Chas Hallett:But the thing to remember is that to get required emissions reductions all cars will have to be electrified in some way, be it some form of hybrid, full EV or, possibly, fuel-cell. In all cases you will need a battery. So the battery makers will benefit whichever way we go.
Chas, are you serious?: "to get required emissions reductions all cars will have to be electrified in some way, be it some form of hybrid, full EV or, possibly, fuel-cell." European makers are already in large part meeting the requirements of the 2015 mandate of 130g CO2/km, with a larger proportion of smaller cars in their total sales and smaller, more efficient petrol/diesel engines. European scrappage schemes, small turbocharged, direct injection petrols and the beginning of earnest weight-saving in body construction have accelerated the reaching of this 2015 requirement years ahead of schedule. See Audi's current Efficiency Challenge A to B as a good example of near to real life practice attaining of fuel consumption at around or near this level: http://www.audi-efficiency-challenge.com/en/day9/
Audi A3 1.6 TDI 3l/100km
Audi A4 2.0 TDIe 4l/100km
Audi A5 Sportback 2.0 TFSI 4.9l/100km
The statement that to get the 2020 95g CO2/km target(is it mandated yet?) will require some form of electrification is not borne out by progress to meeting the 2012/2015 target thus far. Car makers are well ahead of where they need to be to meet the 2015 CO2 emission level with the current methods - smaller, lighter cars, downsized, forced induction SI and CI internal combustion units. There is no reason to believe that they would not be able to meet the 95g CO2 emission figure for 2020 by continuing this approach. In some instances, see VW's Up! to be introduced next year, they are already meeting or about to meet this 2020 level of emission in a mainstream, affordable car.
Let's not kid about. The real driver of electric power for cars is external, legislative, i.e. enforced by the politicians and associated lobby groups. It is not techologically driven. Yes, the larger, heavier vehicle producers like Daimler and BMW will have to go some way down the hybrid route, to get down to 130/95g emission levels, whilst still offering high performance. As Dr Hackenberg said, fully electric cars will in 2020 still be the preserve of mega city environments(>3m persons) and not sustainable in other environs, or in the large commercial vehicle field. Let us not forget too that the whole basis that these electric cars are being promoted for, by tax breaks, direct buying subsidies and so on, that of reducing the amount of the emission of the greenhouse gas, carbon dioxide, into the earth's atmosphere, is a hoax and a hugely lucrative scam for those behind it. Catastrophic man made global warming by the emission of carbon dioxide from the burning of fossil fuels, in car, lorries and so on is a lie. Let's not beat about the bush. It's a dreadful lie, a malicious act perpetrated on gullible people. Neither is ther e imminently approaching oil reserves depletion(or even 'peak oil'), where the supply of petrol and diesel will soon run out, forcing the use of alternative propulsions, like electric cars. Known crude oil reserves are greater than 100 years of current usage. Britain has 3-400 years of fossil fuel, coal, unmined under it. The Germans used coal to make coal gas and a viable petroleum spirit substitute during WWII. We are being lied to and swindled. Electric cars will never be viable economically for the forseeable future, certainly not before 2020. A kWh of current state of the art battery power costs around $1,500. They will cost billions in public money in order to subsidise their selling prices to allow the artificial appearance of being able to compete with conventional cars on purchase price - witness Fisker Automotive getting half a billion dollars in US Govt grants this past week. Cars like the GM Volt will be a disaster, coming in at around twice the cost of a comparable coventional automobile. To save face for the govts, green lobby and to sustain the lie of CO2 as a greenhouse gas, they will have to be almost given away, at taxpayers' money huge expense. The race is on to get these electric cars to market and make money for battery producers like Enerl before the masses wake up to the mind-boggling hoax perpetrated on them and then the subsequent collapse of the whole alternative energy/eco energy, alternative propulsion of automobiles scam.
Sorry for the length of response but this whole subject is the key to the future of the auto industry and a great deal else besides.
PS look up 'North Slope of Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, giant, untapped oil field', if you really want to see what lengths the real money men will go to to make Joe Soap pay through the nose for his motoring and total energy requirements.
