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Technology Stocks : Energy Conversion Devices -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Krowbar who wrote (7206)	4/2/2003 12:08:06 AM
From: Krowbar	Respond to of 8393

EVs Becoming Cost Competitive, Says EPRI Study Costs of electric-drive cars could near conventional cars. Source: PR Newswire [Mar 27, 2003] A combination of greatly improved battery life and projected cost reductions for batteries and other components can make electric-drive vehicles — such as engine-hybrid EVs, plug-in hybrid EVs, and some pure EVs — cost competitive with gasoline vehicles, according to a new study from Palo Alto's Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI). These lower costs and a doubling of battery lifetimes -- up to 150,000 miles -- result in significantly reduced fuel and maintenance costs for electric-drive vehicles, and over their lifetime will offset their higher initial price by the end of this decade, the study contends. Researchers found that advanced batteries used in electric-drive vehicles are exceeding previous projections for cycle life and durability, a key consideration in cost. Longer life essentially means reduced cost to operate. "The cost of advanced batteries for non-plug hybrid EVs, plug-in hybrid EVs, and battery EVs is highly dependent on the establishment of a growth market situation, a predictable regulatory environment, and consistent production volumes that encourage capital investment in production capacity and line automation by battery and automotive manufacturers," said Bob Graham, EPRI's area manager for transportation. EPRI is a nonprofit research organization funded by electric utilities and other companies. evworld.com Del

To: Krowbar who wrote (7206)	4/3/2003 11:22:36 AM
From: Ray	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 8393

Del, here is another very interesting quote from that EV World news article: "Amidst the debates over pathways and gold, silver and bronze standards, what also became clear is that several ARB members are more than intrigued with the concept of plug-in hybrids, so much so that they pretty much insisted that ARB's staff do everything they could to encourage, through incentives within the mandate's credit system, carmakers to take the concept seriously. While carmakers have been less than enthusiastic about hybrids that derive 20-60 miles of range from their battery packs -- for both technical and cost reasons -- Toyota's Dave Hermance acknowledged at the conclusion of his testimony on the first day that given enough incentive carmakers might be willing to offer the market such a vehicle. " This is a good juncture to remember that ECD has a patent on plug-in hybrids (yes, the whole vehicle!) that use special NiMH batteries designed for a high-level of both power-capability and energy-storage. These batteries would be, I think, something like three times larger than the usual full-hybrid HEV batteries and something like three times smaller than a BEV battery pack. My guess is that plug-in hybrids would have a lot of appeal to many people. In addition to providing for occasional long trips, such a vehicle would be much more suitable than a regular HEV for those -- like me -- who live in mountainous country and need prolonged hill-climbing capability.