John Addison

Electric Vehicles Gain Traction in the Bay Area

Thanks for adding to the discussion and insights.

Globally EVs are much more prevalent than most think. Most in Asia are less expensive than internal combustion engine driven vehicles. Not Jim Cramer - initially the full featured 4-door sedans will be more expensive capex, but cheaper to fuel. With volume manufacturing, costs are likely to fall as they have with solar power. Most states are requiring growth of renewable energy, but even if its 100% coal power at the other end, the 3X efficiency of electric drive results in lower lifecycle emissions. Yes, battery performance can be a function of temperature. Plug-in Prius tests in Winnipeg at -40C showed little fuel efficiency improvement.

Mad Hedge Fund Trader - point well taken on lithium sources. Mr. Taylor, yes I hope that EESTOR gets commercialized at the right price. I've talked to those who heard the stealth pitch 7 years ago. Stay diversified. Disruptive change is never smooth, but when it succeeds it can make billions for the corporations that can adopt to the change.

GM Looks Beyond Oil

There are some excellent points made in the above discussion. First, the person who has been driving their light electric vehicle (LEV) since 1999 has lots of company. 40 million people globally are riding LEV today. Look around when you visit a university town. You may see over 100 of them, often displacing gas guzzlers.

Our energy sources for next generation vehicles will make the difference between a climate solution and a climate crisis. Ken Zweibel, James Mason and Vasilis Fthenakis write that by 2050 solar power could end U.S. dependence on foreign oil and slash greenhouse gas emissions. A massive switch from coal, oil, natural gas and nuclear power plants to solar power plants could supply 69 percent of the U.S.’s electricity and 35 percent of its total energy by 2050. This quantity includes enough to supply all the electricity consumed by 344 million plug-in hybrid vehicles. Scientific American Article: www.sciam.com/article....