The Race For The Electric Car

Competition To Build A Viable Electric Car Heats Up, As Silicon Valley Gets Into The Game

(CBS)  It was GM with egg on its face in the late 1990s for killing off its first electric cars, the EV1s, and then crushing them into scrap metal, which fueled theories that GM had conspired with the oil industry to get rid of the electric car.

"I think even our lawyers now would admit that perhaps crushing them was not the smartest thing in the world to do. I get e-mails that say, 'I hope you enjoy the billions that you got from the oil companies, you swine,'" Lutz says.

It's that history and his record of promoting SUVs and the Hummer that make people wonder about Lutz's role in developing GM's new green cars.

Speaking about his own personal carbon footprint, Lutz acknowledges he and his wife own two helicopters and two jets.

"You have a terrible reputation with environmentalists, as you well know," Stahl points out.

"Well, actually some of them like me but go ahead…," Lutz replies.

"Well they don't like what you said about global warming," Stahl says. "Do you want to repeat what you said about global warming?"

"Of course not, because this is a family network," Lutz says.

"You don't think there's global warming? Is that really true?" Stahl asks.

"I'm not going to get into this. Because…," Lutz replies.

"Because you got into so much trouble when you said it the first time?" Stahl asks.

"That could be right. Yeah," Lutz admits.

What Lutz said in January is, "man-made global warming is a crock of s…t." So he's no environmentalist. But he is a realist. Gone are gas guzzlers. To save GM, he knows he has to come up with gas efficient cars. But Detroit is broke, while in California things are buzzing.

The venture capitalists, who funded the information superhighway, are now pouring money into the actual highway, backing at least 30 small start-up companies.

[bonezmalone-2009]

Do you know what put CBS down tonight? When the ladie asking the VP for General Moters questions she mentioned the word "***" in a raging comment about his company. It really made me look at a different side of them.

[political66]

Goodbye GM. Farewell Ford. Ciao Chrysler. You big, lumbering, oil-company collusionists. You made a big business in cars and squeezing other American competitors out. You''ve created another big nightmare, the UAW. Can''t imagine why an American-made car costs so much when they''re so NOT appealing.

Get lost. And, welcome the future of people with the interest and intent to make a clean & safe car for a fair price with a reasonable wage & benefit package for their employees ... w/o the US Gov''t telling they "have to."

You''ve outlived your worth. Do something positive ... donate your factories to those like Tesla who can hire your ex-employees.

[bonezmalone-2009]

Do you know what put CBS down tonight? When the ladie asking the VP for General Moters questions she mentioned the word "***" in a raging comment about his company. It really made me look at a different side of them.

[dld4321]

For 60 minutes,
Tell Lesley Stahl to show me an electric car without a drop of oil and I will sell her Ocean front property in Michigan.

[cduncan82]

I would of liked to hear some about the history of the electic car. Would of been a nice intro to where we are now. Made it sound like a new creation, even newer then hydrogen. An electric car with a 200 mile range was built some 130 years ago. Other reasons this was not completely viable but shows where technology should be by now. However oil companies along with government have shut down atleast 3 different attempts at the electric car for profit purposes. I know this wasnt the purpose of the story, it was just to show us where we are now with developement. Just horrible that it took a money issue to finally realize the production of alternative fuel vehicles.

[rfustero]

I live on the second floor in a condo building. We have street parking. Where do I plug in my electric car?

I do not think a 200 foot extension cord is practical.

[della12]

Here is a video for the Air Car. YES, IT RUNS ON COMPRESSED AIR. Stop waiting for Detroit to get on the ball to free us from Middle East oil. Make a difference and find a way to bring alternative and INEXPENSIVE vehicles to the U.S.:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZFDG6KUJ9N8

Follow the lead of this man and contact your city and state leaders. America does need jobs. Have your leaders bring this technology manufactured here in the U.S.:
http://www.newsadvance.com/lna/business/local/article/evington_man_cant_wait_to_get_hands_on_air_car/6177/

[haesteve88]

Coal was the only source to get electricity from this story. CBS showed an smoke old coal plant%u2026 I wonder if CBS has stock in oil or gas companies. They do know wind, nuclear, water power, solar power produce electricity.

WHY the negatively in a electric car CBS

[ccphoenix123]

Surprised to see the GM man so apologetic about the cost of this new electric car. In fact, GM created an affordable and sustainable electric car in the 1990''2 when Californai made it mandatory for the car companies to sell a percentage of electric cars if they wanted to continue to sell cars at all there - in a bid to cut down on pollution. Their car was called the EV-1. In fact, all of the car makers did so: Honda EV Plus, Ford Think, Toyota RAV4 EV, Ford Ranger EV, Nissan Altra EV. When the car proved not to make GM as much money as they wanted - they took the cars off the road and crushed every last car to hide the technology. The documentary ''Who Killed the Electric Car'' has the proof of this.
The bottom line is that all of the car companies already have the technology - so what is holding them back? Could it be governments in thrall to large controlling oil companies? It''s about time we cut the umbilical cord filled with oil, and forced our governments to pass legislation to make a percentage of these cars mandatory for the entire country!

[bfatman]

First, I care about our environment and do things in my power to take care of it. I also have the sense to realize that Global Warming is a theory. Is Lesley insinuating with this "report" that people who don''t buy into the Global Warming movement that we don''t care about the environment? How about reporting the facts, just the facts mam? P.S. Why didn''t Lesley ask the Tesla guy how many helicopters and jets he owns?

[della12]

I''m sorry my links did not work. Type in: Air Car You Tube videos. One of them is from CNN and another is from Discovery program "Beyond Tomorrow".

Also search for: Evington man can%u2019t wait to get hands on %u2018air car%u2019

Thank you for your patience. It is well worth looking at.

[rnathans00]

I wonder how it is that CBS can do a piece on electric cars and not mention the Better Place project currently underway in Israel. Working with Renault-Nissan and with government support, they''re taking a radical *systemic* approach to supporting electrics, including charging stations and fast battery swaps to solve the "range" problem.

[mwdl8a]

What a terrible story on electric cars. No mention of Shai Agassi''s company (Better Place) that is partnering with Nissan to transfer all of Israel and Denmark to electric cars. No mention of the fact that even if you produce electricity from coal to run electric cars, it still produces less carbon emissions. No mention that the battery on an electric car could be used to store energy and sell it back to the grid at peak prices. What''s missing from this story could fill a book.
And another thing-Bob Lutz had better watch his mouth. Bigger companies than General Motors have gone out of business. Every major car company on the planet is going to have an electric car for sale at the same time the Volt comes out. If anything, he''s late.

[milkman_01]

well you just proved why the BIG 3 needs to give the american public an honest reduction in price on cars , they need to do what we advised our public officials to do if they cant make the budget work instead of taxing , if he can afford to helicoptors to jets and just how many houses cut his pay in half and they could sell the electric car for under 20,000 , thats scarey in only about 8 years car prices have more then tripled // hahahahha give us a break

[mwdl8a]

What a terrible story on electric cars. No mention of Shai Agassi''s company (Better Place) that is partnering with Nissan to transfer all of Israel and Denmark to electric cars. No mention of the fact that even if you produce electricity from coal to run electric cars, it still produces less carbon emissions. No mention that the battery on an electric car could be used to store energy and sell it back to the grid at peak prices. What''s missing from this story could fill a book.
And another thing-Bob Lutz had better watch his mouth. Bigger companies than General Motors have gone out of business. Every major car company on the planet is going to have an electric car for sale at the same time the Volt comes out. If anything, he''s late.

[rmdfire]

Ms. Stahl in Oregon there is a company building a car called the ECO-FUELER that runs on COMPRESSED NATURAL GAS that is going to sell for $19,000.00. The ECOFUELER will get 70 miles to the gallon and will have a 400 mile range. Why don''t you do a story on ECOFUELER. Check it out at www.ecofueler.com.

[nycomari]

The most interesting 60 Minutes program long time. You just cannot help yourselves, however.

It is presumptuous to say that the only view on global warming is that it is real, it is caused by humans, and that the conservation efforts we are all trying will really have any significant effect. All of these are questionable at best, but Leslie Stahl just had to hit Lutz with that presumption.

Why not ask the Tesla CEO about HIS carbon footprint? With $55 million to invest, I am guessing that he is driving his Tesla to his helicopter pad or to the airport to board his private jet. Or... how about Leslie''s personal carbon footprint? I am willing to bet that she isn''t all that evergy efficient either.

Just report the interesting stories and leave the libberal claptrap editorializing and sermonizing out.

[csweeetie]

First off, thank you for airing a story on completely electric cars, rather than focusing on hybrids, etc. This is an awesome technology that should have been put in the marketplace many years ago.

But, I am very disappointed that CBS did not focus more on the EV1 and it''s evolution & disappearance. This car would run 300+ miles per charge, and seemed to have no issues. And you could charge up at a "filling station" in a matter of minutes, if you did not have access to charge at home. I would definitely like to see a follow-up to this story, and hopefully it will push a bit harder on GM and what happened to the EV1. Why this new Volt? Why not harness the technology that they developed years ago? If anyone has questions about it, rent "Who Killed the Electric Car"... very insightful.

P.S. I second haesteve88''s comment.

[rmdfire]

**********CORRECTION***********

WWW.eco-fueler.com

[zachy682]

Is Lesley Stahl, a fine journalist, now reduced to puff pieces? Hardly what one considers a CBS News report on the Race For The Electric Car.

The story is out there. Free Lesley Stahl.

[jbfliberty]

An affordable alternative energy car is needed for the masses. The technology is there for a car that runs on compressed air that could be as affordable as the original VW Beetle but seems to be swept under the rug by the Detroit. I wish you would do a story on this, expose Detroit again and help this kind of technology gain some momentum!!

[jbfliberty]

An affordable alternative energy car is needed for the masses. The technology is there for a car that runs on compressed air that could be as affordable as the original VW Beetle but seems to be swept under the rug by the Detroit. I wish you would do a story on this, expose Detroit again and help this kind of technology gain some momentum!!

[jbfliberty]

Great story, it is a great start toward exposing Detroit for continuing to try to crush any alternative technology out there so they can make a profit. I wish you would do a story on the car that runs on air compression, it could be made very cheaply and would not use any fossil fuels (like the electric car will to charge.)

[bptr]

The head of GM, an American icon, believes that Global Warming is "a crock..." and keeps saying "SiliconE Valley"???
WOW!!!! What an embarrassment! I think California should secede ffrom the Union and Detroit should just implode.
No wonder America has gotten so bad. Maybe if we actually got out of our cars and walked two blocks, and stop living on Cheetos, Americans wouldn''t be a bunch of retarted fat people.

[bptr]

The VOLT is UGLY!!!! Why are they so clueless about cosmetics? GM is headed by an idiot!!!

[andyzeev]

You may be interested in a solar powered commuter vehicle that does not have to be plugged into the grid.
It gets most of its energy from solar panels on its roof.
It uses the latest Lithium Fe P batteries. There is more
information at www.sunzeecar.com. You can get more
information by calling Andy Schoenberg 801 274 7423
or e-mail [e-mail]

[andyzeev]

You may be interested in a solar powered commuter vehicle that does not have to be plugged into the grid.
It gets most of its energy from solar panels on its roof.
It uses the latest Lithium Fe P batteries. There is more
information at www.sunzeecar.com. You can get more
information by calling Andy Schoenberg 801 274 7423
or e-mail [e-mail]

[bblackis]

Apparently, we are to believe the race to develop a commercially viable electric car is a genteel competition between Silicon Valley Whiz-Kids and a stodgy and faltering Detroit. When competitive models show up from Europe, Asia, and India over the next year or two, they will both wish it were so.

[cslagenhop]

The ascertion that because the chairman of GM thinks manmade global warming is a crock, he is somehow not an environmentalist is absurd. Manmade global warming has all but been debunked. Global warming has to do with solar cycle and is independent to CO2 levels.

[Martyz42]

My wife & I had already decided that GM "had" been run by people who have proven how really incompetant they are. I just saw your report on GM with it''s chairman, now we are totally convinced that Lutz is worse then incompetent, he is 100% the reason that the US has lost any hope of staying # 1 in the world when it comes to innovation & people like him have just cost us all $700,000,000,000 plus $25,000,000,000. to people as stupid & self centered as he is....

[lola328]

The assertion the Tesla is being built without any assistance from automobile manufacturers is FALSE. The Tesla chassis is manufacturered in the UK by Lotus and is based on their Elise model. The bodywork is slightly altered to disguise this fact. To have not stated this, but said it is an original California-based design, is an insult to Lotus and a mis-representation to the viewing public.

[c_harnett]

First, I can''t believe what motivates GM to build the Volt is the threat that Tesla might sell a few dozen a cars a year based on notebook computer batteries. I mean... Silicon Vally IS clueless about heavy mass-manufacturing. Still, one must give them props for trying.

However, the problem here is GM is apparently threatened by Tesla''s insignificant output of electrics and somehow fails to notice that Toyota has pulled in $20 BILLION in revenue from a MILLION hybrids over the last few years. That the Prius outsells most of the vehicles in GM''s lineup.

And I''m apalled that you could do this story without mentioning the Prius.

By the way, blablablabla, who expects you to believe anything in the realm of science because politicians have something to say on it? I certainly don''t. I don''t believe in Creation "science," for example, although quite a few politicians do.

However, I believe Anthropogenic Climate change is a real effect because many SCIENTISTS believe it is a real effect and have worked diligently to discover and define it. The SCIENCE goes back a hundred years. However, I am grateful to a politician for pointing the situation out. From scientists, we get science. From politicians, if we are lucky, we get leadership. From a few, anyway.

[bptdude]

A battery powered car would shift the resource from oil in other countries, to various means of electrical generation here. Some may be coal, but clean coal is being worked on. Some may be hydroelectric or nuclear. The point is, it is not oil, and puts more options on the table to get off oil from other nations.

The whole idea of a car run by batteries is short term, and these people must understand that. A fuel cell car with a hydrogen tank is also an electric car, though people don''t think of it that way. It could also go hundreds of miles on a tank of hydrogen, and could be refilled from your own unit in your house charged by wind or sun, if you like.

[billdale]

Lesley Stahl''s comments show complete irresponsibility. Electric vehicles are far too important to gloss over in such a superficial manner, such as when she dismisses EVs as being "dirty" because they supposedly run on power from coal-burning plants.
A proper response to that comment would take more than the 1500 words you restrict us to, but if she contacts any reputable source of data on the subject she''ll find that is grossly untrue. In part, EVs are far, far more efficient than gas guzzlers- the equivalent of more than 100 mpg; in California, we use NO coal plants, and much of our electricity is renewable. Gasoline cars use engines that change speeds, load & temperature, idle frequently, and are moving vehicles that must carry their compact smog control systems with them, smog equipment that can and do go bad for years at a time before they are checked for emissions and corrected.
All of these factors make fueled vehicles a nightmare to control emissions. Stationary power plants running at constant speeds and temperatures, with as much room as they need for smog equipment that is monitored constantly is far cleaner than the best gasoline engine in a moving vehicle.

[billdale]

(cont''d):
Even in worst-case scenarios-- states that use the dirtiest coals-- an EV would still be better than a gasoline car in many ways: for one, it''s domestically-produced fuel rather than fuel from, say, Saudi Arabia, who financed the 9/11 attacks and continues to finance terrorism in Iraq and elsewhere.
Everything is changing, including just how much of our power is derived from dirty sources. Nanosolar, for instance, a maker of revolutionary new solar panels that are just a fraction of the cost of conventional brittle solar panels, is currently making enough solar panels to "solarize" 100,000 homes per year; if they make more of their manufacturing plants, that number can increase dramatically. And as solar panels cover more and more roofs across our country, it will make more and more sense to drive EVs.

[billdale]

(cont''d 2):
Even if oil supplies are your energy source of choice, are quickly dwindling-- especially since India and China are suddenly putting millions of their countrymen in gas-powered cars every year, depleting supplies ever faster, so gasoline prices will inevitably climb regardless of the best intentions of federal regulators.
At today''s gasoline prices, it would not take long to pay off an otherwise expensive EV. And once the car is paid for, you''d only be paying a few dollars a week for electricity rather than the hundred or so you''d spend for a week''s worth of gasoline-- and if you install solar panels, that cost could drop to nearly nothing, while your neighbors in their gas guzzlers will see the wisdom of the EV you drive.
Lesley also dismisses EVs as some kind of flash-in-the-pan like hydrogen fuel cells, ethanol and others, but it did not take a genius to see the folly of these other "alternative-wannabes".

[billdale]

(cont''d 2):
Even if oil supplies are your energy source of choice, they are quickly dwindling-- especially since India and China are suddenly putting millions of their countrymen in gas-powered cars every year, depleting supplies ever faster, so gasoline prices will inevitably climb regardless of the best intentions of federal regulators.
At today''s gasoline prices, it would not take long to pay off an otherwise expensive EV. And once the car is paid for, you''d only be paying a few dollars a week for electricity rather than the hundred or so you''d spend for a week''s worth of gasoline-- and if you install solar panels on the roof of your house to charge your EV, that cost could drop to nearly nothing, while your neighbors in their gas guzzlers will see the wisdom of the EV you drive.
Lesley also dismisses EVs as some kind of flash-in-the-pan like hydrogen fuel cells, ethanol and others, but it did not take a genius to see the folly of these other "alternative-wannabes".

[billdale]

(cont''d 2):
Even if oil supplies are your energy source of choice, they are quickly dwindling-- especially since India and China are suddenly putting millions of their countrymen in gas-powered cars every year, depleting supplies ever faster, so gasoline prices will inevitably climb regardless of the best intentions of federal regulators.
At today''s gasoline prices, it would not take long to pay off an otherwise expensive EV. And once the car is paid for, you''d only be paying a few dollars a week for electricity rather than the hundred or so you''d spend for a week''s worth of gasoline-- and if you install solar panels on the roof of your house to charge your EV, that cost could drop to nearly nothing, while your neighbors in their gas guzzlers will see the wisdom of the EV you drive.
Lesley also dismisses EVs as some kind of flash-in-the-pan like hydrogen fuel cells, ethanol and others, but it did not take a genius to see the folly of these other "alternative-wannabes".

[billdale]

(cont''d 2):
Even if oil supplies are your energy source of choice, they are quickly dwindling-- especially since India and China are suddenly putting millions of their countrymen in gas-powered cars every year, depleting supplies ever faster, so gasoline prices will inevitably climb regardless of the best intentions of federal regulators.
At today''s gasoline prices, it would not take long to pay off an otherwise expensive EV. And once the car is paid for, you''d only be paying a few dollars a week for electricity rather than the hundred or so you''d spend for a week''s worth of gasoline-- and if you install solar panels on the roof of your house to charge your EV, that cost could drop to nearly nothing, while your neighbors in their gas guzzlers will see the wisdom of the EV you drive.
Lesley also dismisses EVs as some kind of flash-in-the-pan like hydrogen fuel cells, ethanol and others, but it did not take a genius to see the folly of these other "alternative-wannabes".

[missingamerica]

Somebody must be getting worried about the arrival of decent electric cars...

How else do you explain the 40% reduction in the price of oil, when I have seen no figures to date that show the reduction in the demand for oil in the face of this Republican economic collapse to be more than 5%?

[fharlass]

Dear Mr. Lutz: If a single person can be assigned much of the backward thinking in Detroit, it is you. You have made numerous statments over the years reflecting fuel efficient cars. Why they keep you at GM is beyond the understanding of many people. Get out of the way and let modern day thinkers do their thing. You belong with Ford''s Edsel. Why not retire - T-Rex?

[nfgpncoti]

I must write in to comment on the Electric Car segment of last night''s program. I am ashamed of the entire crew, including Lesley Stahl, the producers, director and the managemtn of the program. How dare Ms Stahl ask BobLutz how many helicopters he and his wife have? Unless all of the CBS crew are prepared to list your personal assets attached to the show notes, I feel this type of personal attacks remind one of a socialist government. I hope your educated viewer community (now minus one) don''t stand for this type of program content and voice their opinions now.

[slim1h2o]

Get out of the way Detroit. The only true visionary that was there, was Henry Ford, A hundred years ago,

Not a very good track record if you should ask me.

[trobwild]

Your commentary about the future of electric cars did not include the Canadian Electric Car maker that has an exclusive agreement with a private company called eestor that is making a completely different type of battery that could be a hugh game changer event. They expect to have a production model using this battery in late 2009.

[bonker64]

The problem is even if we make electric cars here in the usa, they make them so exspensive that only the rich can drive them, thats the problem its all about money and the government doesn''t do anything about it.

[jamesmrush]

This was a very interesting story, but Ms. Stahl is guilty of something just about every other story on the search for alternative energy vehicles is ... intertwining the search for a viable alternative-energy vehicle with the "Green" movement. Ms. Stahl''s comments about Mr. Lutz''s carbon footprint and the "problem" with electric vehicles being that the majority of electricity produced in the U.S. is generated by coal-fired plants is misplaced. This "problem" is only a problem if your PRIMARY objective is to reduce carbon emissions. I would argue that Mr. Lutz''s apparent disdain for the Green movement and his seemingly incongruous actions of staking his company''s future on the pursuit of an electric (alternative energy) vehicle is evidence enough of the changing times we are entering. In order for any energy revolution or alternative energy vehicle to succeed it MUST make sense in terms of dollars for the utility companies, car companies, and individual consumers.

[jamesmrush]

(cont)
The fact that it may be good for the environment and reduce one''s "carbon footprint" will be purely an ancillary benefit - one which some will care deeply about and others not at all. Tying the search for alternatives to our current energy use and production to the environmental movement is - unfortunately - not a boon to the search and may end up being a hidrance by confusing the issue with the general population. The majority of people just want what they have now (warm homes, decent-sized cars that will run for hundreds of miles when need be, etc) but have it cost less. I wish the best of luck to Mr. Lutz in his chase - I only wish that he or someone had the foresight to position their company for this inevitability much earlier.

[Scooter68]

Obama/Biden claim they don''t want to tax the middle class, however they are going to tax the companies that hire those middle class people and pay them those middle class wages and they are going after the companies like Walmarts, KMarts, Targets, Home Depots etc who they see as underpaying employees. It isn''t about the personal tax rates as much as it is about laying heavy tax burdens on the companies that hire us who depend on those big companies. You cannot tax the companies that pay good wages or low wages and expect that to level things out. What should be done is to stop the price games going on with Oil and the bad loan policies that produced this current crisis. Those high dollar homes would never have been built if the loan companies didn''t finance the builders and the buyers alike. Interest only loans are/were one of the most criminal things that could have offered to the public.

[Scooter68]

The root cause of the current financial mess is plain old fashioned greed. This isn''t just a McCain vs Obama issue, it''s a complete political malfeasance issue in our government. Our politicians have refused to stand up and be counted when it comes to stopping bad business practices that got us into this mess. Neither side of the aisle can brag about their behavior, they have all failed to do what we elected them to do. From voting ''present'' to trying to build a bridge to nowhere there is plenty of blame to go around including the MEDIA who has foisted lies as facts in news stories and fawned over candidates or ''exposed'' personal family matters as if they determine a candidates ability to serve.

[Scooter68]

It is far easier to control the emissions of a few hundred or thousand coal fired electric generation facilities than it is to monitor the emissions of todays current gasoline cars and trucks. If you live in one of those states that requires emissions testing you know how much time and money is spent on the problems and you know that even then there are ways around meeting the standards.(Virginia allows you to spend about $400.00 trying to get your car to pass and then if it still fails you get a 2 year waver)
Perfect solutions don''t exist but given some time and initial series of vehicles even "Detroit" can develop some responsible solutions.