Saturday, September 26, 2009

Lithium and REE Demand: GM to sell cheap electric cars in India TNR.v, CZX.v, SQM, FMC, ROC, RES.v, AVL.to, WLC.v, CLQ.v, RM.v, LI.v, F, BYDDY, DAI,


"...China and India can not grow their mobility to the western standard penetration rate without risk of suffocating their own population."



"We spent some time travelling and will share our travel notes later, for today we can say that Electric Mobility Revolution is happening, it is Lithium, it is safe and it is coming fast. We have met with designers and engineers, we have grilled Lithium batteries' developers and driven Tesla - Energy and Drive are Electric and Eco is the main theme at Frankfurt Motor Show this year.
Renault is the Electric Big Bang of the show with four full electric models and their prediction: " In ten years time 15-20% of cars sold in Europe will be electric". Everybody else is on the rush to be up to speed of development in Green Mobility Race with Mercedes, BMW and Audi shows built around centerpiece: Full Electric models and Hybrid cars."



"Very impressive claims on recharging time and range of this nice looking Electric car. Pricing range and idea of Electric Mobility: pay as you go for the battery will bring electric cars to the reach of mass market consumers."









US firm announces joint venture with Reva, the firm behind the G-Wiz, but experts say demand will be low because Indian electricity supplies remain unreliable

General Motors unveils the Volt hybrid at the Detroit motor show. Photograph: John F Martin/EPA/General Motors
General Motors, one of the world's biggest carmakers, and the Bangalore-based company behind the G-Wiz electric car have announced a joint venture to produce "affordable" electric cars in India.
The new vehicle, which has been road-tested, will be based on GM's popular Spark hatchback, which in India costs a quarter of a million rupees (£3,000). Neither GM nor its partner, Reva, would be drawn on the electric version's price tag, though both said it would be "competitive and affordable".
GM, which only recently came out of bankruptcy, has developed its own Volt electric-petrol hybrid for sale in 2010 in the US market, and has two car plants in India which can produce 250,000 vehicles a year. But analysts say that the take-up of any new electric model will be in the low thousands unless the Indian government creates a network of charging points.
As an interim measure, say GM executives, charging points could be installed at company dealerships and some petrol pump stations. But experts said an electric version of the Spark would only be attractive to urban drivers who could get reliable supplies of electricity and use the car as a runaround in the city.
Murad Ali Baig, a motoring columnist, said the new GM car would be able to travel "about 200km" without recharging. He added: "Delhi has one electric charging point used by a fleet of buses. There's nothing difficult about setting up a network of such points, but you need politicians to get on with it. In London electric cars get free parking and free power. Any wonder that Reva sells more cars in London than in India?"
Reva said that it had patented a number of new technologies which could assuage some of the concerns. Chetan Maini, Reva's chief technology officer, said: "In our latest models there are even systems where you can send an SMS and we can release a hidden charge remotely to your car, giving you an extra 10km if you are really stuck."
Reva, which styles itself as a technology company, says it also has plans to launch its own new electric car range – aimed initially at the foreign car markets – and has built a new factory able to churn out 30,000 cars a year. The two new models, both hatchbacks, will go on sale for €10,000 (£9,144) and €15,000 next year."

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