2017 - 499,327 units (Jan thru July)
2016 - 820,799 units
2015 - 780,354 units
Tesla sales
2017 - 16,800 units (Jan thru July)
2016 - 47,184 units
2015 - 25,410 units
Good luck with those electric vehicle sales... LOL
Posted on 09/12/2017 9:10:52 AM PDT by Oldeconomybuyer
FRANKFURT - European car bosses are beginning to address the realities of mass vehicle electrification, and its consequences for jobs and profit, their minds focused by government pledges to outlaw the combustion engine.
As the latest such announcement on Monday by China added momentum to a push for zero-emissions motoring, Daimler, Volkswagen and PSA Group gave details about their electric programs that could give policymakers some pause.
Planned electric Mercedes models will initially be just half as profitable as conventional alternatives, Daimler warned - forcing the group to find savings by outsourcing more component manufacturing, which may in turn threaten German jobs.
“In-house production is almost irrelevant to the consumer,” Daimler boss Dieter Zetsche told reporters in the midst of a German election campaign in which automotive jobs have loomed large.
A phase-out of combustion engines by 2030 could cost 600,000 jobs in Germany alone, the country’s Ifo economic institute has warned.
Since the battery is the single biggest-value item in an electric car, however, experts point out that mass adoption would shift business and jobs from European suppliers to China, which already dominates the automotive power-pack market.
Independent analyst Richard Windsor warned that far from boosting the industry, a shift to electric cars - which are expected to last longer than combustion-engined equivalents and require less maintenance - could inflict long-term damage.
“Vehicle makers are queuing up to announce their commitment to electric vehicles but at the same time they may be cheering for their own demise,” he said.
(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...
We will all be driving Barbie cars......
Someone had better get going on a real life version of John Galt’s motor for the dreams of electric avenues.
Electric motors are actually a pretty good means of supplying torque to the drive wheels. Diesel-electric locomotives have long proven this means of power delivery for decades. Nothing wrong with that part of the technology.
The big bottleneck is the battery technology. While batteries have gotten both more efficient and reliable than they were in the past, they still do not have the range or the full capacity to deliver all available energy from fully charged to fully discharged.
Fuel cells, charged with hydrogen, overcome many of these difficulties, but introduce a number of others. One is the availability and another is on-board storage.
Hydrogen has two challenging characteristics. One is the extraction of hydrogen from other sources, as there are no hydrogen mines or hydrogen wells around. Another is, hydrogen is notoriously hard to store, as it leaks out through most EVERYTHING, and it is highly corrosive of most metal connectors, forming metallic hydrides, a very brittle series of compounds. And it must be kept under very high pressure, but never becomes liquid until very low temperatures are reached.
A premeditated attack on the middle and lower classes. Absurd and evil.
Current combustion engines are a marvel holding up over hundreds of thousand miles.
I don’t agree that their futures are dim.
Electric vehicles are NOT poised to overtake them anytime soon.
Ping!..................
If it’s lithium, Afghanistan is the Saudi Arabia of Lithium.
China and Afghanistan have a small common border......
The projected shortage of electricity to drive all these electric cars is part of the plan.
Electricity will be rationed, and only the elites will have unlimited access to the grid.
The rest of us will have our freedom to move about restricted by government edict, and tracked, all in the name of saving the planet.
The open question is “where do you get the generating capacity necessary to charge an all-electric automobile fleet?” Particularly in Germany where solar is a sketchy business due to lots of overcast/rainy days. coupled with their rapid movement away from nuclear power.
2017 - 499,327 units (Jan thru July)
2016 - 820,799 units
2015 - 780,354 units
Tesla sales
2017 - 16,800 units (Jan thru July)
2016 - 47,184 units
2015 - 25,410 units
Good luck with those electric vehicle sales... LOL
All the naysaying ignores the fact that EVs _are_ getting better, cheaper, and feasible. They have their problems, yes, and so do the gas-burning machines we have now. It’s nice having a vehicle fully powered every morning. It’s nice having smooth quiet shiftless powerful acceleration available. It’s nice having very few moving parts. It’s nice having options for power sourcing - including off-the-grid home solar (costing about 1/2 the price of the vehicle). Yes, it’s not for every scenario everywhere - neither are sedans, convertibles, box vans, etc. Yes, assorted problems are solvable.
I’ve tried EVs, there’s a lot going for them, they’re within reach if so inclined, and net-luddites are going to disparage them until they’re dominant. I’m looking forward to buying an electric Jeep Wrangler.
How is that Polaris E- ATV or Yamaha’s Electric Jet Ski working out?
I follow a You Tube site, where a dude has installed electric motor. on 30’ SAILBOAT.
He has large solar panels and prays for lots of wind and lots of Sun!
Charge decay may be real, but it’s mostly irrelevant. It’s about on par with leaving gasoline in a car long enough to start congealing. So long as you use the thing reasonably often, self-discharge is trivial. I’ve left an EV sitting for weeks, no meaningful power loss.
If you don't like our limited range electric cars, we'll shove them down your throats at bayonet-point!!!
What makes you think that in 20-30 years - or, for that matter, in 20 000 -30 000 years - the laws of thermodynamics will be repealed?
There's a reason they don't have the batteries needed, and the reason is chemistry and physics.
I am astounded with the frequency officials and media refer to electric cars as “the future”.
It’s as if they believe the consumer and the voter will have no say in it. Like if all the car makers were to suddenly abandon real cars and the only thing in the world left to purchase was a Tesla or a Bolt or a Leaf.
As for government mandate, as long as the citizenry votes they will not vote to eliminate production and use of the gas automobile.
Only in an authoritarian and fascist “future” could something like this come true. As China is today.
So, now we know what the plan is.
We also know, each of us, the small part we can play to ensure this future never emerges.
When they come up with a consistent 300 mile range, a 15 minute or less recharge time and an environmentally acceptable recycling program for a moderately priced replacement battery, I’ll happily sign on.
“Electric” cars are powered by coal, natural gas, and nuclear power.
Nobody here is pushing for banning EV’s. However, the EV crowd IS attempting to ban internal combution engines.
Don’t call us Luddites!
The EV crowd is also expecting US to underwrite their foray into the EV world via subsidies. If EV’s are so great, then they should stand on their own merits.
My son owns a Prius hybrid and loves it. He really does get close to 50 MPG. The internal combustion engine gives him range, which straight EV’s currently don’t have.
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