Posted on 08/25/2011 7:26:23 AM PDT by Oldeconomybuyer
Rental car company Hertz Global Holdings yesterday announced plans to partner with General Electric in offering electric vehicles in China and expanding the charging networks needed to run them.
The government has included building up the electric vehicle industry in its five-year economic blueprint, but despite its ambitious plans, such vehicles are still a negligible part of China’s auto sales due to their high cost and inconvenience compared with regular vehicles.
Incentives that are likely to be rolled out include easier access to license plates — a key concern in cities like Shanghai, where the price of plates obtained in monthly auctions recently surged above US$8,000 apiece.
“There’s a bit of a chicken and egg component,” Broome said.
“We’re trying to provide some of the missing pieces,” he said. So far, electric vehicle development has been “a little pie-in-the-sky. This will make it grounded in reality.”
(Excerpt) Read more at taipeitimes.com ...
Immelt was named as Obama's head of Jobs and Competitiveness Council as we all know. What you may not know is that Immelt just signed a huge contract with China to build jet aircraft that will compete directly with Boeing.
Does anyone else find that sickening?
I have sitting not 100 feet from my very desk, one of those electric cars from China.
Supposed to get 100 miles on a charge. We haven’t seen the 100 miles, but we’ve seen the SIXTEEN HOUR recharge time.
For a car this small (think Suzuki or Geo), you absolutely cannot budge it when pushing left-to-right. It’s so heavy, it won’t rock at all. Estimated at nearly 5000lbs.
Crazy.
You mean GE that paid zero in corporate taxes by exploiting the “green” fad and leaving their money overseas to avoid high US taxes, is laying people off in the US, developed technologies here and got tax credits for that which they are now using to export jobs to other places like China?
No worries, it’s not worthy of the MSM to report on this as the scandle that it is.
Do you have pictures or links to this car?
I have a picture on my cell phone.
Here’s a link:
http://zapglobal.wordpress.com/2010/04/21/zap-introduces-electric-taxi-at-beijing-motor-show/
The one behind me is blue, otherwise the same vehicle.
I have absolutely zero problem with GE carrying forward losses from the past few years. Perfectly legitemate, as is leaving their profits overseas while US taxes are high.
But the cronie capitalism between GE’s “green” initiatives and the US government, with payback circling through NBC/MSNBC is beyond tolerable.
Boeing didn’t play ball with the unions and their rigged game. The Administration is now giving them an object lesson.
You’re ok though, with cronie capitalism between GE and the Chinese government.
While at the same time, GE’s executive is a “jobs czar” or whatever his title is for Obama.
You see no conflict of interest?
Just because I didn’t mention it doesn’t mean I’m “OK” with it. The list of Obama-GE cronyism goes on and on, so you can’t hold me accountable if I don’t list all the grimy details.
Don’t you all just love these “Green” zealots? Especially the ones that line their own pockets at the expense of America. Currently China opens a new coal-fired power plant every 10 days. With more Chinese driving electric cars they’ll soon be opening new coal plants much faster than that. China already burns more coal that the U.S. the E.U. and Japan combined and they’re not a bit interested in clean coal technology. Way to go Greenies!
I'm not talking about the legality. Lot's of things are legal but morally wrong, logically inconsistent or outright lies. Think when Social Security was phased in and what was promised then vs what is now (I only pay 1% and it's voluntary, right?). Do you realize that the Germans broke no laws when they devised their scheme to rid Europe of the Jews? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vsn1x9ekEeE (Read about the Wannsee Conference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wannsee_Conference)
Just because something is “legal” does not make it right, healthy, safe, functional, moral, patriotic, economically viable, etc...
Actually, GE not paying taxes because of a) the carrying forward the previous years’ losses and b) not importing income earned in other countries is both legal and moral. If the US wants that tax revenue, they need to earn it. They can do that by taxing GE (and other companies) at rates that would induce them to do such a thing.
The real hypocrisy rests with Immelt and Obama, not the corporation GE persuing its goals. Our government has offered GE big bucks to get on board with the “green” bullshit agenda. GE would be negligent to its stockholders if it passed on the deal. Obama, however, has a sworn duty to US citizens and The Constitution, not to General Electric. I place the blame squarely at the foot of government and the Obama administration for shirking that duty.
A lot of people are bitching and moaning because GE wants to move some of its medical operations to China. China has OVER A BILLION AND A HALF PEOPLE who have need for such things. Guess where GE’s gonna sell more X-Ray, CAT and MRI machines in the next 20 years? My bets on China. Can’t blame GE or China on this.
“The real hypocrisy rests with Immelt and Obama, not the corporation GE persuing its goals.”
Well said. Point taken.
GE builds the engines and not the aircraft itself. With that said, GE is just one of hundreds of American companies that are helping China build a jet aircraft to compete with Boeing. One of those companies, is......Boeing :)
This is how it works, China, for the most part, will build the skeletal airframe. Using CATIA modeling programs (French company). From there, she subcontracts to Western companies/suppliers to design and build most of the components. Many components, China maybe able to build, but they would not make the airplane marketable. So, they seek out Western suppliers. China tries to makes the terms generous enough, so that these companies/suppliers will eventually expand their operations into China.
So, it isn't just GE. Its everyone involved in the aerospace industry. Even suppliers to GE's engines will be pressed to expand into China. Even aluminum supplier, Alcoha, is participating, and who knows, may someday expand production in China as well.
And all that I mentioned is just for China's single aisle airplane. With all these contracts in place, China is already starting to build the twin aisle jets. And guess what? They are using wind tunnels in Europe to design the final shape of the airplane (which is needed before even designing the details of the airframe). So, major undertakings, like commercial aircraft, have involved the entire spectrum of American and European industries.
So, short of a government ban on high value products, this will be impossible to stop.
Maybe not the only company doing so, but it is the only company doing so who’s CEO has a presidential postion to bolster US competitiveness. That’s what I was pointing out.
Okay, thanks for the explanation.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.