GE To Buy 25,000 EVs, Starting With the Chevy Volt 301
DeviceGuru writes "In what's claimed as the largest-ever single electric vehicle commitment, GE plans to acquire 25,000 electric vehicles by 2015. The buying spree will initially involve 12,000 GM vehicles, beginning with GM's Chevy Volt in 2011. By converting most of its own 30,000-strong global fleet, and promoting EV adoption among its 65,000 global fleet customers, GE hopes to be in a strong position to help deploy the vehicles' supporting infrastructure, including charging stations, circuit protection equipment, and transformers. In contrast to the all-electric Nissan Leaf, the Volt implements a small gas engine, which can recharge the vehicle's battery to extend its range beyond the 100 mile limit of all-electric cars like the Leaf, leading some to question the Volt's EV credentials."
Credentials? WTF (Score:3, Insightful)
"leading some to question the Volt's EV credentials." ???
Let's be realistic here! It may not be a "pure" EV but the infrastructure is not here yet to support a pure EV. We are at the very start of a transition from gas stations to charging stations. Until charging stations can be found in most places at least a small gas engine to recharge the batteries is needed.
Re:Tesla Roadster (Score:3, Insightful)
It's also a hell of a lot more expensive! We really want a vehicle for the masses!
Re:Bring back Neutron Jack (Score:0, Insightful)
Maybe Neutron Jack knows where they are going to get the electricity for the charging stations.
Out here in California, where the grid is at max, they will get it from "clean and green" gas fired and diesel generating plants! Plenty of CO2 to feed our trees and weeds. "-)
Re:Bring back Neutron Jack (Score:2, Insightful)
Please do cite where those diesel electric plants are. Diesel is way to expensive to run even a decent size business generator on much less a power plant.
Re:Tesla Roadster (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Tax credit (Score:5, Insightful)
Switching their fleet to plugin vehicles makes a lot of sense for GE, especially in the long run. If it actually helps accelerate the rate of plugin vehicle adoption, electricity demand could increase significantly. GE would absolutely love that... it would probably help them sell more nuclear reactors, like the ESBWR [gepower.com] (near-term) and the PRISM [nrc.gov] (long-term).
Re:Credentials? WTF (Score:5, Insightful)
You're right. There is no infrastructure to support electric vehicles.
What we need is some kind of nation-wide distribution network for electrical power. That's probably decades away assuming you can find someone willing to spend the billions of dollars to install one.
Oh wait...
What you're missing: You charge your vehicle primarily at home - where your car spends the vast majority of its unused time anyway. Charging stations external to that are a bonus but not strictly required. For example you might have an exterior outlet on your office building you can use in lieu of a dedicated charging bollard.
If you're one of the people who think there must be an exact gas station analog in place for electric vehicles, you are wrong. The entire premise of EVs is that the "energy economy" they work in is completely different; distributed instead of centralized. Every outlet is a potential "gas station."
=Smidge=
Re:Credentials? WTF (Score:3, Insightful)
If you think electric heat is expensive just wait until you start charging an EV every night...
Re:I agree, the chevy volt is not a EV (Score:3, Insightful)
You can use your Volt in pure EV mode if your battery is not exhausted. Even at highway speed.
ICE is used only when battery is exhausted.
Re:Tax credit (Score:3, Insightful)
I say this to everyone I know, yet they still lease or get loans for cars.
If you need a car, but a cheap used one and then put the payments of the car you want in the bank. Then in 5 years buy it out right and you will still have money left over. Plus you can likely sell or trade that used car.
Re:Tax credit (Score:2, Insightful)
...but then you have to drive the POS cheap used car for *five years*. I'm as reasonable as anybody about spending money wisely, but I want a nice car *now*, and I'm willing to pay a premium (both in overall cost and in interest) to do so.
Re:If the Volt was a good idea (Score:4, Insightful)
Also worth noting is that gas has a massive infrastructure currently in place. So even if electric vehicles are cheaper in the long-term, once we reach steady-state (hence a "good idea"), it may be that they are somewhat more expensive in the short-term, as we build up our infrastructure, manufacturing capacity, and know-how (things tend to get cheaper as we engineer them better and better). In such cases, the argument for government subsidies is that the government spends a small amount of money in the short-term, subsidizing an industry that will save the populace large amounts of money in the long-term.
You may disagree with that particular analysis, and think that EVs won't be a net gain in the long-term, but saying that good ideas don't need subsidies is short-sighted.