Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Electric Vehicles and Investing in the Future

One of the interesting stories is the recent announcement of Department of Energy grants to battery manufacturers and developmental labs aimed at improving battery efficiency. At the core is the hope that new improvements in power storage will open new options in the development of alternative and cleaner energy sources. 170 million dollars were awarded to various companies over the last week, all--ALL--were lithium battery producers or researchers. What this implies is that the government and the DOE have thrown their considerable financial support behind the refinement of the Electric Vehicle.

Now this is interesting. The toughest environmental standards in the world start going into effect in Europe in two years so one would think the plans in Europe would be more forward looking. That said, J.D. Powers recently published their estimates of the makeup of the European fleet in 2020. According to them, electric vehicles will make up 7.4% of the European fleet in 2020. 7.4%.

So why the American emphasis on lithium ion batteries?

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