aptera1213
01-21-2010, 02:12 PM
ABG has some breaking news from Indiana (http://green.autoblog.com/2010/01/21/breaking-enerdel-to-invest-237-million-in-indiana-lithium-ion/)
Enerdel seems to be working with a number of car companies (Volvo, Th!nk, Mazda, Nissan--heck, I didn't know Mazda was even working on an EV--make it the Mazda 2 please ;) )
The part that caught my eye was this:
On hand for the event was Volvo, which brought out its Enderdel-powered C30 EV for the festivities, saying that the car is on an "imminent" path to commercialization.
Dang, if Volvo can make the C30 EV soonish, and can keep the cost around Volt price (40 k before tax rebates), hell, I love the C30. Of course if the price is more Tesla S range, well forget it.
Apteras competitors are not Telsa and Fisker, but are Nissan and Mitsubishi and Ford and maybe now Volvo and Mazda and Th!nk and soon after that Toyota and Honda (big maybe as they like hydrogen...but I think that flirtation will pass as all the others go EV).
In hindsight Aptera probably needed to embrace the niche market and not worry about a hopeful huge production ramp up. 2000 a year or so is Apteras market, especially seeing how so many others are jumping in.
But good news for EVs. Battery production shouldn't be an early issue if Enerdel and A123 and others keep this ramp up production going.
Gavin
Enerdel seems to be working with a number of car companies (Volvo, Th!nk, Mazda, Nissan--heck, I didn't know Mazda was even working on an EV--make it the Mazda 2 please ;) )
The part that caught my eye was this:
On hand for the event was Volvo, which brought out its Enderdel-powered C30 EV for the festivities, saying that the car is on an "imminent" path to commercialization.
Dang, if Volvo can make the C30 EV soonish, and can keep the cost around Volt price (40 k before tax rebates), hell, I love the C30. Of course if the price is more Tesla S range, well forget it.
Apteras competitors are not Telsa and Fisker, but are Nissan and Mitsubishi and Ford and maybe now Volvo and Mazda and Th!nk and soon after that Toyota and Honda (big maybe as they like hydrogen...but I think that flirtation will pass as all the others go EV).
In hindsight Aptera probably needed to embrace the niche market and not worry about a hopeful huge production ramp up. 2000 a year or so is Apteras market, especially seeing how so many others are jumping in.
But good news for EVs. Battery production shouldn't be an early issue if Enerdel and A123 and others keep this ramp up production going.
Gavin