Germany setting sights on one million electric cars by 2020?

[wtmusic]

"According to a report from the Associated Press (via Drive.com.au), Germany is about to get serious about electric cars. How serious? Chancellor Angela Merkel's Cabinet is currently drafting a plan that would aim to put a million electric cars on German roadways by 2020.

To meet that lofty goal, a series of financial incentives are reportedly on the table that would start in 2012. It's not clear as of yet what these stimulus packages would include, but specifics are to be announced in the fall. We'd expect manufacturers, suppliers and consumers would all get some sort of incentive thrown their way to build or purchase EVs.

It's no secret that German automakers like Volkswagen, Daimler and BMW have lagged well behind Asian and American automakers in electric and hybrid vehicle production, largely focusing instead on diesel technology. BMW's first MINI-based EVs are currently undergoing large-scale testing and Daimler recently teamed up with Tesla Motors in America to advance its EV presence."

http://green.autoblog.com/2009/08/19/germany-sets-sights-on-one-million-electric-cars-by-2020/

This is a major slap at VW, whose CEO has publicly stated electric vehicles won't be ready for 25 years.

[kristopher]

1. CEO of VW America, eh?

I wonder if he reflects the sentiment of the home office? I imagine he does. My guess is they (VW) passed on the idea of series hybrids. It is the way V2G enables renewables that has caused government energy policy to line up so strongly behind EVs. That message is just now soaking in to the depths of some bureaucracies, and if their people weren't aware of the value of V2G to a renewable grid, their evaluation would probably be accurate.

In the article he refers to the "electric engine". Is that a European expression or is it an indication of his level of involvement with the technology?

[Iterate]

3. U.S. Volkswagen chief Stefan Jacoby talks strategy

http://www.detnews.com/article/20090813/AUTO01/908130404/1148/rss25

Q . Volkswagen has been dogged in its efforts to win Americans over to fuel-efficient diesel technology. Are you considering other technologies for the U.S.?
A . For the new midsize sedan, we will offer diesel technology, and we also plan a hybrid version.

Herr Jacoby evidently rose through the ranks of sales and marketing, but he speaks like a German engineer. They’re a cautious bunch, not inclined either to “cowboy” politics or “Apollo moonshot” gambles. It’s all about proper design solutions, and I think it’s mainly that tendency which has made VW and the others slower to get into the EV and hybrid market.

Also, I noticed his statements from six months ago differ slightly from more recent ones, so possibly there has been an evolution of company policy.

As to his use of the phrase “electric engines”, it sounds like more of a translation problem rather than gross unfamiliarity with the technology. German school children are taught British English, and there’s little other reason for him not to use the more direct “Elektromotor”.

[Iterate]

2. Volkswagen to Add Small Electric Car to its Lineup in 2013

http://www.greencar.com/articles/volkswagen-add-small-electric-car-its-lineup-2013.php

While ‘advanced diesel’ might come to mind when thinking Volkswagen these days, the automaker’s portfolio is much more than that. Electric cars are also in the works. Now center stage is Volkswagen’s so-called New Small Family of three- and five-door hatchbacks scheduled for production in 2011. These models evolved from a series of three Up! concept cars that made the auto show circuit several years back (the Space Up! Blue concept is shown here). Now, the new VW small car is set to make another large evolutionary leap: electric power by 2013, making it the company’s first electric vehicle.

That’s the major announcement VW chief executive Martin Winterkorn made during a recent speech in Munich outlining the company’s outlook. Even as this exciting announcement was made, Winterkorn cautioned that the drive to electric vehicles is a marathon rather than a sprint, and pointed to the substantial hype that now surrounds just about any news about the technology.

We couldn’t agree more. While battery electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids dominate news in the ‘green’ arena, battery issues still need to be sorted out before these cars truly become affordable mass market products. This is an especially vexing problem for all-electric cars that depend solely on on-board battery power without the aid of a combustion drive engine or engine-generator, since much larger and more powerful battery packs are required. VW’s timing of an introduction in 2013 presumably allows additional time for battery costs to come down.

While Winterkorn did not disclose details of the coming VW electric car, his speech did provide some insight into the customer expectations that the company is striving to meet. Electric vehicle drivers want a range of nearly 500 miles, a charging time of one to two hours with the option for partial quick-charges, and a price premium of no more than 2,000 Euros, or $2,785, says Winterkorn.

No doubt Germany has been culturally and historically inclined toward diesel technology, but I don’t see that as inevitable in the future.

Structurally they are well suited to EV’s and hybrids: a robust public transit system, smaller cars, strict noise abatement laws, short daily drive distances, a reliable grid, mild climate, high liquid fuel prices, and a general willingness to move toward new technologies.

On the down side, electricity prices are already quite high (about .20 euro/kw/hr). I’ve found no calculations of how that might factor into adoption rates.

The engineers and marketers at VW might cautious, but they're not stupid.

[wtmusic]

4. VW wins in the the marketing about-face category

narrowly edging out GM (Bob Lutz in 2002: "Hybrids don't make sense") :silly: