand is met. Even though General Motors and others rolled out primitive electric cars in the 1990s — remember The Jetsons-esque Saturn EV-1? — many people profess not to know much about the new generation. Only 58% of those surveyed by GfK Custom Research North America said they know about electric cars and potential benefits. Typical motorists may focus on electric vehicles' shortcomings instead.

"When I talk to people, neighbors and friends, they need a little more convincing," says Rich Steinberg, manager of electric vehicle operations for BMW North America. It "comes back to range anxiety: 'Why would I want a car that would go (only) 100 miles?' "

General Motors is pursuing those gun-shy consumers. Its Chevrolet Volt, also due to begin deliveries next month, differs from other electrics with its onboard generating capacity. The car is a plug-in that can run up to 50 miles on electric power alone with a full charge in its batteries. But unlike its pure electric rivals, Volt has an auxiliary gas engine to generate power for the electric motor so you can keep driving like a conventional car. That's different than today's hybrids, which have limited electric power-only capability and in which the gas engine drives the wheels in combination with the electric motor.

But automakers already are showing there is also a market for pure electrics. Tesla, a start-up based in California's Silicon Valley, has sold about 1,300 of its $109,000 roadsters since they went on sale in 2008. A four-door sedan — cheaper but still premium at about $50,000 — is planned in 2012.

Beyond Leaf and Volt, Ford Motor will have an electric version of its compact Transit Connect van, primarily for commercial use, on sale next month. It will have a range of 80 miles. In 2011, Ford plans an electric version of its Focus compact car.

Toyota has teamed with Tesla to develop and sell an electric version of Toyota's RAV4 crossover in the U.S. in 2012. Chrysler is planning an electric version of the Fiat 500 minicar. Mitsubishi expects to sell its small i-MiEV electric sedan next year.

And new companies and importers — including Fisker, Wheego and Detroit Electric — also have electric vehicles on the way.

The Obama administration has proposed to require that the fuel efficiency of new vehicles rise to an average of 47 to 62 miles per gallon by 2025. The proposal comes only a year after it set federal gas mileage rules that raise the 27.5 mpg average required now to a 35.5 mpg average by 2016.While progress to the 2016 standard can be achieved mostly with smaller, lighter vehicles and smaller, higher-tech engines, hitting the higher numbers would force automakers to turn to electricity.

In the past, automakers had to be dragged "kicking and screaming into building electric cars," says Roland Hwang, transportation program director for the Natural Resources Defense Council, an environmental advocacy group. "Now it's a matter of survival for them."

Baby steps

To get potential customers used to the idea of electric cars, Nissan has launched a 23-city tour to familiarize consumers with the Leaf and to offer test drives.

In Los Angeles, teacher Valarie Payne and lawyer Anton Labrentz were enthusiastic after a spin around the shopping plaza in tony Century City. They are the type of young, affluent urbanites Nissan is targeting with the car. "I was very impressed," says Payne, 28. "It's very cute."

But they say they don't know how they would install a charging unit in the garage of their townhouse. And Labrentz, 31, who drives a BMW, says, "I don't have room for a second car."

Web entrepreneur Ben Goldfarb, by contrast, has a Leaf on order and plans to use it for his 30-mile round-trip commute. He will keep his Lexus for long trips.

Worries? "Being an early adopter, you take some risks," says Goldfarb, 51.

"But the pushback is after (the early adopters), the next group of consumers," says Craig Giffi, U.S. auto practice leader for consultant Deloitte. "You are going to be in that gray zone for a number of years where ... cost (of the vehicle) and relatively short ranges are going to keep people at a distance."

Automakers aren't discouraged. Think, a Finnish electric car company that plans to assemble vehicles for the U.S. in Elkhart, Ind., says there is room for many competitors.

All are feeling their way, though, says Michael Lock, Think's marketing executive for the U.S., "This is the embryonic stage of this industry."

First Buyers of Nissan Leaf Get a Trunkful of Perks

NY Times

Tax credits, rebate checks, personalized home visits, government giveaways — even customer service calls from top corporate executives.

The first all-electric car from a major auto company, the Nissan Leaf, arrives at dealerships in December, but thousands of Americans are already learning that going electric can come with perks like no other car purchase.

“It just keeps getting better and better,” said Justin McNaughton, among the 20,000 people who have reserved a Leaf. “My wife thinks it’s funny because at the end of the day, we’re just buying a car.”

Since Mr. McNaughton, a lawyer in Nashville, paid his $99 deposit, he has been bombarded with government incentives — promises of a $7,500 federal tax credit, a $2,500 cash rebate from the state of Tennessee, and a $3,000 home-charging unit courtesy of the Energy Department.

When he had questions about the Leaf, the answers came in a 40-minute telephone call from a senior manager in Nissan’s corporate planning department.

“You kind of feel like you’re one of the chosen people,” Mr. McNaughton said.

Precisely. It is all part of an unprecedented effort by federal, state and local governments to stimulate demand for cars that have zero tailpipe emissions — and Nissan’s pre-emptive bid to corner the all-electric market much the way that Toyota dominated the early hybrid market with the Prius.

The government subsidies are shaving thousands of dollars off the Leaf’s $32,780 sticker price, while other benefits are piling up, like free parking in some cities and the use of express lanes on highways usually reserved for cars with multiple passengers.

In Tennessee, where a Leaf assembly plant is being built, Leaf drivers will be able to charge their vehicles free at public charging stations on 425 miles of freeways that connect Nashville, Knoxville and Chattanooga.

“It’s almost shocking how many subsidies are available on the Leaf,” said Jeremy P. Anwyl, chief executive of the auto research Web site Edmunds.com. “We are putting a lot of money behind this technology.”

Nissan expects the typical Leaf buyer to fit a highly desirable demographic: affluent, college-educated consumers in their mid-40s who are both environmentally sensitive and willing to take a chance that electric technology will be as safe and reliable as internal combustion engines.

Better still, about 85 percent of the people who have reserved a Leaf do not currently own a Nissan, giving the brand exposure to a new audience. Interest in the car has been so great that the company has stopped taking reservations for the initial production run — the Leaf is being built in Japan, with assembly at the new plant in Tennessee beginning in 2012 — but Nissan has plans to sell as many as 500,000 electric cars worldwide by 2013.

The Obama administration has made electric vehicles a centerpiece of its drive to reduce the nation’s reliance on oil, and is pumping up subsidies with a goal of getting a million electric cars on the road by 2015. Proponents of electric cars also point to their zero tailpipe emissions, though the electricity to charge the cars creates emissions.

So far the only electric cars available in the United States are made by small companies, like Tesla Motors, and are prohibitively expensive for most buyers (the Tesla Roadster is priced at over $100,000). Other automakers are in various stages of introducing electric vehicles to the market, and General Motors is preparing to bring out the Chevrolet Volt, a $41,000 model that runs on electricity but is not all-electric because it has a gas engine to extend its driving range.

So for now, at least, the Leaf, which Nissan claims can travel 100 miles on a single battery charge, has the stage pretty much to itself. So Nissan is dedicating extensive resources to the introduction and is taking consumer outreach to new lengths.

The company has studied potential buyers in focus groups, on Internet dialogues and at Leaf “tour stops” at shopping malls across the country. Nissan has even hired a firm to make “home visits” to prospective buyers to make sure their garages are properly equipped for charging the vehicle and to answer other questions.

“These people are the visionaries who see the opportunity and want to be a part of it,” Trisha Jung, chief marketing manager for the Leaf, said of the customers who had reserved a Leaf. “They will be demonstrating every day that this is a practical technology.”

Mr. McNaughton, the Nashville lawyer, said he was unaware that he had even applied for a free 240-volt charging station for his home. But by filling out a questionnaire, he was selected to be one of 5,700 new Leaf owners to get the charging unit. In exchange, he agreed to let the EV Project — a $230 million national program financed by various government agencies, utilities and corporations — monitor his battery-charging habits.

A 240-volt home charging unit can give the vehicle a full charge in about eight hours, Nissan says.

Ken Muir, an engineer in San Jose, Calif., had a similar surprise when he first saw the Leaf at a mall last year. After mentioning his interest to a Nissan employee, he was contacted by the head of Nissan’s West Coast communications team, who arranged for Mr. Muir to get a personal test drive.

After putting down his $99 deposit, Mr. Muir met for an hour in his home with a technician from Nissan’s supplier of charging stations. “It’s been really amazing to get this amount of personal attention from a huge car company like Nissan,” he said.

He is also a bit giddy about the level of financial support he will get — the $7,500 federal tax credit as well as a $5,000 credit from the state of California, and another $2,000 federal credit toward the purchase of a charging unit.

“I’ve wanted an electric car for 10 years, but I never expected it to make this much economic sense to get one,” Mr. Muir said.

The car itself will keep Nissan connected to its customers long after they drive it off the lot. A communication module installed in the Leaf’s lithium-ion battery will send data to Nissan that monitors the condition of the battery and how it is being used. “It’s not a ‘Big Brother’ thing,” said Mark Perry, head of North American product planning for Nissan. If Nissan sees that a battery cell “has behaved outside the norm, we want to call you or e-mail you and say, ‘Come on in and let’s check it out.’ ”

The first Leafs go on sale in December in five states — California, Oregon, Washington, Arizona and Tennessee, all of which are places where the EV Project is building charging stations.

Task Force: Michigan Ready for Plug-In Vehicles

The Detroit News

Members of the Michigan Plug-in Electric Vehicle Preparedness Task Force said today that Michigan is ready for the first plug-ins to roll off assembly lines this fall.

Members of the task force, which formed earlier this year and includes representatives from the automakers, state, utilities, nonprofits and environmental groups, as well as electrical inspectors and contractors, said that work jointly accomplished behind the scenes should make it easy for Michigan residents to drive and charge their plug-ins.

Special plug-in charging rates have been set for Consumers Energy and Detroit Edison customers, and there are utility incentive programs to help defray the cost of a charging station and installation.

Automakers also are helping with charging stations. Ford Motor Co., for example, will provide free home charging stations and installation for the first 5,000 customers who buy the plug-in Ford Transit Connect, said Charles Gray, chief engineer of hybrid programs for Ford.

At the state level, the House of Representatives is considering a bill that would provide those who pay the Michigan Business Tax and install a public charging station a MBT credit of up to 30 percent of the cost and installation.

And modifications to the state building code to allow home charging stations to be installed on a separately metered circuit are before the Joint Committee on Administrative Rules, said Michigan Public Service Commission Chairman Orjiakor Isiogu.

"The goal is to have the code amended and effective before (plug-ins are) commercially available," he said.

Toyota and Tesla's first Electric Car: a RAV4 EV

USA Today

Ever since Toyota signed a deal with Tesla Motors to jointly develop an electric car, speculation has run rampant about what the first collaboration will be. A Yaris subcompact? A version of the Tesla roadster?

Well, get ready to be underwhelmed. The pair's initial effort will be an all-electric drivetrain version of the RAV4, which will debut at the 2010 Los Angeles Auto Show in November. Toyota announced the move yesterday via Twitter. Why underwhelmed? Because by hauling around all the weight of an SUV, it's hard to imagine will a RAV4 electric vehicle will have much in the way of range or performance. But, hey, surprise us.

At least a new RAV4 EV will have nostalgia value. A bunch of the old electric RAV4s from Toyota's initial step into the electric-car world in the 1990s are still driving around in Southern California. Unlike General Motors, Toyota never scrapped its EV fleet, a move much appreciated by EV advocates. Now a new electric RAV4 is on the way.

The company also said it could have another two hybrids in the U.S. market by 2012, and plans to have six hybrid vehicles in its global lineup by that time.
The automaker is also plans on going head-to-head with General Motor's Chevy Volt by adding a plug-in version of the Toyota Prius that will be priced $13,000 below the Volt.

Toyota expects to sell the plug-in version, which can go 13 miles on battery alone, by June 2012. The Volt will be priced at $41,000, minus government rebates, and the all-electric Nissan Leaf will go for about $32,000.

Big Price Drop Coming for Electric Car Batteries? Prez says Yes.

Reuters

HOLLAND, Michigan - The cost of the high-powered batteries needed for a coming wave of electric cars is projected to drop by as much as 70 percent over the next five years, according to a U.S. government forecast.

The forecast was released as President Barack Obama attended a groundbreaking ceremony for a battery plant being built in Holland, Michigan by a U.S. unit of South Korea's LG Chem(051910.KS) and funded by the U.S. Department of Energy.

The Obama administration has provided more than $5 billion in grants and low-cost loans to battery manufacturers and auto companies to support projects intended to spur the development and sale of rechargeable electric cars and plug-in hybrids.

But the high cost of the lithium-ion batteries to power those vehicles has been seen as one of the biggest barriers to their widespread adoption.

The U.S. government had never set a target for the kinds of cost reductions it expected to see in the fast-developing industry it is attempting to jump-start with taxpayer funding.

"Because of advances in the manufacture of these batteries, their costs are expected to come down by nearly 70 percent in the next few years. That's going to make electric and hybrid cars and trucks more affordable for more Americans," Obama told an audience of politicians, business leaders and representatives of the 300 workers building the new plant.

The battery price declines projected by the Obama administration, which has set a target of putting 1 million plug-in hybrids on the road by 2015, run deeper and faster than most forecasts by outside analysts.

LG Chem Chief Executive Bahnsuk Kim told Reuters his company sees a 50 percent drop in battery prices by 2015, and he expected that would be enough to drive increased demand.

"In the next five years we see the prices in half. Our target is half," Kim said on the sidelines of the Holland, Michigan event.

In the terms tracked by the emerging electric vehicle industry, the Department of Energy said it expected battery costs per kilowatt hour to drop from about $1,000 in 2009 to $300 in 2015 and $100 in 2030.

Major U.S. automakers have set a long-term target of reducing costs on that basis to near $250, a price that would be in line with the cost to produce batteries for laptops and cell phones.

The lithium-ion battery that powers Tesla Motors Inc's (TSLA.O) $109,000 Roadster cost more than $33,000, according to the Department of Energy report.

The smaller battery LG Chem is supplying for the upcoming Chevrolet Volt from General Motors [GM.UL] cost $13,000 last year but will drop to $4,000 by 2015, the report said.

Both GM and Tesla have received Energy Department funding.

LG Chem's Compact Power unit has won deals to supply batteries for the Chevy Volt and the upcoming all-electric version of the Ford Motor Co (F.N) Focus.

It said that it had also been selected to supply batteries for hybrid systems which Eaton Corp (ETN.N) is developing for commercial trucks and buses.

Compact Power's Holland plant will have the capacity to supply batteries for up to 250,000 electric vehicles once completed and will employ 400 workers, the company said.

LG Chem and the U.S. Department of Energy split the costs of building the $303 million plant. The Korean chemical and battery maker invested $151.5 million and $151.4 million came from a U.S. government grant.

White House economists estimate that the United States accounted for 2 percent of global production of batteries for electric cars and hybrids in 2009. That share is expected to rise to 40 percent of global production by 2015.

Tesla Motors Shares up 40% after Initial IPO

USA Today

DETROIT — In what may be a 1990s-like blip of irrational exuberance, investors sent shares of unprofitable electric-car maker Tesla Motors soaring more than 40% Tuesday even as the overall stock market fell sharply.

Shares were issued at $17 for the initial public offering and quickly rose to about $19 when trading opened. By midafternoon, the price started climbing again to close at $23.89.

"It says a lot about opening-day speculation and hysteria," says John O'Dell, senior editor for Edmunds' Green Car Advisor blog. "It doesn't say a lot about Tesla. And I'm not sure it says a whole lot about the collective wisdom of the market."

The company raised $188.8 million, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, after IPO expenses. The original stockholders — folks allowed to buy shares before they hit the Nasdaq market Tuesday — earned $22.5 million.

There is much skepticism that Tesla can be an automaker. In two years, the company has sold just 1,000 two-seat, high-performance Tesla Roadsters, which start at more than $100,000. It has just one prototype of its Model S sedan, aimed to be more mainstream at about half that price. The Model S is planned to go on sale in 2012, an ambitious timeline even for established automakers, let alone a maker of cars that run on batteries.

Tesla hasn't made money in its seven years in business and has just 12 dealerships nationwide.

CEO Elon Musk told CNBC Tuesday that if the company weren't trying to expand and weren't investing in the Model S sedan, it would be profitable selling the Roadster.

"People need to appreciate that if we were just making the Roadster, we'd be profitable," Musk said. "But we're in massive expansion mode.

"I think people at this point ought to be a little more optimistic about the future of Tesla," he said. "We've confounded the critics at every turn. At a certain point, people have to get tired of being wrong."

The U.S. government is betting that Tesla will beat the odds: It awarded the automaker a $465 million loan to help develop the roadster.

"It remains to be seen if American car buyers will be interested in a sedan with a claimed range of just 160 miles in an environment where car battery-charging is still a lengthy process and battery-charging infrastructure is very limited at best," says Jack Nerad, executive editorial director and executive market analyst at Kelley Blue Book's kbb.com. "Tesla Motors should get high marks for its progress so far, but the future still represents a steep uphill climb."

Ford, Edison and the Cheap EV That Almost Was

WIRED

 

That Henry Ford and Thomas Edison were good friends late in their lives is well-known. They camped together, presented each other with lavish gifts, even owned homes adjacent to each other.

Many Ford enthusiasts also know Ford, when he first drove his Quadricycle on the streets of Detroit in 1896, worked for Edison at Detroit Edison Illuminating Company. And historians know Edison, when introduced to Ford some months later and shown Ford’s plans for a gasoline automobile, encouraged the budding industrialist to pursue those plans.

What is far less known is Edison and Ford worked together on an affordable electric vehicle.

This is the story of what happened and why the car never came to be.

At about the time Ford Motor Co. was founded in 1903, Edison had made inroads with battery technology and started offering nickel-iron batteries for several uses, including automobiles. Later that year, he announced plans to convert four large touring cars to electric power (using his own batteries, of course), a plan that reeks of a publicity stunt to sell batteries but was enough to get him listed in the Standard Catalog. And though he prodded Ford into producing gasoline cars, he was soon denouncing them:

    Electricity is the thing. There are no whirring and grinding gears with their numerous levers to confuse. There is not that almost terrifying uncertain throb and whirr of the powerful combustion engine. There is no water-circulating system to get out of order — no dangerous and evil-smelling gasoline and no noise.

Ford, however, still high on Edison’s encouragement, not only left Detroit Edison and rigorously pursued the gasoline-powered car, he ordered the development of a flywheel magneto system for the Model T specifically to avoid using batteries. (One story I’ve read, possibly apocryphal, is that the battery in Ford’s pre-production Model T overturned during a camping trip, ending his jaunt and prompting him to ban batteries from his new low-priced car.)

Ford began to change his mind, however, and by early 1914, word spread that he was working on a low-priced electric car. Reports appeared in the Wall Street Journal, in trade magazines and in newspapers as far away as New Zealand regarding Ford’s foray into EVs. Ford confirmed the rumors in The New York Times on January 11, 1914:

    Within a year, I hope, we shall begin the manufacture of an electric automobile. I don’t like to talk about things which are a year ahead, but I am willing to tell you something of my plans.

    The fact is that Mr. Edison and I have been working for some years on an electric automobile which would be cheap and practicable. Cars have been built for experimental purposes, and we are satisfied now that the way is clear to success. The problem so far has been to build a storage battery of light weight which would operate for long distances without recharging. Mr. Edison has been experimenting with such a battery for some time.

Ford may have fibbed when he said “multiple” experimental cars, but at least one was built in 1913. That’s it outside Ford’s Highland Park plant in the main photo.

The EV was tiller-steered with an unusually swoopy frame and batteries under the seat. The man operating it, Fred Allison, was an electrical engineer from Detroit charged with designing the motor. Ford Richardson Bryan notes in his book, Friends, Families, & Forays: Scenes From the Life and Times of Henry Ford, the car’s electrical system and overall design were the work of Alexander Churchward, who was at the time vice president of Gray & Davis. General mechanic’s duties were assigned to Samuel Wilson, a former Cadillac employee. Churchward had, one year earlier, written a paper on the standardization of the electric car (he argued, among other things, for a 25 mph maximum speed). Wilson had experience with Cadillac’s self-starter program.

Work continued into 1914, as we can see in the photo above of Allison perched atop a second experimental EV. This one used a Model T frame, suspension and front axle, a Model T steering wheel and a worm-drive rear axle. The latter indicates the motor, mounted behind the driver in the first prototype, was up front in the second, near an additional bank of batteries. Bryan notes in his book Henry’s Lieutenants that Eugene Farkas was responsible not only for the worm-drive rear axle that was later modified for use in the EV, he was responsible for the car’s chassis.

Rumors, stoked by Ford’s secretary, Ernest Liebold, swirled in the automotive press for the remainder of 1914. Edsel Ford was said to have been put in charge of the Edison-Ford. Henry Ford was said to have bought an electricity-generating plant in Niagara Falls and a site off Woodward Avenue in Detroit specifically for the production of the Edison-Ford.

As the year wore on, the rumor mill had the EV coming in 1915, then 1916. Details varied: It would cost somewhere between $500 and $750 (between $10,000 and $15,712 today) and would go somewhere between 50 and 100 miles on a charge. Even today, reports vary as to whether the car would have a brougham or cabriolet body. Edison, in an interview with Automobile Topics in May, 1914, divulged no details and made his best “It’s coming, just be patient” speech of the kind General Motors has perfected in recent years with the Chevrolet Volt:

    He called attention to the fact that a new automobile, especially one embodying such radical features as a $500 or $750 electric pleasure car naturally must have, cannot be designed and constructed in a few weeks.

    “Mr. Henry Ford is making plans for the tools, special machinery, factory buildings and equipment for the production of this new electric. There is so much special work to be done that no date can be fixed now as to when the new electric can be put on the market. But Mr. Ford is working steadily on the details, and he knows his business so it will not be long.

    “I believe that ultimately the electric motor will be universally used for trucking in all large cities, and that the electric automobile will be the family carriage of the future. All trucking must come to electricity. I am convinced that it will not be long before all the trucking in New York City will be electric.”

Edison, by the way, was himself no stranger to electric cars. Bryan noted in Friends, Families and Forays that Edison built a battery-powered front-wheel-drive electric in 1895, and the industrialist owned some of the very expensive electric cars then in production.

We’ve so far seen no evidence that the press of the day ever got its hands on photos or other solid evidence of the experimental EVs. Eventually, the media seemed to forget about the Edison-Ford altogether. Some conspiracy theorists believe the oil cartels got to Ford and Edison and prompted them to abandon it. These theorists offer as evidence the “mysterious” fire that nearly destroyed Edison’s workshops in West Orange, New Jersey, in December, 1914. Besides the fact all work on the EV took place in Dearborn, Michigan, (and Edison had the entire place rebuilt by the next spring), The New York Times noted on December 10, 1914, that the fire skirted the two buildings in which any work on the electric car would have taken place:

    It was seen that the only important buildings that could be saved were the experimental laboratory and the storage-battery building, and all attention was given to them.

    Mr. Edison was in the experimental laboratory when the fire began. He helped in the salvage work, and when that was finished he went to the storage battery building and directed the protection of that structure.

Rather, as Bryan wrote, the downfall of the Edison-Ford electric car came about because Ford demanded the use of Edison’s nickel-iron batteries in the car and would have no other battery powering the car. Edison’s batteries, however, were found to have very high internal resistance and were thus incapable of powering an electric car under many circumstances. Heavier lead-acid batteries, which would have made the car too ponderous, were substituted behind Ford’s back. When he found out, he went ballistic. The program quickly fell by the wayside as other projects demanded Ford’s time. According to The Ford Century, Ford invested $1.5 million (almost $31.5 million today) in the electric-car project and nearly bought 100,000 batteries from Edison before the project fell apart.

Churchward, who had already racked up dozens of patents and would be issued dozens more, returned to Gray & Davis and for a time also served as vice president of A.B.C. Starter Company, which later employed Allison as chief engineer. Of the patents granted to Allison that we’ve found, one (1,225,558, dated May 8, 1917) was assigned to the A.B.C. Starter Company, while two others (1,478,196, dated December 18, 1923, and 1,508,377, dated September 16, 1924) were assigned to Ford Motor Company, so Allison very well may have leveraged his experience with the electric car to a career at Ford. Both men were instrumental in Ford’s adoption of the electric starter and electric lighting systems in 1919.

And now we come full circle. Ford says it will invest $135 million in electric-car development and 10 to 25 percent of its fleet will be electrified in some way by 2020.

Here’s hoping, Henry.

Toyota Buying Tesla Stake for Electric Car Tie-Up

Bloomberg / Business Week

Toyota Motor Corp., the world’s largest automaker, is buying a $50 million stake in the Californian electric-car maker Tesla Motors Inc. as automakers compete to offer low-polluting models in the U.S.

Tesla will also buy a closed Toyota joint-venture factory in California to build its Model S and other vehicles, Tesla Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk said yesterday. The companies said they’ll cooperate in developing electric cars, parts, production systems and engineering support.

The deal may help Toyota, the world’s biggest carmaker, compete with Nissan Motor Co. and General Motors Co. in selling electric cars in the U.S., where regulations on greenhouse gas emissions and fuel efficiency are pushing them to offer advanced vehicles. It may also help the Toyota City, Japan-based company’s image, battered by recalls, by reviving the New United Motor Manufacturing Inc. plant in Fremont, California, known as NUMMI.

“This seems like a good deal for both parties, especially Toyota, from being able to avoid the political fallout from shutting NUMMI down to being able to offer a new electric vehicle with just a low initial investment cost,” said Jeremy Anwyl, Chief Executive Officer at auto industry researcher Edmunds.com in Santa Monica, California.

Joining Daimler

The size of Toyota’s stake in Tesla hasn’t been fixed ahead of a share sale by Tesla, Musk said in an interview. Daimler AG in May 2009 invested about $50 million in Tesla, which is supplying battery packs to the Stuttgart, Germany-based company for a test fleet of electric Smart minicars.

In July, Daimler sold a portion of its share of Tesla to the German automaker’s largest investor, Aabar Investments PJSC, reducing its stake to about 5 percent.

Daimler “welcomed” Tesla’s partnership with Toyota, which “likewise has the goal of advancing electric vehicles,” said Brigitte Bertram, a Daimler spokeswoman for the automaker in Stuttgart, Germany. The Toyota-Tesla linkup “doesn’t impede” Daimler’s cooperation with the California automaker.

Toyota fell 1.9 percent to 3,355 yen in Tokyo, while Nissan dropped 3.4 percent and Honda Motor Co., Japan’s second-largest carmaker, declined 2.5 percent.

The tie-up brings Toyota, the world’s biggest seller of hybrid autos, together with Tesla, the only company now selling U.S. highway-legal battery-powered cars. Electric-car technology has been supported by U.S. policy makers including President Barack Obama as a way to reduce the nation’s oil use and dependence on foreign energy sources.

Obama set a goal of getting 1 million plug-in hybrids and electric cars on U.S. roads by 2015.

Nissan, GM

Nissan is preparing to introduce its Leaf electric hatchback, powered by a lithium-ion battery pack, in Japan and the U.S. this year. Nissan Chief Executive Officer Carlos Ghosn has set a goal of leading sales of rechargeable vehicles, which he estimates may make up 10 percent of global auto demand by 2020, and is spending more than 500 billion yen ($5.5 billion) developing electric cars.

GM plans to introduce its Volt plug-in car in October. The car will initially be marketed to drivers in California, which requires large automakers to offer some vehicles that emit little or no tailpipe pollution.

Toyota intends to offer a short-range, “urban commuter” electric car in the U.S. in 2012 and begin retail sales of a plug-in Prius hybrid the same year.

Toyota, which will continue to develop its own electric vehicle, said Tesla’s long-distance models give the Japanese automaker more options. Toyota said hybrids should remain a more practical option for most customers until electric cars become more popular.

Share Sale

Palo Alto, California-based Tesla has 2,000 reservations for the Model S sedan and intends to begin “volume” production of the car in 2012, with a projected annual output of as much as 20,000 a year. The company has delivered about 1,000 of its $109,000 Roadster electric sports cars, while losing more than $230 million.

Tesla hasn’t posted a profit in the six years since it was founded. The company plans to use proceeds from an initial share sale and a $465 million government loan to help produce the Model S, an electric car that is to cost less than $50,000 after a federal tax credit.

Fund Raising

Tesla aims to raise about $100 million from its share sale and has said it may use proceeds to pay for factories and equipment estimated to cost as much as $125 million this year, and for acquisitions.

“I’ve felt an infinite possibility about Tesla’s technology,” said Akio Toyoda, chief executive officer of Toyota, founded by his grandfather. “By partnering with Tesla, my hope is that all Toyota employees will recall that ‘venture business’ spirit.”

The company is backed by investors including Mountain View, California-based Google Inc.’s co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, and the government of Abu Dhabi. Daimler, the world’s second-biggest maker of luxury vehicles, invested last May. Tesla said Musk told Daimler about the Toyota partnership on May 19.

The revival of NUMMI, for 25 years a joint venture between Toyota and the former General Motors Co., will create 1,000 jobs, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger said. The plant closed in April.

Hawaii Taking the Lead for Electric and Fuel-Cell Vehicles

USA Today

 

The hottest state for alternative-energy cars? Could it be California, with its non-existent Hydrogen Highway? Washington Oregon, the Evergreen State that is literally green? Nope and nope. It's Hawaii, which is on an absolute green-car roll -- both hydrogen and electric.

No other state -- hush up for a moment, Michigan -- such a quick succession of big news regarding their green-car future. Why Hawaii? Because it has to import every drop of gasoline and has always had some of the highest fuel prices in the nation. Also it scenic beauty makes it an environmental haven and any efforts in that regard looks good to the tourists. Hawaii has scored:

    * A commitment from Nissan to be among the first states to get its hands on the new Leaf electric vehicle.
    * Nice, commitment-free words from General Motors about Hawaii's abundance of hydrogen and what a nice place it could become for fuel-cell vehicles.
    * A start-up electric vehicle maker has just set up shop in Hawaii, not generally a haven of manufacturing since it's at least 2,000 miles of beautiful blue water from just about anywhere.

Nissan's announcement is probably the most significant:

It's one of only a few "launch markets" for $32,780 Leaf, the first modern pure electric car from a major established automaker to hit the market. Not bad for a state that is often treated as an afterthought.

"We appreciate Nissan's recognition of Hawaii as a global model for electric vehicles and a leader in clean energy," said Gov. Linda Lingle. "The introduction of the Nissan Leaf electric vehicle will build on Hawaii's progress to end our state's over-reliance on imported fossil fuels and increase our energy security."

On the island of Oahu, GM has struck up a relationship with Hawaii's biggest natural gas provider.

The Gas Co. -- creative name, eh, for the island's big gas utility -- produces hydrogen that could be tapped for fuel-cell vehicles. It's also in keepin with Hawaii's goal of trying to reduce oil use by 70%. But unlike Nissan, GM doesn't make any commitment of vehicles or resources to Hawaii.

A South Korean company, CT&T, however, has signed an agreement to make electric vehicles in Hawaii.

The company says it will build a factory that could produce 10,000 of its twin-seat electric vehicles a year.

Will Lithium-Air Battery Rescue Electric Car Drivers From 'Range Anxiety'?

NY Times

ARGONNE, Ill. -- Twenty miles southwest of Chicago, government researchers are pursuing the automotive version of Mr. Right.

He's powerful. He has endurance. He isn't too expensive to have around. And he never, ever explodes.

That's one way to think of the perfect car battery, which will have to balance many different factors to lure the American masses to the electric car.

For the moment, though, Mr. Right is just a set of equations in a notebook.

"Theoretically, it works on paper," said Don Hillebrand, who directs the Center for Transportation Research at Argonne National Laboratory.

At Argonne National Laboratory and elsewhere, researchers are just beginning to crack the basic science behind a promising technology: lithium-air automotive batteries. If their theories are right, these batteries will have five to 10 times the energy of lithium-ion batteries, the big battery pack that's powering the first wave of electric-drive cars.

"Lithium-air is where we're going," Hillebrand said. "You can't foresee the future, but right now, that's the place where I think we see the endpoint, the end solution for ... the battery. The battery everybody's looking for."

But as engineers get closer to perfecting the lithium-ion variety, lithium-air has a long journey to replace the batteries of yesteryear.

A good idea that's still en route

"Nickel-metal hydride's an adult. Lithium-ion is a developing adolescent. And lithium-air, we're just looking at the ultrasounds," Hillebrand said.

Some say lithium-air will only carry triple the energy of lithium-ion; others project a hundredfold increase. Regardless of the estimates, all agree that lithium-ion could use a tuneup.

The reason has to do with "battery chemistry," a term that describes what makes the device go.

Batteries have an anode and a cathode, two materials that exchange ions -- in this case, lithium ions. When the ions go one way, the battery charges up; when they go the other way, the battery releases its charge.

Different materials for the anode and cathode, of course, affect this back-and-forth movement. For example, they can speed it up, move a larger number of ions, or reduce the number of times the battery can repeat the exchange -- that is, shorten the battery's life.

Lithium-ion chemistry is considered an improvement over past efforts to power electric cars. Previous options were so large and heavy that they were just barely economical to lug around. Lithium-ion packed so much more energy into less space and weight that major automakers christened it for their latest lineup of electric and hybrid cars, including Toyota's Prius, General Motors' Volt, and Nissan's Leaf.

The change came at a price, though. Today, lithium-ion batteries are commonplace and commercialized for laptops and cell phones. But the larger batteries needed for cars remain their most expensive component -- and the one deemed most essential to helping millions reach the road.

In the coming years, many expect these costs to decline. Even so, plenty in the battery field foresee the day that lithium-ion, so essential to the present day, will face retirement.

A battery that could challenge petroleum

"Let's say we want to electrify the entire fleet of vehicles in the world," said Jeffrey Chamberlain, head of Argonne's Energy Storage Major Initiative and one of the lab's leading battery chemists. "Lithium-ion batteries will get us partway there. But in reality, they're not quite high enough in energy density or quite low enough in cost."

He called lithium-air a "dream-type battery": Look at the periodic table, he said, and the only element that carries more energy than lithium, for its weight, is hydrogen. If the models are right, lithium-air could get to that energy far better than lithium-ion, approaching the limit of what a battery can do. It could even rival the energy density of petroleum -- one of the most energy-packed substances on earth.

That would tectonically shift the economics of electric cars. Right now, carmakers face "range anxiety": They worry Americans will hesitate to buy an electric car that can only go a few dozen miles.

Chamberlain said lithium-air could banish that fear. "You really imagine instead of going 40 miles between charges, you could go 200 or 400 miles," he said.

The key to lithium-air is weight loss. Yang Shao-Horn, an associate professor of chemistry at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, said lithium-ion batteries stuff lithium into a compound with metal and oxygen to keep it stable and play pingpong with the lithium ions.

Trading heavy metal for a battery that 'breathes'

A lithium-air battery, by contrast, skips the metal and attaches lithium to oxygen alone. On the other side of the battery, there's a porous material that "breathes" in oxygen and can play the other side of the pingpong table. Without the extra metal, Shao-Horn said, the battery gets much lighter, but without compromising the ability to hold energy.

But before the technology goes commercial, researchers have to pass a gantlet of scientific challenges. A material may "breathe" oxygen into the battery excellently, but it has little commercial potential if it's platinum or gold. Lithium in the anode reacts explosively with even a little water, so it must be sheltered with a stable and, yes, cheap substance.

Argonne guesses lithium-air could be 10 to 20 years from commercial readiness; Shao-Horn of MIT has said 10 years is probably too optimistic.

Part of the reason is that scientific work takes a long time to percolate to auto showrooms. Ronn Jamieson, General Motors' director of global battery systems, explained how every new battery idea has to undergo a vetting process that doesn't exactly zoom.

At any given moment, he said, GM knows of over a hundred ideas for battery chemistries being proposed by universities, laboratories and other companies.

He said GM doesn't dismiss any of these out of hand, but the first step is to check the science textbooks: "Is it physically possible? Does it defy the laws of physics or thermodynamics or anything else?"

If it passes that test, GM does what Argonne and everyone else do: They find one and beat it up.

Some researchers stick a battery cell in an oven for a year, gradually turning up the heat to 113 degrees and then 131 degrees Fahrenheit. Others dunk it in a swimming pool. Others short the battery and see if it blows up. One Department of Energy researcher shot a battery with a nail gun.

These aren't likely situations for electric cars, but battery developers want to be sure. They say just one high-profile mishap could spell doom for the technology. And so, Jamieson said, GM subjects every new battery technology to a year or more of tests.

In the labs, the U.S. may be leading the race

"Theoretically, if it can happen, you've got to at least assess and understand what will happen," he said.

If lithium-air is the "silver bullet" of the future, there are a host of lead bullets poised to come sooner. GM said it's working on lithium-air, next-generation lithium-ion, and other chemistries. Nissan and Toyota representatives didn't specifically mention lithium-air, but they said their advanced battery labs -- partnering with Japanese companies NEC and Panasonic -- are examining various chemistries.

The White House is looking to nudge the process, as indicated by DOE grants last week. The Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy program awarded $34 million last week for breakthrough research in auto batteries. Two grants went to lithium-air proposals, but other ideas varied, from magnesium-ion to zinc-air to an "all electron" battery from Stanford University and Honda.

If they and other researchers make progress on the technology, the United States may be poised to grab the global lead. In an e-mail, Hillebrand said lithium-air is too young for any country to have cornered the technology, but "the U.S. and Japan have both recognized the potential, and the U.S. is probably ahead."

In an interview, he said Tokyo is funding labs that focus on lithium-air, among other chemistries. He hadn't heard of the technology developing in China or Korea: "I'd be surprised if it wasn't, though."

VW Unveils Plug-In Electric Golf

AutoWeek

 

Volkswagen has revealed a plug-in electric version of the Golf, previewing the zero-emissions driveline and lithium-ion car battery technology the company intends to put into a production version of the new car. VW chairman Martin Winterkorn says the plug-in Golf will go on sale in Germany and other key markets, including North America, in 2013.

Called the Golf Blue-E-Motion, the car forms part of a broad-based electric-vehicle offensive by VW that will see similar versions of the Mexico-built Jetta and the Chinese-market Lavida also going on sale in 2013.

Before they arrive, however, VW plans to kick things off with the introduction of the Up Blue-E-Motion, a car described by Winterkorn as a "city specialist" and previewed in concept form at last year's Frankfurt motor show.

Based on the current sixth-generation Golf, the showroom version of the Blue-E-Motion is planned to form part of the seventh-generation Golf lineup that will begin heading into European showrooms in 2013.

Mounted in the space normally taken up by the Golf's four-cylinder gasoline or diesel engine is a 115-hp electric motor. It drives the front wheels through a new single-gear gearbox developed by VW and known internally as the MQ210.

Electricity for the motor is provided by a lithium-ion battery pack mounted in the middle tunnel of the floorpan, under the rear seat and in the floor of the trunk. With a capacity of 26.5 kilowatt-hours, the battery gives the car a range of 93 miles, VW says. The company isn't providing any recharge specifics just yet, although it has called on the German government to push for renewable energy sources.

In a process similar to that introduced on the new Touareg hybrid, the Golf Blue-E-Motion uses a separate clutch that automatically decouples the electric motor on a trailing throttle to provide what Volkswagen describes as a "sailing effect" with little mechanical drag.

At 3,406 pounds, the Golf Blue-E-Motion weighs 672 pounds more than the current Golf 1.6 TDI BlueMotion offered in Europe. However, VW hints at reasonable performance with a 0-to-62-mph time of 11.8 seconds and a top speed that, in the interests of retaining battery charge, is limited to 87 mph.

VW says it intends to produce a fleet of as many as 500 prototype versions of the Golf Blue-E-Motion for internal testing before the production version arrives in 2013, shortly before the introduction of the Jetta and versions.

In a parallel program, VW is also working on a new range of hybrid models. Initiated with the new Touareg hybrid, it will be widened to include a Jetta hybrid in 2012, using the system from the Coupe Concept revealed at this year's Detroit auto show, as well as Golf and Passat hybrids in 2013, Winterkorn said.

Ford, Microsoft Plan System to Recharge Electric Cars at Lowest Cost

USA Today

Ford Motor and Microsoft say they are going to roll out a system that will tell electric-car owners the optimal time to recharge their vehicles. The system was announced at the New York International Auto Show.

The "Microsoft Hohm" system would start with the all-electric Ford Focus compact car, which goes on sale late next year, says Ford CEO Alan Mulally, and via a remote presentation, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer.

The system is needed, they say, because electric cars will be the biggest energy drain in a typical household, so recharging car batteries needs to be managed. Ford and Microsoft already collaborate on the Sync in-car connectivity system for remote devices such as cellphones.

Utilities using the system would be able to vary electric rates based on time of day. A computer would determine the best time to recharge the car at the lowest cost. Ford says it might even develop a iPhone app that would allow owners to manage recharging remotely.

Charging an electric car can double the energy used at a home, and utilities worry about the increased burden on their power generators.

Nissan Announces Leaf will Cost $25,000

CNN Money

Nissan announced Tuesday that its Leaf electric car will come with a sticker price of $32,780. But after a federal tax credit of $7,500, the car will only set you back about $25,280.

That would make the Leaf considerably less expensive than General Motors' Chevrolet Volt, which is expected to cost around $40,000, or about $32,500 after the federal tax credit.

The Leaf expected to go on sale in December, one month after the Volt.

By keeping the sticker price low, the Leaf will be profitable for Nissan, said Mark Perry, Nissan's director of product planning. That means customers should expect more variants of the Leaf in coming years, he added.

Nissan has already said that there will be a luxury Infiniti version of the car.

Industry analysts have frequently said that electric cars would not be profitable for years to come because of the high costs associated with the vehicles batteries.

"We've been working in lithium ion car batteries for 17 years," Perry said. "So all that advanced research and engineering work we've [already] paid for."

The Leaf and Volt are not quite directly competitive, although both are electric battery cars. The Leaf is an all-electric car with an around-town driving range of about 100 miles. The Volt has a range of only 40 miles, enough for a typical days driving, but it also has a gasoline engine to generate electricity for further driving up to about 300 miles.

Nissan had previously said that it expected to price the Leaf competitively to similar gasoline-powered cars such as a well-equipped Honda Civic.

The Leaf's standard features will include navigation and Bluetooth telephone connectivity, said Perry.

Nissan already has a list of more than 80,000 people who have expressed interest in the Leaf, Perry said. And in coming weeks, Nissan will begin taking refundable $99 deposits for the car.

Those who submit deposits can have their homes inspected to make sure they have appropriate space and wiring to install a charging dock, Perry said. Nissan expects about half those expressing interest to submit a deposit, he said.

Nissan also expects many customers to lease the car. That way, they won't have to worry about filing or refiling their taxes go get the benefit since it will factored into the lease payments, Perry noted.

The car will lease for a $349 a month with an initial down payment $1,999.

"Our goal there was to get our total operating cost, vehicle, electricity charging station, all in, around $400 a month," Perry said.

In some states there are also state incentives for the purchase of an electric car. In California, for example, there is a $5,000 credit which would reduce the cost to just over $20,000, Perry said.

Nissan has partnered with an outside company, AeroVironment, to install home chargers for the car. Installation of the charger will typically cost $2,200, Perry said, but there is a tax credit that will cover half the cost up to $2,000.

Stimulus Funding Spurs Advanced Battery R&D for Hybrid Electric Vehicles

Examiner Chicago

In order to accelerate the R&D, manufacturing and deployment of hybrid electric vehicles, batteries, and components in the United States and create tens of thousands of new jobs, President Barack Obama announced last August- 48 advanced battery and electric drive projects that will receive $2.4 billion in competitive Department of Energy (DOE) funding through the Recovery Act, which will be matched with another $2.4 billion in cost share from the award winners. This stimulus funding will facilitate the country in achieving President Obama’s goal of putting one million (grid) plug-in hybrid vehicles on the road by 2015 in order to lessen greenhouse gas emissions and smog effects.

The primary stimulus funding grant categories are as follows:

1. $1.5 billion for U.S.-based manufacturers to produce batteries and their components and to expand battery recycling capacity

2. $500 million for U.S.-based manufacturers to produce electric drive components for vehicles, including electric motors, power electronics, and other drive train components

3. $400 million to purchase thousands of plug-in hybrid and all-electric vehicles for test demonstrations; to deploy them and evaluate their performance; to install electric battery charger infrastructure; and to provide education and workforce training to support the transition to advanced electric transportation systems.

The state of Michigan, home to the Motor City, was the big winner, as they received $1 billion in grants to companies and universities- the most of any state. Two companies, A123 and Johnson Controls (which also has a facility in the Phoenix, AZ area) will receive a total of approximately $550 million to establish a manufacturing base in the state for advanced batteries, and two others, Compact Power and Dow Kokam, will receive a total of over $300 million for manufacturing battery cells and materials.

The U.S. government is now spreading the wealth of R&D dollars, as opposed to primarily funding only national labs, universities and domestic automakers. Of course, the DOE never had anywhere near this amount of funding previously to allocate, since the Stimulus spurred the nation’s largest single investment in hybrid electric vehicle technology ever. Moreover, the past two Obama Administration fiscal year budgets significantly reduced funding levels for hydrogen fuel cell alternatives set by the Bush Administration, while supporting increases for advanced batteries instead.

Lithium ion batteries are receiving the majority of the stimulus funding emphasis with respect to battery options for hybrid electric vehicles, since they are presumed to be the top candidate but are not ready for prime time. These types of batteries are rapidly penetrating into laptop and cell-phone markets because of their unique electrical characteristics, high energy-efficiency, high temperature performance, and low self-discharge. What’s more, components of lithium ion batteries can also be recycled. These features are also beneficial for hybrid electric vehicle applications. However, to make them commercially viable for electric autos, significant R&D is necessary, focused on calendar and cycle life, cell and battery safety, abuse tolerance under harsh conditions, and acceptable cost for consumers.

EnerDel, an electric car battery manufacturer with three Central Indiana plants, was awarded a $118.5 million stimulus grant yesterday to develop lithium ion batteries for hybrid electric cars. The grant will allow EnerDel to buy equipment to expand its production from 1,200 batteries a year to 60,000 annually and is expected to generate 1,400 green jobs. As part of the project, 100 electric cars will likely be on Indiana roads by the beginning of next year and a thousand by the middle of 2012.

In opposition to this momentum for hybrid electric vehicles, T. Boone Pickens has been ramping up his campaign supporting the transition of the nation’s auto fleet to readily abundant domestic natural gas. He helped formulate the Natural Gas Act, which is still being considered in Congress, along with cap-and-trade and other alternative energy legislation that has been delayed by the health care debate after many months.

Kia Ray Plug-In Hybrid Concept - Auto Shows

Car and Driver

Built on the bones of the Forte compact, this eco-conscious concept has lots of eye appeal.

The claims get your attention. Potential range: 746 miles. Potential fuel economy: 202 mpg. Top speed: 109 mph.

Those projections belong to the Kia Ray, a plug-in hybrid concept car which made its world debut at the Chicago auto show. The fifth vehicle to emerge from Kia’s creative crucible in Irvine, California—officially called Kia Design Center America (KDCA)—the Ray represents an ambitious confluence of style and technology, and was arguably one of the strongest traffic-stoppers at the show.

Aero Slick

Using the foundations of the compact Kia Forte sedan, the design was developed for maximum aerodynamic efficiency, as well as eye appeal. The high tail, low ride height, and single flat panel covering the underbody components, plus the absence of side mirrors combine to deliver a drag coefficient of just 0.25. At highway speeds, a panel automatically deploys at the rear to enhance aerodynamic performance, as well as stability. Rear and side-view functions are handled by cameras.

Electro-gas Propulsion

Motive power is supplied to the front wheels by a 1.4-liter gasoline direct injection four-cylinder engine and/or a 78-kw (105-hp) electric motor. A lithium-ion polymer battery pack powers the motor, with enough energy on a full charge to propel the car 50 miles in pure electric mode. However, the Ray is also capable of running on its gasoline engine alone, or with a combination of gasoline and electric power, according to Kia.

Like other gasoline-electric hybrids, the Ray uses its transmission and regenerative braking to recharge its battery pack. Unlike others, its big, all-glass roof is embedded with solar cells that also contribute to battery charging, as well as interior cooling. A set of 20-inch, 195/50 low-rolling-resistance tires enhance efficiency.

The Inner Ray

Thanks to its glass roof, the Ray’s interior has an open feel, and features lightweight materials with an emphasis on recyclability, as well as minimalist design. The steering is drive-by-wire and all secondary control functions are operated by touch screen—no buttons, no rotary knobs.

A hood-mounted gauge keeps the driver informed about the battery pack’s state of charge, and Kia’s new UVO system keeps occupants entertained. UVO is an infotainment system similar in concept and function to Ford’s Sync system. The similarities are predictable given that both systems were developed in concert with Microsoft.

Could this be a Korean Volt killer? Not yet. Unlike the Chevy Volt, the Ray isn’t headed for production, at least not as shown in Chicago. But it does demonstrate that Kia intends to be a serious player in the high-tech alternative-propulsion game—and that its Eco Dynamics sub-brand is more than mere hype.

Ford Motor To Create 1,000 New Jobs In SE Michigan

AP

Ford Motor Co. announced Monday it will invest another $450 million and create about 1,000 jobs as it further consolidates its electric vehicle program in southeast Michigan.

The new jobs are mostly tied to advanced lithium ion battery production, including some work shifted from Mexico to Michigan. It's welcome news in a state saddled with the nation's highest unemployment rate of 14.7 percent in November.

Ford also announced at the auto show in Detroit that it will build a next-generation hybrid vehicle and plug-in hybrid at Michigan Assembly Plant in Wayne starting in 2012. The new work comes in addition to the previously announced next generation of the Ford Focus, including an electric version, which will start production in 2010 and 2011 at the same factory.

Those projects combined could save more than 8,000 Ford jobs in southeast Michigan. Ford facilities in Wayne, Warren, Sterling Heights and possibly Rawsonville near Ypsilanti could get pieces of the new work, according to a memo outlining a tax incentive agreement approved by a state economic development board Monday.

Under the agreement, the new battery-related jobs would come with the help of a tax credit valued at up to $78 million over a multi-year period.

The other tax credit approved Monday by the Michigan Economic Growth Authority is to help save existing jobs. That tax credit is worth $110 million.

"This investment underscores how serious we are about delivering a range of electrified vehicles to customers - including hybrids, plug-in hybrids and pure electric vehicles," Bill Ford Jr., Ford's executive chairman, said in a statement.