Silicon Valley Charges Ahead With Electric Cars

By Kerry Trueman
January 9, 2008
3 comments

electric-car.jpg

While the dinosaurs in Detroit drag their fossil-fueled asses, California's tech-savvy trailblazers in Silicon Valley are plugging into the next generation of electric cars. The Financial Times reports that a handful of environmentally minded entrepreneurs, including Google founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page, are investing in a number of companies dedicated to creating commercially viable electric cars.We already have the technology to build an electric car that's easy to recharge and goes pretty far on one charge. But an electric-powered car posed too great a threat to the Powers that Be, as the documentary Who Killed the Electric Car? revealed.Now, with fuel costs soaring and more consumers worrying about climate change, interest in electric cars is soaring. Nonetheless, Big Oil, the Big Three, and others who cling to the status quo remain reluctant to invest in them, according to the Financial Times:
Away from California, car companies and industry analysts continue to emphasize the obstacles blocking the commercialization of electric cars, including price, performance, and the battery technology and recharging infrastructure needed to make them viable.
But California's clean-tech pioneers are forging ahead. As Stephan Dolezalek , whose company, Vantage Partners, has invested in several of the electric car projects, including Tesla and Project Better Place, told the Financial Times:
"Silicon Valley tends to be quicker about jumping on trends, and we can do [for cars] what we did with the computer, the internet, the mobile phone and electronic toys."
As usual, California leads the way. Will Detroit follow?

Comments

3
posted on Jan 14, 2008
Well Neil, I don't fault car makers for selling SUVs. They sold what people wanted and I believe in free enterprise. One of the reasons that people like me bought an SUV is because gas was a buck a gallon and congress provided a nice tax break on SUV to partnerships, LLCs, and INCs because SUVs were built on pick up truck frames. Accountants etc. drove SUVs because the IRS treated it like a pick up truck! Go figure. But I do not think that Detroit (and the Asian and European counterparts) will design and fund a low maintenance vehicle. They like hybrids because you keep the gas engine and transmission. Here is an example: GM charges several hundred dollars for each solenoid in their automatic transmissions. There are 4 or 5 in each transmission. After-markets sell em for $60 and make em for $5. Think GM will give that up without a fight? And you are right, tax incentives need to be redeployed. And you are right, I do not have any respect for Detroit's vision. Neither does Wall Street. Ford trades at what $6 these days?
posted on Jan 14, 2008
This is a five year old attitude at this point. Big 3 bashing is ancient history. Where are you placing German, Korean and all the Japanese car companies whose recent introductions include the 7000lb Tundra, massive Highlander and various other behemoths? Car companies like all companies chase money first and foremost. Exactly how many cars are on the road from Project Better Place and Tesla? The capital requirements in the auto industry are prohibitive to start-ups for entering. Best bet is to work on increasing the gas tax and improving mass transit options. There are only so many environmentalists willing to pay premiums for electric or plug-in vehicles. Increasing the CAFE limits to 35 mph will help but it will be passed on to consumers in the form of more expensive vehicles and thus increase our export purchases whereas gas tax revenues stay at home. I suggest we stop the Big 3 bashing and move on to more constructive outlets. Neil Los Gatos
posted on Jan 14, 2008
Itt will take a new kind of car maker to create a real market for the electric car. Detroit car makers have a business model that will never fit a vehicle with low maintenance costs. The only reason that Detroit has gotten on board is because they discovered that Toyota earned a lot of good will from consumers because of its hybrids and electric car plans. GM has been touting their electric car plans, but they will never follow through. We need a new Henry Ford. Someone that can start out as a successful niche player and can then use the economies of scale to drive down costs to $15k or less. Why do we need an electric car? Electric cars mean no more OPEC, an end to our huge trade imbalance, the end of the Russian dream of new empires, and the end of big oil. It also means clean air and the end of oil sheiks financing the world's terrorists An $80 to $100k electric sports car is for movie stars that want to show off their new green toy. But it also polishes the image of the beast. Makes people start thinking that maybe an electric car can be more than a golf cart.