Despite idealistic assertions, it’s far-fetched that wind farms might energize 285 million American EVs traveling our current average of 13,500 miles annually. And if you’re yet hoping that private investors will supply new generating stations, know this: Electricity from post-deregulation retail companies cost Americans $19.2 billion more in the last decade than from incumbent utilities. Somewhere, a trillion hamsters will have to be taught to march in lockstep. We’re still even arguing about whether EVs should produce some sort of artificial sound – this in the face of studies proving that traffic noise increases risk of high blood pressure, heart attacks, strokes, and a third elbow. Everyone’s dream, of course, is that this new electricity, bolstered by economies of scale, will come cheaper than drilling and shipping crude from all four corners of the Earth. We don’t know that for sure, but put a name to any other option. GM AND TOYOTA: THE SOFTWARE COMPANIES OF TOMORROW Everyone’s dream, of course, is that this new electricity, bolstered by economies of scale, will come cheaper than drilling and shipping crude from all four corners of the Earth. We don’t know that for sure, but put a name to any other option. What might tip Americans toward EV romance? Gas at $5 to $7 per gallon has been suggested, but our fuel remains among the
cheapest in the world and has tended to stay so. Our stupendous glut of rotten-mileage SUVs might do it. At some point, $180 refills for your GMC Yukon will have to include six Ambien. Our fascination with 4,500-lb land bruisers must cease. In the EV world, fat does to batteries what it does to human aortas. What’s funny is that GM and Toyota, as partners, could turn us into EV addicts, simply by skewing their output in that direction. GM says it will produce nothing but EVs by 2035. Toyota says half its output will be electrified by 2025. Ford just unveiled the Mustang Mach-E, a styling abomination that will taint the Mustang’s reputation, yet Dearborn risked it in the name of electrification. Why? It’s the corporate carrot of reduced assembly-line costs, fewer employees, and fewer global-warming accusations. The company – indeed, the country – that invents the perfect battery will engender a corporate empire the likes of Microsoft or Exxon Mobil. It might require a highly unlikely R&D trifecta in which China, Japan, and the U.S. are equally emersed. It’s been 25 years since GM unleashed its EV1. Our greatest accomplishment in that span has been the refinement of the computers managing the batteries. If Biden’s recharging stations get built, and if solid-state batteries fulfill their promise, we’re probably two-thirds of the way to an electric touchdown. John Phillips III is the former executive editor of Car and Driver . He will release his third book, Four Miles West of Nowhere , this summer.
58
May 2021
Made with FlippingBook - professional solution for displaying marketing and sales documents online