It’s not likely that President Obama will meet his goal of getting a million electric or plug-in hybrid vehicles on the road by 2015. However, the goal of one GM executive who wants to build 500,000 electrified vehicles annually may give Obama’s plan a boost.
General Motors wants to do things a little differently than other companies. The idea is to build more plug-in hybrid vehicles, such as the Chevy Volt, as well as purely electric cars and traditional vehicles outfitted with small-scale hybrid systems. Out of the 9 million cars that GM sells every year, about 500,000 of them could be electrified in some way by 2017.
Chevy Volt sales have been on a steady rise, and many Buick models now come standard with the hybrid eAssist system.
Not everyone is as optimistic as GM. Analysts say prices are still too high, and the driving range and lack of public charging stations are the biggest concerns for consumers. Lux Research estimates less than 200,000 will be sold annually, and Boston Consulting Group predicts electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids will still only make up about 5 percent of the market in 8 years.
Do you think it’s possible, or will other car companies maintain a lead in the electric vehicle market?
Image CC licensed by OcaNieba: Chevy Volt
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