Thread: EV's ... Alternative Energies ??

A BMW executive at the recent Paris show stated that EVs would never be as cost competitive as smaller cars as the cost of the battery pack alone would remain at Euros 15K to 20K, and that an entire smaller car can be produced for less than that.
Seeing that the vast majority of cars sold in the World are smaller cars that cost less than AUD 20K retail which includes about 10K of profit and taxes then it is hard to see how consumers will be willing to pay an extra say 20K for an EV.
The new 2nd generation 2019 Nissan Leaf is rumoured to retail at $50K AFAIK.

Most EVs sold so far have been hideously expensive like the Tesla where wealthy virtue signalers and early adopters with lots of money have bought them. Lots of luck with that.

Regards Philip A

Originally Posted by PhilipA

A BMW executive at the recent Paris show stated that EVs would never be as cost competitive as smaller cars as the cost of the battery pack alone would remain at Euros 15K to 20K, and that an entire smaller car can be produced for less than that.
Seeing that the vast majority of cars sold in the World are smaller cars that cost less than AUD 20K retail which includes about 10K of profit and taxes then it is hard to see how consumers will be willing to pay an extra say 20K for an EV.
The new 2nd generation 2019 Nissan Leaf is rumoured to retail at $50K AFAIK.

Most EVs sold so far have been hideously expensive like the Tesla where wealthy virtue signalers and early adopters with lots of money have bought them. Lots of luck with that.

Regards Philip A

Yes & that is using expensive Lithium. Why cheap Sodium batteries are being developed, Cheap to produce , easy to recycle, better energy density & faster charging.

Originally Posted by goingbush

The changover from Horse & buggy to "horseless carriage" was only about 5-10 years .

You can use the same argument for EVs. The changeover has happened because some are around. Monbiot is talking about the tipping point or widespread adoption of technology.

I don' think cars are the problem.
The reality is they are all a luxury. for moving people, there are many other ways to move about. The issue there tho is the ability for the authorities to have the backbone to just do it, rather than to spend millions of dollars of feasibility studies on it.

The real problem is moving goods, freight, logistics .. etc.
How do you design an EV vehicle to move tons of freight?

I think ICE resources will be around for a lot longer than most doomsayers predict, unless tech in heavy vehicle sector changes quickly too.

Don't get me wrong tho, I love the idea of EVs, but their impracticality of long distance transit is still the major issue.

Hi,
Price is relative.
When coming up to driving age, (1962 - 63) a mini or VW Beetle cost about a year's wage for a an average Jo, at about a thousand quid.
Holden, Fords weren't cheap, and Landrover or a 3 speed Toyota Land cruiser were just beyond dreaming about.
Today, cheaper models sell new at less than half a year's wage, and have more than vinyl seats and radio if you were lucky.
One of VW's points was that it had a heater built in already.

Most were, as Ralph Nader put it, "unsafe at any speed".

Cheers

Originally Posted by AK83

I don' think cars are the problem.
The reality is they are all a luxury. for moving people, there are many other ways to move about. The issue there tho is the ability for the authorities to have the backbone to just do it, rather than to spend millions of dollars of feasibility studies on it.

The real problem is moving goods, freight, logistics .. etc.
How do you design an EV vehicle to move tons of freight?

I think ICE resources will be around for a lot longer than most doomsayers predict, unless tech in heavy vehicle sector changes quickly too.

Don't get me wrong tho, I love the idea of EVs, but their impracticality of long distance transit is still the major issue.

I really think you're going to be surprised. People aren't usually entirely logical when it comes to their choice of vehicles.

It's my opinion that within the next 4/5 years there will be a number of solid EV choices that will be less than 50k. Yes, that's 50k for a car that's doesn't have any more size or equipment than a 30k hatchback now.

Not withstanding that - people make choices. Those choices are about where they live, how they get to work, where they send the kids to school etc etc. For many people it's their choice to spend a lot of time in their cars. That's their choice and I think a lot of those people are very conscious of fuel prices. Those are the people that do 20k or more in their car now. They might spend 3-5k a year now on fuel. How much in a few years with the way it's going?

For those people the allure of not having to fork out $100 a week, and not have that mandatory visit to the servo I think will be very very strong. No more servo visits - just park the car over the charge matt, or plug it in a couple of times a week and charge of cheap off peak electricity.

It won't be for everyone, but for many it's going to be a really big thing. Maybe there will be one run-about EV per family. IMHO there will be enough of them to drive prices and adoption.

Originally Posted by AK83

I don' think cars are the problem.
The reality is they are all a luxury. for moving people, there are many other ways to move about. The issue there tho is the ability for the authorities to have the backbone to just do it, rather than to spend millions of dollars of feasibility studies on it.

The real problem is moving goods, freight, logistics .. etc.
How do you design an EV vehicle to move tons of freight?

I think ICE resources will be around for a lot longer than most doomsayers predict, unless tech in heavy vehicle sector changes quickly too.

Don't get me wrong tho, I love the idea of EVs, but their impracticality of long distance transit is still the major issue.

Rail has always been excellent for moving large amounts of same old, same old. The last city km has always been truck (last country 100km = truck). If the business is same old, then I envisage electric will be the go. There will always be specialty jobs where ICE does the job better, but whether it runs on petrol, diesel, chip fry oil or ethanol remains to be seen. The only difference would be whether the ICE is carbon-neutral or not.
Off roading and long outback touring though is an area where I would imagine a plethora of transport options will be seen for a long time.
Occasionally you see active "museum exhibits" but they are the exception.

Check out these 3 busses for sale , 450-500km range . note a similar bus did over 1000km

Early days, wont be long before long distance Electric trucks.


http://www.aeva.asn.au/sites/default...yL0-aF6xaOLLK0