Battery exec: Europe ahead of U.S. on electric cars

In the race to deliver plug-in electric cars, European automakers have an early lead, according to Bob Kanode, the CEO of vehicle battery maker Valence Technology.

Austin, Texas-based Valence has been in the battery business since 1990. It already supplies batteries for the Segway Personal Transporter and is setting its sites on the auto market.

On Tuesday, Valence announced that French electric-bus and truck maker PVI will test Valence's lithium phosphate batteries for fleet vehicles in a deal worth $3 million.

As Valence seeks customers in the transportation field, Kanode sees Europe as far more mature than the United States

On Wednesday, The Wall Street Journal reported that a U.S. auto battery consortium plans to apply for a $1 billion loan in an effort to better compete against manufacturers in Japan, where there is already an established supply chain for lithium ion batteries for electronics.

Cash-strapped U.S. auto companies are pushing into plug-in electric cars with the first models from General Motors, Chrysler, and Ford, starting in two years. But the overall environment for introducing electric cars is better in Europe, according to Kanode.

"In Europe, the determination is absolute," he said. "They have had high energy costs our whole lifetime. Second, they want to decrease their reliance on foreign oil...And third, they are absolutely committed to improving their carbon footprint, both the public and the governments."

He said there are already a number of hybrid electric vehicles coming to market in the form of fleets of buses and delivery trucks.

Both BMW and Mercedes are said to be developing all-electric cars. Last month, Mini unveiled the Electric Mini, which it started testing.

General Motors, with its Chevy Volt, and Fisker Automotive have chosen gas-electric designs to ensure that cars have a longer driving range. Because of battery limitations, an all-electric car priced like a typical family sedan will have a shorter range.

Nissan and Miles Electric, for example, are bringing out all-electric sedans that are expected to have a range of 100 miles and 120 miles, respectively. Rather than as a replacement for a gasoline car, the companies intend to sell them as secondary cars used for daily commuting and errands, according to executives.

Valence's Kanode expects European automakers to take the same tack with electric passenger cars.

"They are very aggressively going after these markets, and they want them," he said. "(In the U.S.), the companies aren't here, the determination isn't here, and the markets aren't here...It's absolutely no comparison."

He added that the rapid move into electric vehicles has caught the interest of electricity suppliers, which can use batteries to store energy from wind or solar plants, or to provide backup supply.

United Kingdom-based National Grid is purchasing batteries from Valence for testing, he said.

[dbargen]

Um, what markets?

What markets are they talking about here? In the year that prices around the world rose (but mainly in the US) sales of electric cars were down. Way down. we're talking less that 150 for the year TOTAL.

Until they can get that range anywhere close to real vehicles, as in 400-500 miles vs. the 45 the Chevy volt is projected to have, and as soon as the cost of replacment batteries (ie. $10,000 for most US hybrids, and that's is projected to be after 10,000 miles or so) goes down, THEN there might be a market.

Europeans see little to no use for the electric car. Americans probably even less so. To have a market for something, it has to be marketable. If you want this thing to work, go talk to a chemist of physicist on how to make cheaper, longer lasting, more durable fuel cells. Until then, you can't be gas for the TOC, power, and reliability.

[sfbiker]

I have 2 cars, one is used 90% of the time for commuting (less than 10 miles each way). If a full-speed (i.e. not a 25mph limited NEV) electric car were available with a 40 - 50 mile range between charges for less than $20,000 I'd buy it today.

I don't know who needs a 400-500 mile range (my gas powered car only has around a 300 mile range).

A 50 mile range for a commute car is more than reasonable since I can plug it in every day (extra kudos go to a manufacturer who figures out how to make a big inductive charging mat that I can park on and automatically charge my car without having to plug it in). It's not like a gas powered car where I need to go to a special gas station to fill up -- with an electric car, it's like I park my car 5 feet from the gas station.

If I need to go a longer distance for a special trip, I can rent a car (or use city car share or similar).

The Zenn electric car is nearly perfect for my needs, but it's a NEV model limited to 25mph and my commute route has mostly a 35mph speed limit, so I don't want to be a 25mph road block while larger cars are zipping past me at 40 - 50mph. If Zenn could release model that can do 45mph, then I would seriously consider purchasing it.

[sigzero]

So?

[ferretboy88]

Electric cars still use energy. I guess we should all walk to work with our tools and computers.

[ferretboy88]

The U.S invented the solar tech and we passed it off to Europe.

[marvinsfane]

All very well and good that we should change to electric motive power, but are there studies on the flow on effect from this.

Consider that people believe that if they have an electric vehicle, they are green. In a way yes, because suddenly they have a method of transportation that is not releasing actual gases from fossil fuels as they drive around, hey I can't see any exhaust, this must be clean, but is it really?

But what about the load then applied against the power grids. To generate that electricity, still requires a vast amount of coal and gas powered plants. Extra load would necessitate additional power plant to feed the grid.

Forget about that ultimatley new power plants may be "green" ie solar, wind etc and this may address the flow on issues. I would just like to know are there any studies around that discuss the ramifications if we were to all suddenly jump on the electric band wagon?

Maybe, if we're all electric, we may just save our depleted ozone layer as the byproduct of electric motive power is the generation of ozone gas! :-)

[mlamonica]

Yes there have been studies on what impact plug-in electric cars will have on the grid load. If there was a huge jump in electric cars that were charged during peak times, it would exceed the power generation capacity that's already here, according to a study by Oak Ridge Labs. link to story: http://news.cnet.com/8301-11128_3-9893320-54.html

However, if the cars are charged during off-peak times, like the middle of the night, then there isn't the need to build more power plants, according to studies. Pacific Northwest National Labs is one DOE national lab looking at that. http://news.cnet.com/8301-11128_3-9855296-54.html?tag=mncol