The head of CPI, developer of one of the candidate batteries for the Chevy VOLT, suggested last week a possible lease arrangement if the batteries would otherwise price the VOLT out of the market. I think that : 1) he is underestimating the extent to which people will pay extra to go green. The VOLT in no way has to match the price od an equivalent ICE to be successfully marketed. 2) If you lease a battery, this only makes sense if the battery will basically outlast the car, or you want to amortize the costs over a longer period. But that would be better done by mortgaging the batteries over 15 years (their lifespan) and the rest of the car over 5 years. All of this simply highlights what is painfully obvious to electric propulsion proponents - all-electrics aren't economically viable as yet - the plug-in is the only practical way to offload enormous amounts of oil over to electricity. I wish every Tom, Dick and Harry would stop saving the world by announcing some new crappy and impractical all-electric. Most of these cars are garbage and of poor quality.
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The head of CPI, developer of one of the candidate batteries for the Chevy VOLT, suggested last week a possible lease arrangement if the batteries would otherwise price the VOLT out of the market. I think that : 1) he is underestimating the extent to which people will pay extra to go green. The VOLT in no way has to match the price od an equivalent ICE to be successfully marketed. 2) If you lease a battery, this only makes sense if the battery will basically outlast the car,
or you want to amortize the costs over a longer period. But that would be better done by mortgaging the batteries over 15 years (their lifespan) and the rest of the car over 5 years.
All of this simply highlights what is painfully obvious to electric
propulsion proponents - all-electrics aren't economically viable as yet - the plug-in is the only practical way to offload enormous amounts of oil over to electricity. I wish every Tom, Dick and Harry would stop
saving the world by announcing some new crappy and impractical all-electric. Most of these cars are garbage and of poor quality.