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- Can this reporter please tell us how you missed the major point that the EV rebate program and its 1 million ev car goal was never approved in congress? You state this goal in your very first line as if it was approved....
Come on congress, At the very least we need to level the playing field for EV's by cancelling ( or clawing back) some of the billions in yearly subsidies that the petro industry gets every year in the name of energy security!
If Obamas request in 2011 to shift $4 billion dollars in yearly subsidy from the Oil industry to an improved EV rebate program had been approved , this goal could have been achieved within four years (2015).
It still can be, but in 2011 this lofty goal, like several other key initiates of his administration, died at the hands of a dysfunctional congress.... An all we have left is the EV tax breaks orginally put in place under Bush in 2008. - Reply to this comment
- Some corrections
1) The Model S is being delivered
2) The Volt is on schedule to sell more than 10,000 this year.
3) The lists does not include these upcoming electrics:
-Mitsubishi-i (AKA iMiEV)
-Smart Car ED
-Plug-In Prius
-Ford C-Max Energi
-Honda Fit electric
-GM Spark electric
-Toyota RAV4
Things are moving much slower than anticipated, but they are moving along. - Reply to this comment
- So how much did big oil pay you to write this article?
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- I own two Electric Cars and LOVE them. I am proud to be able to leave a smaller "carbon footprint"
on the earth. I hope someday the majority of people will be driving Electric cars. I am soon to get solar panels on my home roof and that will decrease my carbon footprint even more. The myths generated, probably by those who oppose Electric Cars, regarding "range anxiety" and other myths, is just that, MYTH. No one that I know who drives an Electric Car is sorry they bought one. I feel sorry for anyone supporting the oil companies and I certainly am opposed to the wars-for-oil. I know of no country that has waged war for electricity or solar power. Shame on you for your inaccurate reporting regarding the Electric Car and promoting the myths that have been generated by those who oppose them. - Reply to this comment
- Hold the phones here. Using the CBS numbers
Ford got 5.9 Billion and is only making 50,000 cars? That's like over 100 K per car.
To add insult in injury, it's NOT a ground up EV- they used an existing frame/body/ and structure. The fact of the matter is that a skilled engineer/mechanic could in theory build a Focus EV for about the same price by buying the parts wholesale and reselling the engine and other ICE components.
I really don't see the justification for Ford. Any Tom, Dick or Harry could do what Ford did. Heck, give me a 10 million dollar low interest loan, I would bank the money get an extra 4% interest, use that to pay my a few people that I would employ to build the cars, buy the 200 Focus/yr, gut them, sell the engines, buy the batteries and motors and sell the EVs at the cost to build it. I would still make out like a bandit, just from the interest savings alone!
At least Tesla built a ground up EV and started a company and will be selling more cars than Ford with less than 1/10th the money. Nissan also built a ground up EV for less per car than Ford, so did Fisker. How can ground up EVs cost less to develop than a mod that some peole do as a hobby in their backyards? Something just is not right.
Anyone see a problem with Ford in this case? - Reply to this comment
- Poor reporting and since you attacked Tesla here, let's set the record straight.
1. The Tesla Roadster has sold out and I think around 2,000 have been delivered.
2. Plug in hybrids are not electric vehicles, if it has a tail pipe it's not electric.
3. It should also be noted that Tesla is on schedule to pay back the DOE loan
4. Last time I checked the Tesla forums, there are close to 14,000 pre-orders all of whom put at least 5,000 down on the cars
Let's look at the the Volt and Leaf too. To put in perspective, first year Prius sales were on par with Volt and Leaf sales. It was not until a HUGE run-up in the gasoline price that the Prius started to sell. It was a perfect time for the Prius. The Volt and Leaf are holding their own.
Actually Tesla, Nissan and other companies are implementing charging networks. If you have a 110 or 220, you should be fine. The Tesla Model S has about a 300 mile range using which is about the same as a normal car.
From my analysis AND from the Tesla battery warranty, my costs are going to be about the same as a base, Toyota Corolla in the end. I'd rather have power windows, a nifty control panel, and all the bells and whistles vs having a common car from the same price. (I drive over 1,000 mile per week), so do the math, a Corolla over 8 years is like 60 K, a Telsa is like 58 K before tax rebates - Reply to this comment
- This is really inaccurately reported. At the topo of the article, you say "Our CBS News investigation found that six of the 11 -- Ford Focus, Ford Transit Connect, Fisker Nina/Atlantic, Tesla Model S, Tesla Roadster and Think City -- either haven't made their first delivery or are already out of business."
However, later on you admit that " Tesla is the only company on the Obama administration's list that has met and/or anticipates it will meet the administration's production goals."
So Tesla is in trouble or out of business, yet meeting its goals?
The Tesla Roadster SOLD OUT. It didn't go "out of business." There are over 2000 on the road in N. America, not the 1000 reflected in your chart. And the Model S is being delivered AHEAD of schedule and the entire first batch has already been sold.
Please try to be more accurate in your reporting next time instead of using the failure of one manufacturer to bury an entire industry. Your anti-Obama-bias is showing.
(In case you're wondering, I don't work for Tesla. I don't even work in this industry. I'm simply a Tesla fan/owner who believes in fair reporting.) - Reply to this comment
- Maybe you should look at latest developments in battery tech, ie Envia sys. Things are going to change. I wait for the day I can afford an electric or even hybrid car( might come end of this year with the likes of Toyota yaris) Fed up of being strangled by the oil giants.
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- At this point in time, electric cars are only suitable as an expensive secondary vehicle used for short (less than ten miles) trips, or short commutes. To actually be otherwise practacal, they will need to have a range of 400 miles. The technology has a long way to go to accomplish true useability.
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- Amongst other issues, which includes how many miles the car can be driven before needing an overnight recharge, let's not forget the issues that prevent people FROM spending in the first place.
http://motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2010/01/vicious-cycle-stagnant-wages
http://www.realitybase.org/journal/2009/3/10/the-american-dream-died-in-february-1973.html
http://www.mydd.com/story/2007/2/7/184312/5388
http://hubpages.com/hub/HowH1BVisaFRAUDiskillingAmerica
rising college costs on top of all that, combined with retraining due to those and other issues, etc
Without people having middle class wage-paying jobs, even if wages for all fields had kept up, the price itself might still be too high because it is a newer technology (and the high costs that invariably come with it.)
Obama was not wrong for subsidizing these efforts, which was an attempt to get them developed and marketed more quickly.
And oil will always be needed... - Reply to this comment
