For Small Volume Vehicle Developers Its Easy Being Green

July 16, 2006 – Vol.11 No.17

FOR SMALL VOLUME VEHICLE DEVELOPERS IT’S EASY BEING GREEN.

For big manufacturers it takes billions to develop a new car or truck. Aside from the costs of new vehicle design and engineering, the costs of new tooling needed to push cars out the factory door at a rate of one per minute is daunting. The billions needed is the reason that beneath their steel skins new models are little different from the old. Car companies like to use as much old investment in tooling as possible to keep costs down and profits up.

But new, small-volume vehicle developers have clean floors in their shops. They don’t have huge investments in machines that must be put to work. They can build any kind of vehicle they like, including green vehicles.

Given two announcements this week the easiest green vehicles to build are battery electric cars, and for good reasons.

--- Some of the components, such as batteries, are off-the-shelf items. No need to develop them, just buy them and repackage them.

--- Other components, such as electric drive motors and controls, can be developed under contract by other small companies with that kind of expertise.

--- Battery electric vehicles will meet emission tests. (Obviously. There are no emissions.)

--- A new fueling network isn’t needed - the industrial world is wired for electricity and electric vehicles (as well as plug-in hybrids) can tap into a large and diverse portfolio of energy sources for recharging: wind, solar, oil, coal, natural gas, land fill gas, hydroelectric, hydrogen, waste-to-energy, anything bio, and that great underutilized source of electricity: overnight power; power that’s generated at 3:00 AM but not sold.

--- State-of-the-art lightweight but strong materials can be used in body construction, such as carbon fiber composites. The mainstream motor industry, for the most part, is geared for inexpensive steel, not composites.

--- Small volume manufacturers don’t need to fill dealer lots with unsold cars. Cars can be built to order. Customers just have to learn to wait.

And the two announcements?

Tesla Motors introduced its stylish and electrically advanced Roadster. One thousand pounds of lithium-ion batteries (the weight offset by a light body structure of aluminum and carbon fiber) and 185 kilowatt motor allow for a predicted range-per-charge of 250 miles, 135 miles per hour top speed, 0 - 60 in four seconds and the gasoline equivalent of 135 miles per gallon. Tesla is not expected to ship new cars until mid 2007. The price? None official yet. Other publications are reporting $80,000 to $100,000.

Obvio!, a Brazilian small-volume car manufacturer, is planning two electric cars, the 828E and 012E. California automobile distributor ZAP says it will be the US distributor of Obvio’s car line. While initial cars sold through ZAP will be ethanol fueled, the electric model will follow shortly, in 2008 or so. Obvio says the electric will go 0 - 60 in 4.5 seconds, have a top speed of 120 miles per hour, and travel 200 - 240 miles per charge. The price is $49,000 for the 828E and $59,000 for the 012E.

The problem of small volume manufacturers is clearly price per car. Still, the major manufacturers will be watching these vehicles in their rear view mirrors. All of the majors started out as small volume manufacturers. Who knows what could be sneaking up from behind?

Visit Tesla at http://www.teslamotors.com/, Obvio at http://www.obviousa.com