I figured I would post the full reuters article, which seems quite badly researched inspite of having 3 authors. http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/02/04/uk-autos-electric-hydrogen-idUSLNE91303P20130204 I'm a little surprised that they didn't ask him why fuel cells are superior to phev technology that does not have any of the problems he mentioned. They didn't seem to ask elon musk, plug-in America, or the other ardent plug-in advocates. They only asked Nissan who admits that a 70 mile range ev car might not sell that well. Here is one of their responses Reuters Declares Electric Vehicles a “Dead End” | PluginCars.com
Because of the lack of public charging stations and the fact that at home recharging is the most economical method to recharge a BEV - the BEV market is limited mainly to those with an electrically fitted garage. This is major limiting factor to BEVs acceptance. For example, Honda has expanded its Honda Fit EV leasing program to the east coast (which includes where I live -- the Washington DC Metro Area). Unfortunately, sine I don't have an electrically fitted garage - I don't qualify for the program As battery tech and chassis/frame designs improve , the average BEV range will increase and so range will be less of a limitation. Air Lithium Batteries have the same energy density as gasoline - once the mass production manufacturing problems have been solved - they should help the BEV approach a regular gasoline vehicle's range.
Walter- Think I heard on WTOP news radio last week that Nissan is embarking on a public charging station installation program in Wash DC. Probably not MD or VA but its a start.
yea ... not many garages with dryer plugs or 120v With the paltry research Reuters evidently did - the article might best be titled; "Reuters - Heading to a Dead End?" .
Wow! We agree on something. Reuters had a similarly bad "Insight" article with 3 authors and a couple of named editors a few months back about the Volt and how GM was losing $49,000 for every Volt they build. The framing of the story was complete nonsense. So I'm now assuming the "Insight" branding of articles from Reuters is a helpful indicator that they are likely pushing an agenda of some sort rather than just the usual inept rewriting of some press release under a tight deadline. I'll be reading them even more skeptically than usual. UPDATE: corrected the bogus Reuters loss claim to be $49,000 rather than "hundreds of thousands". My bad memory.
9 Billion EV investment they will see it through. Honda Fit EV was just released 82 mile range conservative estimate.
Hydrogen Fuel cell cars make cool toys but the fuel cells are very expensive and the energy density of compressed Hydrogen gas isn't all that stellar - I'd hold out for Lithium Air Batteries instead.
