Honda Ends Battery-Powered Electric Cars- LA Times
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - American Honda Motor Co. has stopped producing
battery-powered electric cars,
becoming the first major automaker to acknowledge that it sees no future
in marketing the costly vehicles, the Los
Angeles Times reported Thursday.
Torrance, California-based American Honda said its EV Plus has outlived
its usefulness as a research platform and
did not catch on with the general public. The firm said most EV Plus
leases were to businesses and government agencies required by law
to use lower-emission vehicles.
Thad Malesh, senior analyst and alternate-fuels specialist at J.D. Power
& Associates in Agoura Hills, California, told the newspaper that
Honda's decision to stop making the battery-powered electric cars
''sends a lot of signals.''
''They are certainly being more honest than anyone else about
(battery-dependent) electrics,'' Malesh said.
Wednesday, in a further blow to the technology, Edison International
confirmed that it is closing its Edison EV subsidiary, which installed
250 charging stations in California and Arizona.
The Los Angeles Times reported that even Toyota Motor Sales USA, which
has committed to continue development of its
battery-powered RAV4 electric, said the autos have no real appeal for
consumers because of their high cost and limited range.
The Times reported that fewer than 2,400 battery electric cars and
trucks have been sold or leased in the United States in the last three
years, and most of those have been in California.
Experts say the problem rests in the storage battery technology. Battery
packs add hundreds of pounds to a vehicle's weight, last three to
six years, and can cost tens of thousands of dollars to replace. The
battery-powered vehicles also have a limited range of about 75 miles
between charges.
The Times reported that Honda has spent hundreds of millions of dollars
on the technology, but now wants to concentrate on technologies
such as fuel cells, which produce electricity directly and do not need
heavy, expensive batteries.
Honda may also be signaling, the Times said, that it has an alternative
zero-emissions vehicle in the works. It is enthusiastic about its new
VV hybrid gasoline-electric vehicle, which is scheduled to go on sale in
the United States next year. It uses an electric motor to boost a
small gas engine to get 70 miles per gallon with ultra-low emissions.
Toyota, General Motors, Ford Motor Co., DaimlerChrysler and Nissan say
they will continue to develop battery-electric vehicles in
addition to pursuing other technologies. |
