Electric vehicles are unlikely to become high-volume mainstream products by 2020, according to a study by Boston Consulting Group and a recent article published by Automotive News, written by Dave Guilford.
The main reason that Hybrid vehicles have failed to become wide-spread in popularity is due to the hefty battery cost. The current price of a hybrid vehicle lithium ion batteries is $1,000 to $1,200 per kilowatt-hour. Auto makers are unlikely to reach their long-term cost target of $250 per kilowatt-hour.
The article went on to explain that without a sharp rise in gasoline prices, heavy government subsidies or an unexpected breakthrough in battery technology, EVs won’t attract mainstream car buyers.
Today’s prices mean that current 20 kilowatt hour EV batteries cost about $20,000. Although the price may fall to $8,000 by 2020, that won’t be low enough, says the Automotive News article. Consumers want a three-year payback for the purchase cost of an EV compared with an internal combustion engine.
Please click here for the rest of the article as posted on Green Car Advisor.
There was an excellent article recently published by American Recycler magazine, written by Mike Breslin, explaining in detail how the use of used oil is much more environmentally friendly than the refining of new oil. Used oil is nothing new to the automotive recycling industry, as auto recyclers have long been capturing and recycling used oil from automobiles, often using this oil to heat their facilities through the winter.
