Cashing in on the "battery hype" while speaking against it at the same time. Same thing Audi is doing.
I presume all the FUD and wishful thinking is detailed in the webcast, because I don't see it in the Bloomberg article.
could be interpreted as sublime bashing of EVs, because range and recharge times are currently EV's "weakest" selling points in transportation paradigm as it currently is. However, he is not incorrect; "expectations" do need to be managed in order for BEVs to gain mass-market entrance. A driver today contemplating a purchase of EV from the first wave arriving in the next 3-5 years must be aware of how fundamentally different that car is from the gasser he/she currently drives. The positive differences, as we know, are enormous and far outweigh (IMHO) the shortcomings that will become less so with time (public recharge infrastructure is in the works). A case for public education is clear.
That correct. Unfortunately you had to watch the webcast live. I don't know if it will be available as an archive. Also his slides aren't (yet?) available online.
The take home message I got from the way O'Brien presented the material was: Let us just keep selling NiMH hybrids (which are still a niche product) until the next generation battery chemistry comes along (not Li-ion).
I am not at all surprised (judging from past examples) that certain entities are defending their special interests at all costs, regardless of impact to other parties involved, or even themselves (Toyota is a large organization after all; I'm sure they have internal factions vying for influence and power). I just hope CARB does their homework and not merely rewrite corporate talking points into environmental policy.
We'll see I guess. The guy from Mitsubishi opened his talk with a slide about the history of their EV program. He said they had a plug-in development program back in the '90s but killed it because CARB changed the ZEV mandate. He actually turned to face the CARB members (who were seated at the side) when he said this. Not sure how well they'll respond to a wagging finger.
There is still a bit of room for improvement in the assembly costs, but for commodity cells it is pretty much true. Of course basically no other manufacturer is using commodity cells, so it doesn't really apply in general. For the advanced cells automakers are using today, there is plenty of room for mass volumes to drive down prices.
