Electric vehicles inevitable at this point, declares Green Car Summit participant

“Electric cars are inevitable at this point,” declared Jason Wolf, vice president of Better Place, at a Green Car Summit held on Capitol Hill today in Washington, D.C. Once the technology is available, the price is affordable and consumers are ready for electric vehicles (EV’s), “you have a winner,” said Wolf. “The only question is how long it will take.” Better Place is an international provider of electric vehicle networks and services.

The third annual Green Car Summit was sponsored by Green Car Journal and the 2010 Washington Auto Show. The summit was held in conjunction with the Auto Show, which will feature a large area devoted to green cars.

There was considerable disagreement among the panelists over how fast we’ll be able to move to electric vehicles. While Scott Becker, senior vice president of Nissan North America, said just 10% of U.S. cars would be battery-electric by 2020 and Nancy Gioia, director of global electrification at Ford Motor Co. estimated that 10% to 25% would be partly or all electric, Wolf boldly predicted that 40-50% of new vehicles will be electric by then.

When challenged about the reality of this scenario, Wolf pointed out that if just 10% of new vehicles were electric by 2020, there would be about 1 billion new conventionally powered cars, which would drive up the price of oil and gas much higher by 2020. This would help make EV’s that much more affordable.

Here are a few other highlights from the summit:
· Another major point of contention is how fast manufacturers are able to develop batteries that can hold enough power for a long enough time without taking too much time to recharge, and then manufacture them in large quantities. George Lopez, executive director of The Solar and Wind Expo, commented during Q&A that the recharging problem could be solved by being able to swap out the used batteries with fresh ones, as is done, for example, with forklifts and cell phones.
· Stefan Jacoby, CEO of Volkswagen Group of America, pointed out that his and other companies are taking significant steps to make gas and diesel-powered cars much more fuel-efficient. For example, the Green Car Journal’s “2010 Green Car of the Year” is the Audi A3 TDI, a clean diesel manufactured by VW.
· One good way to make electric cars more affordable would be to convert the $7,500 federal tax credit to a rebate that consumers would get instantly, said Kevin Czinzer, president and CEO of CODA Automotive, an electric car manufacturer.
· Some EV manufacturers, including Nissan and CODA, plan to feature “one-stop-shopping,” in which dealers would take care of all their customers’ EV-related needs, including setting up recharging stations in their homes.
Electric vehicles will be featured at The Solar and Wind Expo, along with solar, wind and geothermal power, through an EV display area and Electric Vehicle Loop.

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