Will the Electric Car Replace the iPhone as the Next Great Icon?

Will the electric car soon become a cultural, business, and lifestyle icon that will transform modern urban society? The sign are emerging everywhere that the answer will be: "Yes." The introduction of the electric car is being driven by many of the pioneers of the Web and Silicon Valley technology culture.

The early adopters of the electric car are our industry thought leaders– from Detroit to Silicon Valley to Wall Street and Hollywood. They represent the concerned citizens of our planet –the leaders of our shift to a mobile world and the green revolution. 

Many pubdits believe that the electric car packs the disruptive force of either Dell PCs or the iPhone – or both.

"We're putting the pressure on the bigger boys. We are the Dells of the industry – the smaller boys that have a tremendous opportunity to validate the industry and to be the next big thing," says Albert Lam, CEO of Detroit Electric, which plans to make electric cars and buses in 2009

But for many consumers at this point, it's more of a lifestyle statement. Buying a luxury hybrid electric car will be like buying an iPhone. Buyers of some of the first consumer-oriented electric cars will be technology early adopters, eager to be part of the future.

But most importantly, as the soaring cost of gasoline threats to force us out of our cars, electric power will soon provide an attractive alternative. Sales of lithium ion batteries alone could be worth up to $40 billion a year by 2020.

“With 90 percent of U.S. commuters driving 62 miles or less per day,” says Carlos Tavares, Nissan’s Executive Vice President for global product planning, “there is a huge, huge potential for EVs.”  New entrants who will be introducing electric cars into the U.S. market 2009 forward include Chevy Volt, Tesla Motors, Th!nk, Nissan, Toyota, and some 30 additional new EV manufacturers

Nissan announced yesterday that it expects it's global electric car line to be quickly profitable. And Nissan is going for a purely electric car, not a hybrid.

“I want a pure electric car. I don’t want a range extender. I don’t want another hybrid,” Mr. Ghosn told reporters after a ceremony to dedicate Nissan’s new North American headquarters in Franklin, an affluent suburb in the hills south of Nashville. “It’s not going to be zero emissions in certain conditions. It’s going to be zero emissions.”

To help in its development of electric cars, Nissan said Tuesday that it would work with the state of Tennessee and its largest electric utility, the Tennessee Valley Authority, to study and perhaps install infrastructure like charging stations. The automaker has begun similar efforts in Denmark, Israel and Portugal, but the United States presents a far greater opportunity for Nissan to market electric cars.

Additionally, General Motors announced this week that it was working with the nonprofit Electric Power Research Institute, which represents more than 30 large electric utilities in North America, to encourage development of electric vehicles. G.M. is developing the Chevrolet Volt, also for introduction in 2010, which can go 40 miles on battery power before switching to its gas-powered engine.

Nissan is opening its 450,000-square-foot headquarters here in Franklin two years after it pulled up stakes in Southern California for temporary quarters in downtown Nashville. And overseas automakers in the South, particularly in Tennessee, are growing rapidly. Last week, Volkswagen of Germany selected Chattanooga as the site of its first United States car plant since the late 1980s.

Posted by Casey Kazan.

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Comments

[upirons]

I get a new car every 5 years or so. I just bought one this year actually, a Nissan Altima. I have told myself many times that this is my last car with an ICE. I am ready for electric. My only real concern with electric, however, is what happens in the winter. I live in Ohio and we do get some tough winters that would seem to wreak havoc on batteries and I would trust my ICE car, only using a battery to start, over a fully electric car in -20 degree weather. Hopefully my concerns are incorrect but I've yet to see much written about how well these batteries perform in -20 or even further below.

[Kristina]

I don't think low temperatures should be a great concern about an EV's driving performance, even if that does appear to be a problem in the future I'm sure something will be done to keep the batteries running by some kind of warmers or heating systems installed in vehicles. However, what I'm concerned about is whether those cars will have the ability to run long distances and how expensive charging the batteries could be.

[Morf]

My intention is that the next car I buy will be fully electric - in fact, I hope to never own another gas fueled vehicle again.

My one concern though, is the replacement cost/life span of the battery.

[John]

In all the discussion of electric cars, no one seems to consider where we are going to get the electricity to charge them. Here in Los Angeles, every warm day stretches the power grid to the limit. What is going to happen if we add tens (hundreds?) of thousands of electric cars needing charging to the mix? We've already been told to expect a 30% rise in our electric bills come the Fall, with another rate hike shortly after that. And that's just to cover the increased cost of fuel for the generators, not to increase capacity. Before we go all-out for electric cars, we'd better address generating capacity first.

[Dirk Diggler]

We will never get laid again if we drive cars like that. Er well except by hairy armpitted fat eco liberal eco chix.

[Sarah]

If in LA, power the cars by making the outside skin - that sits in the baking sun all day - solar panels that charge your battery during the day while you're parked at work.