Comments on: Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles: The Only Roadblock to PHEVs

By: The Daily Times

The Daily Times — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 05:29:59 +0000

An interesting view of the automotive industry. Where do you see the future of the industry, will it ever recover or will there be major casulties?

By: Ed Horst

Ed Horst — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 17:28:08 +0000

Electric vehicles sound good in California; not so good in North Dakota (and I live nearby in Canada). What will cold weather do to the ability to hold a charge? 100 to 200 mile range is insuffucient for the distances around here.
Power to Grid – okay, so the system is sucking my car’s battery in the garage; then my son has to go to the hospital, and I go out to a nearly dead battery; Thanks but no thanks.
Another “solution” that only looks good on the surface.

By: Tony Thomas

Tony Thomas — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 02:54:12 +0000

You made some good points there. I did a search on the topic and found most people will agree with your blog.

By: C. Sanders

C. Sanders — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 02:40:00 +0000

First of all, where in the world is electricity so cheap and plentiful that it’s production has to be restrained? Get the infrastructure up and running, providing cheap and plentiful power, then talk about unleashing PHEVs onto consumers. There will always plenty of uses for electricity and alternative and renewable methods should eventually lower costs. The current idea of plugging in at night or off-peak hours will just mean a system under strain 24hrs a day.

By: John Barzen

John Barzen — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 21:08:20 +0000

Anybody figured how GM is going to stay in business for the next decade ( The time required for PHEV Tech to become commercially significant ) ?…………JohnB.

By: Olaf Olafsson

Olaf Olafsson — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 18:43:51 +0000

Solar is going to be huge, not really surprising as the Sun is really the basis for life here on erth, Suntech hopes to reach “grid parity” in 3 years and then there will be no looking back.

By: raymond auger

raymond auger — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 16:42:50 +0000

As the owner of two highway-capable (70 mph) EV’s, my take on the future is that the emphasis needs to be on lithium production. It is expensive stuff, and until the process and its by-products can be made more technically simple and environmentally acceptable, the lithium-ion battery powered car has a serious enconomic hurdle.

By: T.LEWIS

T.LEWIS — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 10:19:39 +0000

Why should U.S.automakers be screaming when thier subsideries in the EU are making vehicles which can gve over 50 mpg and emissions have much better figures than US made vehicles.

By: TD

TD — Sun, 08 Feb 2009 14:59:03 +0000

It all sounds so good and easy if you just suspend reality . . . If those stupid car companies hadn’t sold profitable SUVs for the last few years they would no longer have companies . . . Mr. Fessler (and Obama) seem to think that simply passing a law will make PHEVs appear. You may want to consider the scarcity of some of the minor and strategic metals required to produce those batteries, where most of those resources are produced, and who controls the future production . . . You’ll find that only Ford (if we’re talking the big 3) 3ven has a shot at fulfilling their requirements . . . then consider a little more closely the additional electricity needed. Sorry. Solar and wind do not produce baseline power. Coal, nuclear, and geothermal do. Solar and wind plants will require even more massive batteries to store the generated power for periods they cannot produce . . . assuming they can produce excess power . . . I am all for states rights and thinj that Califonrnia should be able to set its own emissions laws, but the reality is that this bill at this time amounts to assisted state-suicide, and CA may well take the big 3 down with them . . . all in the name of common sense.

By: Jennifer Moore Ford Motor Company Communications

Jennifer Moore Ford Motor Company Communications — Sun, 08 Feb 2009 02:07:43 +0000

I wouldn’t throw Ford on the don’t pile – We recently announced our electrification strategy to bring 4 new electrified vehicles to market by 2012, a small pure battery electric van for commerical use in 2010, a passenger car BEV in 2011, and next generation hybrid and a PHEV in 2012. We believe electrification will play an increasingly important role in transportation, although there are still questions to be answered, including how the market may develop. For more information on our plans, please take a look at http://ford.digitalsnippets.com/environment – it has the latest on our plug in efforts.