General Electric to Purchase 25K Electric Vehicles, 12K Chevy Volts

by Tate Dwinnell

Yesterday, General Electric (GE) announced the largest single purchase of electric vehicles in history - 25,000 to be exact. The vehicles will be purchased beginning next year with an initial purchase of 12K GM made Chevy Volts to achieve its goal of converting about half of its entire fleet to electric. This is a bold and important move from GE and the kind of action that will continue to help drive down the cost of electric cars to make them more affordable for everyone. EV's from other manufacturers will be added as they come available. No announcement has been officially made as to what those vehicles will be, but certainly the Nissan Leaf and the all electric Toyota Prius (2012) would be possibilities. "Electric vehicle technology is real and ready for deployment and we are embracing the transformation with partners like GM and our fleet customers," said GE Chairman and CEO Jeff Immelt. "By electrifying our own fleet, we will accelerate the adoption curve, drive scale, and move electric vehicles from anticipation to action. This purchase offers more than just good PR and long term fuel savings for GE. As the manufacturer of the electric car charging station, the WattStation, anything the company can do to drive widespread adoption of electric cars increases sales of infrastructure components such as the WattStation. GE also announced that as part of its ecomagination business strategy, it will open two electric vehicle customer experience centers in Michigan and Minnesota to provide customers and employees the opportunity to learn about the latest in EV development. Additional centers will be announced next year. Reprinted with permission from Green Stocks Central

Post originale: http://featured.matternetwork.com/2010/11/general-electric-purchase-25k-electric.cfm

Honda's 180 on Plug-in Electric Vehicles

In 2007, Honda CEO Takeo Fukui announced that Honda was not interested in plug-in hybrids because the emissions reductions would not be good enough, and battery electric vehicles (BEVs) cannot deliver the range that consumers want. He reiterated this in 2008 saying that BEV technology was immature and commercialization would be difficult. In May 2010, Honda's President of Research and Development, Tomohiko Kawanabe, told Bloomberg News that "We are definitely conducting research on electric cars, but I can't say I can wholeheartedly recommend them." It sounds like an open and shut case: Honda is not interested.

However, Honda's CEO left and was replaced by Takanobu Ito. The company started showing a small BEV concept car, the EV-N, with no hope for production. In October 2009, Ito said that Honda would consider developing a BEV for the U.S and European markets. While a move in the right direction, it was still a far cry from the ringing endorsement of plug-in vehicles that Chrysler, Ford, GM, Nissan, and Toyota had given at that time. All of that changed this July when Honda announced they would have a plug-in hybrid and BEV in 2012. Last week, Honda announced that Ito personally would unveil a BEV concept at the Los Angeles auto show (notably the same show where Toyota will unveil the new RAV-4 EV). Ito is now quoted as saying, "It's starting to look like there will be a market for electric vehicles. We can't keep shooting down their potential, and we can't say there's no business case for it." However, Ito continues to push Honda's view that hydrogen fuel cell vehicles are the ultimate and better solution. So, why the about face to include BEVs and plug-in hybrids in their product plans? One reason is likely because Honda needs to hang on to the credibility as an environmental automaker. It's no secret that the Honda Insight has struggled to compete with what has become the gold standard for hybrids, the Prius. Now Ford's Fusion Hybrid and soon Hyundai's Sonata Hybrid top the Accord in mileage. Honda had been the most fuel efficient automaker in the U.S. for several decades, until Hyundai took the title in 2009. Additionally, Honda is forced to purchase zero emissions vehicle credits to continue selling in California. Honda may have finally decided that they have to play a part in the BEV and plug-in hybrid market to remain competitive in the U.S. Perhaps this is also Honda's acknowledgment that fuel cell vehicles remain too far off to sit on the sidelines and wait for their commercial viability. Image credit: Honda As an analyst for Pike Research, Dave Hurst studies emerging markets in electric transportation.

Post originale: http://featured.matternetwork.com/2010/11/hondas-180-plug-electric-vehicles.cfm