Comments on: Mitsubishi to Offer Plug-In Option on Every Model within Four Years

By: Zachary Shahan

Zachary Shahan — Thu, 12 Jul 2012 18:03:00 +0000

good points. i was thinking of buying if i’m ever in the market for a car. but leasing a bit first (if i were in the market soon enough) sounds intelligent.

By: Zachary Shahan

Zachary Shahan — Thu, 12 Jul 2012 18:03:00 +0000

nice graph, and comments. the graph reminds me of this wonderful video: http://planetsave.com/2011/04/08/funny-dancing-video-insightful-commentary/

By: Zachary Shahan

Zachary Shahan — Thu, 12 Jul 2012 18:02:00 +0000

i would not bet against E Musk: http://cleantechnica.com/2012/07/02/teslas-elon-musk-predicts-50-of-new-cars-evs-in-20-years-model-s-gets-epa-rating-of-89-mpge-265-mile-range/

By: Zachary Shahan

Zachary Shahan — Thu, 12 Jul 2012 18:02:00 +0000

lol.

i thought the same.

By: Rob

Rob — Thu, 12 Jul 2012 16:21:00 +0000

The reason for the slow adoption of e-cars should be obvious to everyone. I wonder why media tip-toes around the obvious – We’re hanging onto old paid-for cars because it still costs less to gas up the old car than to make the payment on the new e-car which is still early stage technology. I’m waiting until old Betsy rolls over and expires and even then I’ll lease for at least 3 years to see how technologies develop to improve batteries, range, faster charging etc. The LAST thing you’d want is to BUY something now and be stuck in some dead-end or old technology 3 or 4 years from now.

By: Ross

Ross — Thu, 12 Jul 2012 06:26:00 +0000

Nitpick. They will not have completed a full transition until their new vehicles are pure EVs.

By: Bob_Wallace

Bob_Wallace — Wed, 11 Jul 2012 22:08:00 +0000

I’m old enough to have experienced multiple technology shifts – film to digital, CRTs to flat screens, adding machines, typewriter, ‘hot lead’ and drafting tables to computers and others.

The first I remember was from slide rules to calculators. When scientific calculators first came out the guys who wore a slide rule holster on their belt would brag about how much faster they were than someone punching on buttons.

Within two years both major manufacturers of slide rules ceased production. It took computers and digital photography more like a decade, but once change gets underway change can happen quickly.

Here’s my prediction: Within five years of 175 mile range EVs that cost less than $5k of a comparable oil-fueled model EVs will capture at least a 30% new car market share.

I’m pretty much willing to bet that once EVs hit the 175 mile/<$5k more point EV prices will fall to less than that of ICEVs. (Manufacturer suggested prices. When specific vehicles are in high demand dealers often boost the price considerably.)

By: Anne

Anne — Wed, 11 Jul 2012 21:25:00 +0000

It’s as if the writer thinks electric vehicle sales are a disappointment. Just a mere three years ago, there were no electric vehicles at all (apart from the expensive Tesla Roadster). Now there is a choice of various models and monthly sales worldwide are in the thousands.

How can you expect to go from 0 to mass market in such a short period in such a conservative, slow moving market? This is a completely natural start. Look at Rogers adoption curve: http://suewaters.wikispaces.com/file/view/Slide12B.JPG/31092781/Slide12B.JPG We are now still in the very beginning, the ‘innovators’ are the ones buying plugin vehicles.

Look at how people said just a few years ago that PV would never lead to anything, because it was all just a drip in the ocean. But they underestimated exponential growth and sales are in the tens of GW’s and still growing fast. Don’t help the naysayers by repeating them. Sales are on track to deliver a market share of 1-3% by 2020, which is in line with the projections of most auto industry insiders.