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

To: Futurist who wrote (3707)	6/1/1999 4:44:00 PM
From: Don Devlin	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 8393

What's the Holdup At GM? From this weeks issue of : evworld.com There's been lots of speculation as to why GM hasn't yet released their Generation II EV1. Rumors abound that the company is dragging its feet in hopes of quietly getting out of the money-losing EV business they originally created. So, I asked GM's Dick Thompson directly, "Dick, what's with the Gen Two? Why the hold up?" He informed me the hold up is in the production certification of the various major drive train components of the car. He and David Ouwerkerk, the MagneCharge program manager, explained that the three major subsystems of the car are built by different GM companies, and each of these (control box, drive motor, battery management system) needs to be production certified before the cars can be released. Since Thompson earlier told me GM was building its second batch of Generation II EV1s at its Lansing plant, clearly a lack of certification hasn't kept the company from building the cars. So, when will they become available? "Soon," he reassured me. "Soon." Ouwerkerk also added that with the Gen II drive, which is substantially more compact, has fewer parts and costs less than the original drive system, a 1999 EV1 with adanced lead-acid batteries will give drivers a 100 mile range between charges, at no additional cost on the lease. (See photo of Gen II drive) With both Honda and Toyota about to introduce hybrid-electrics into the North American market, I asked Thompson what GM had "in the wings" by way of an HEV. He smiled and with a twinkle in his eye said, "Be patient." From his response and a few other remarks he made, I suspect GM has some surprise they are going to spring just about the time Honda announces its hybrid-electric this Fall. Or, he just could have been "pulling my chain," as we say in the States, but I don't think so.