Some automakers are using the Washington Auto Show, which opens Wednesday, to proclaim that the electrification of automobiles is just around the corner.
General Motors said on Tuesday that its Chevrolet Volt, an electric car with extended range via an onboard gas generator, would be launched later this year in three markets, including Washington.
Nissan, meanwhile, is highlighting its Leaf, an electric car that the company says will break out of the tiny niche markets for such cars so far. It is expected to go on sale in December.
“We’re serious when we say ‘mass market,’ ” Tracy Woodard, director of Nissan’s government affairs, said at one of the show’s news conferences.
Inside the industry, it remains an open question whether electric car technology can soon meet consumer expectations of price and convenience. Neither the Volt nor the Leaf has been priced yet, but both cars are getting star treatment at the auto show.
Ford chief executive Alan R. Mulally, who gave a keynote speech at a show preview on Tuesday, said some central issues must be resolved before electrification of the U.S. market moves forward.
Ford is developing fuel-efficient gas engines and some hybrids, and its first fully electric vehicle, a work van known as the Transit Connect, will be available later this year.
When asked what must happen for electrification to proceed, Mulally listed a number of engineering challenges.
“Viable batteries for cars: The size has to come down, they have to work in hot and cold temperatures. We have to get the price down to get widespread use of hybrids or electrics,” he said. “The second thing is, as we move to more electrification, what is the infrastructure that supports that?”
In a recent report, the Boston Consulting Group projected that even by 2020, all-electric vehicles such as the Nissan Leaf will make up less than 3 percent of the global market. Electric vehicles that have battery ranges supplemented by gas, such as the Chevy Volt, will also represent less than 3 percent of the market worldwide.
The report cited challenges similar to those noted by Mulally — the cost of batteries and the requirements of building places where people can plug them in.
Automakers, suppliers, power companies and governments “will need to work together to establish the right conditions for a large, viable electric-vehicle market to emerge,” the report said. “The stakes are very high.”
The companies selling electric cars, as well as some advocates, are relying on government incentives to move the market along. Already, the federal government is offering a $7,500 incentive for electric-car purchases. California will offer an additional $5,000 incentive starting in March.
“Something like the Nissan Leaf may be available for less than $20,000,” said Jay Friedland, legislative director for Plug In America, an advocacy group.
Friedland said the Boston Consulting Group report is based on assumptions that are too pessimistic for electric cars.
“People will be driving them,” Friedland said.
Even without the question of whether the engineers and consumers are moving toward electric vehicles, the industry continues to undergo a remarkably turbulent period.
General Motors and Chrysler, which have sought to close down thousands of dealerships as part of their downsizing, continue to wrangle with dealers who do not want to close.
More than half of the almost 2,800 dealers that GM and Chrysler want to close have filed appeals to contest the closures, the American Arbitration Association said.
Meanwhile, GM, which has been seeking to shed brands in order to regain its focus, announced that it has agreed to sell the Swedish car brand Saab to a small Dutch luxury carmaker.
Under the agreement, GM will receive $74 million in cash and $326 million in preferred shares of Saab. And according to reports, the Swedish government may also guarantee a loan of up to $550 million from the European Investment Bank.
Source: washingtonpost.com
