It's no accident that GM chose the 40 mile range. At that range, that covers 75% of the Americans daily driving range needs.
Actually, it's about all the battery capacity you can place in a mid-size car while still allowing for an engine and liquid fuel.
And yes.. I know the stats about how much fuel would be saved using a PHEV as a commuter car. It could be considerable. But you're talking about an all-electric vehicle and that's an entirely different animal.
You can dance around this issue as much as you'd like. But eventually you'll have to convince the American consumer that the vehicle meets their needs.
Soon enough battery range will match and then surpass ICE ranges.
When you get there, you be sure and let the American consumer know about it and make sure it's at a price that makes it attractive. But for now, they are living in the moment, not in your statistically driven, theoretical, future.
My thinking is that we're more likely to move into the NGV phase to replace gasoline. There's a ton of it domestically available, and it will make a nice transition fuel until you can make your technology commercially viable.
But that said, a PHEV can use gasoline, diesel, or NG as a fuel for its engine driven generator. I like that kind of flexible choice for consumers.
Hawk |
