The Affordable EV: Who's On First?

(MoneyWatch)  Volkswagen is teaming up with Toshiba to build an electric drivetrain for VW vehicles, and is feeling really confident about it all. VW has proclaimed its intention to become the first carmaker to produce what it describes as an "affordable" and "large-scale production" electric vehicle.

Other carmakers taking part in this worldwide race could beat VW to the finish line, but those two qualifiers could prove VW right. Ford, Nissan and Toyota, among others, have all announced forthcoming electric cars, but will they be "affordable" and "large-scale production"?

VW's announcement was short on specifics, other than to state the obvious, which is that the car will use Toshiba's lithium-ion battery technology. VW's board chairman, Dr. Martin Winterkorn, did admit that "a considerable amount of research and development still has to be carried out until we can produce the electric vehicle."

The EVs will reportedly be built on the platform of VW's New Small Family (NSF) cars, shown in concept form in 2007.

Toyota displayed an electric prototype, the FT EV, in Detroit in January and said it will have a version of it on the market by 2012. The Detroit car was based on the iQ platform, but the production version might be quite different. The car will be designed as an urban commuter, with a 50-mile range.

Jana Hartline, a Toyota environmental spokesman, seemed puzzled by VW's announcement. "I can't speak to Volkswagen's plans, but maybe they're qualifying it by using the word 'affordable,'" she said. Toyota hasn't said how many it will produce, or where it will be sold, but Hartline said she "expects" it will make it to the U.S.

Ford's Jennifer Moore says, "It will be interesting to see what they come up with." Ford will have an electric Transit Connect van for fleet customers in 2010, and a Focus-sized EV for sale in 2011. "We've said upfront that our initial production will be in relatively small numbers, depending on the market," Moore said. So maybe the qualifier here is "large-scale production."

Nissan's unnamed electric vehicle, about which not much is known, will be here by 2010 for fleet customers. Regular folks won't get their hands on it until 2012, so VW may have Nissan beat on production scale.

Still, it's hard to imagine VW suddenly mass-producing huge numbers of electric vehicles when it admits that there's a lot of R&D ahead. VW's Margaret DeGrandis said she has no information beyond the initial announcement, but will query her European colleagues. When we learn more, you'll learn more.