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Interview: 4EVriders.org interviewed by Brian Donahue Recently, our founder was interviewed by an East Coast freelance writer, Brian Donahue. The questons and responses are as follows:
Question: Can you comment on the importance of arriving at a battery type, a vehicle type, that will be embraced by the masses as affordable, practical and as an alternative to modern fuel reliance?
Answer: There is not much choice on battery type from manufacturers.
Near term, Li-ion battery will be the winner, but in 3-5 years new types of battery will be commercially available. For example, Li-air from IBM will become the next generation of high-capacity and high-energy-density battery.
EV is good second car for daily commute of less than 100 miles. Plug-in Hybrid is good for short- and long-hual trips, but cost more due to added battery and hybrid power train.
In 5-10 years, EV will be the norm for passenger cars that can travel 300-500 miles per charge. While Plug-in Hybrid will eventually be common among commercial trucks and vans.
If some innovator can come up with an inexpensive off-the-shelf EV conversion kit, existing ICE will become dinosaur in about 10 years as cars age. Converted EV may have a cult following then.
Question: What are the biggest challenges to the widespread acceptance/market penetration of the electric vehicle?
Answer: Two challenges: public policy/subsidy in next few years as well as public awareness on the benefits derived from EV and Plug-in technologies.
Question: Do you see battery and, as a result, EV car prices dropping significantly at some point in the future?
Answer: President Obama predicted that EV will be $10k in a few years. There is an outside chance that
could happen if we can get mass adoption and continuous breakthrough in battery technology.
Question: Are you encouraged by the progress being made by major automakers such as Nissan, Chevy and Ford as they now get set to roll out electric vehicles?
Answer: Yes, indeed. I’d not have thought this is happending this quick. However it is inevitable – we cannot keep burning fossil fuel that pollutes, and buy fuel from hostile countries.
Question: What are your thoughts on grant-assisted programs such as ChargePoint America and the EV Project, which are setting up public and private charging stations in select states where electric vehicles will be offered with government-subsidized rebates?
Answer: The industry needed to be jump-started and one of the linchpins is re-charging to alleviate range anxiety. Federal policy makers who understand what are at stake – energy security/diversification, jobs, global competitveness, consumer acceptance, etc. With this subsidy and others, the EV industry is taking off. Tesla, who received federal loan, recently bought the NUMMI plant from Toyota.
Related posts:
- BigThink interviewed Calcars.org’s Felix Kramer
- Interview: Toyota Talks about Electric RAV4 Plans
- Video interview with Nissan Chief, Carlos Ghosn
- China: INTERVIEW – BYD Lines Up EU Channel For Hybrid Car
- China: BYD’s chairman interview: the quiet man of cars
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