I think most people in the automotive industry see a significant part of the market going to electric cars at some point in the future.. In countries like Germany, that is happening now..Lots of government subsidies, I am guessing. I think there is going to be a push to capture the burgeoning market in China at some point so car makers are preparing themselves for that time. Ford rolled out a VERY AMBITIOUS plan to the tune of $11 billion dollars to introduce 40 ELECTRIC cars(hybrids and full electric) in their related product lines of vehicles by 2022..Many other car makers are following suit...
It is interesting that former FCA(Fiat Chrysler Auto) CEO Sergio Marchionne had a different take.. He passed away yesterday, btw, so R.I.P. SERGIO!!..He basically turned around Fiat and Chrysler from the edge of bankruptcy to make them profitable. He felt that the market will dictate the sales and is less likely to respond to the electric car craze, especially in the US, for at least awhile.. Marchionne was a very interesting man in that he had no automotive background when he was named CEO and was an accountant and lawyer loved by the main principals in charge at Fiat. Marchionne was a "kick butt and take names later" kind of guy.. He came in to FCA and fired a ton of executives.. Basically put money into what is profitable and taking money out of what wasn't. Their new CEO is well known here in Toledo, Mike Manley, as he was the President of Jeep and Ram trucks, which were FCA's most profitable lines.. They own Fiat, Alfa Romeo, Ferrari, and Maserati as well plus some farming equipment interests. My point is that FCA worked on some strict parameters, financially, to keep the company afloat and large scale production of electric cars was not, and wont be in the short term, a main part of their immediate future.
The politics is that countries are probably going to mandate these cars.. But the problem is that the carbon footprint is not necessarily lessening.. Electric charged automobiles use MORE ENERGY from electric plants in their initial production than gas powered cars.. To compensate, the electric cars have to drive roughly 62,000 miles to 'even out' things with their gas powered rivals to equal out the carbon impact on the environment... The US is going away from nuclear energy(I think that is a huge mistake) in its electric power plants so fossil fuel will continue to be the source of energy used in those plants.. The other thing to a lesser degree is the lithium in the batteries after they have been stored.. Recycling has an energy cost and the lithium used in garbage dumps or recycling centers has an environmental cost IF YOU ARE TALKING MANY MANY HUNDREDS AND THOUSANDS OF BATTERIES. Heck if you wanna go deeper, the plastic used to build the vehicles has petroleum base so it isn't like this is a "Save the environment" issue on full scale. There is a lot to think about.. Electric cars may not be the positive contributor for the environment that has been advertised, if that is your thing. At least for now.
Governments are pushing it as clean energy vehicles.. There are some infrastructure and training issues that need addressing yet as people are more comfortable putting fuel in at a gas station than plugging in their car at work or somewhere else. The CLEAN ENERGY issue is true in that some greenhouse effect stuff is not emitted but overall, this issue has been studied and the carbon footprint isn't necessarily being helped, short term, until that electric car reaches the 62,000 mile threshold. At that point, the electric car becomes better for the environment than its gas powered rival. I am very interested to see how fast the US citizens respond to the future. FCA has taken many of its cars off its public offering.. Chrysler has only 1 car in its product line, the "300", and Dodge has 4-5 sports cars.. Chrysler has the Pacifica van as well.. But FCA is banking on the Ram trucks and Jeeps for SUVs and expanding the offering in their other companies to reflect their desire to give the public choices in SUVs and trucks..SUVs and trucks are easier to get "in and out of" than cars so I think that is a huge driver of the market for all ages. The downside to FCA is they may be 'late to the game' if electric cars take off in the US and become standard around the world.. Ford wants to shape the buying habits of the US public with its ambitious new plan.. Very different strategies and will be interesting to see it unfold in the future.
It is interesting that former FCA(Fiat Chrysler Auto) CEO Sergio Marchionne had a different take.. He passed away yesterday, btw, so R.I.P. SERGIO!!..He basically turned around Fiat and Chrysler from the edge of bankruptcy to make them profitable. He felt that the market will dictate the sales and is less likely to respond to the electric car craze, especially in the US, for at least awhile.. Marchionne was a very interesting man in that he had no automotive background when he was named CEO and was an accountant and lawyer loved by the main principals in charge at Fiat. Marchionne was a "kick butt and take names later" kind of guy.. He came in to FCA and fired a ton of executives.. Basically put money into what is profitable and taking money out of what wasn't. Their new CEO is well known here in Toledo, Mike Manley, as he was the President of Jeep and Ram trucks, which were FCA's most profitable lines.. They own Fiat, Alfa Romeo, Ferrari, and Maserati as well plus some farming equipment interests. My point is that FCA worked on some strict parameters, financially, to keep the company afloat and large scale production of electric cars was not, and wont be in the short term, a main part of their immediate future.
The politics is that countries are probably going to mandate these cars.. But the problem is that the carbon footprint is not necessarily lessening.. Electric charged automobiles use MORE ENERGY from electric plants in their initial production than gas powered cars.. To compensate, the electric cars have to drive roughly 62,000 miles to 'even out' things with their gas powered rivals to equal out the carbon impact on the environment... The US is going away from nuclear energy(I think that is a huge mistake) in its electric power plants so fossil fuel will continue to be the source of energy used in those plants.. The other thing to a lesser degree is the lithium in the batteries after they have been stored.. Recycling has an energy cost and the lithium used in garbage dumps or recycling centers has an environmental cost IF YOU ARE TALKING MANY MANY HUNDREDS AND THOUSANDS OF BATTERIES. Heck if you wanna go deeper, the plastic used to build the vehicles has petroleum base so it isn't like this is a "Save the environment" issue on full scale. There is a lot to think about.. Electric cars may not be the positive contributor for the environment that has been advertised, if that is your thing. At least for now.
Governments are pushing it as clean energy vehicles.. There are some infrastructure and training issues that need addressing yet as people are more comfortable putting fuel in at a gas station than plugging in their car at work or somewhere else. The CLEAN ENERGY issue is true in that some greenhouse effect stuff is not emitted but overall, this issue has been studied and the carbon footprint isn't necessarily being helped, short term, until that electric car reaches the 62,000 mile threshold. At that point, the electric car becomes better for the environment than its gas powered rival. I am very interested to see how fast the US citizens respond to the future. FCA has taken many of its cars off its public offering.. Chrysler has only 1 car in its product line, the "300", and Dodge has 4-5 sports cars.. Chrysler has the Pacifica van as well.. But FCA is banking on the Ram trucks and Jeeps for SUVs and expanding the offering in their other companies to reflect their desire to give the public choices in SUVs and trucks..SUVs and trucks are easier to get "in and out of" than cars so I think that is a huge driver of the market for all ages. The downside to FCA is they may be 'late to the game' if electric cars take off in the US and become standard around the world.. Ford wants to shape the buying habits of the US public with its ambitious new plan.. Very different strategies and will be interesting to see it unfold in the future.
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