Highly custom, top of the line heavy duty? NO!
Quote:
Among the hurdles were some pedestrian concerns, like cost. Lithium-ion batteries with enough juice to power a car are pretty expensive. As a result, the electric-powered vehicles are expected to retail for much more than their internal-combustion-engine cousins.
An electric pickup truck designed by Phoenix Motorcars, a startup, will retail for $47,500. The Chevy Volt is expected to sell for about $40,000. Compare that with the $15,111 the government pays for a Ford F-150 or $12,600 for a Chevy Cobalt and you get the picture.
Quote:
The irony is that even once the industry matures and costs come down, plug-in vehicles might still conflict with existing federal mandates. The landmark 2007 Energy Independence and Security Act requires that government agencies reduce the energy intensity of their facilities by 3 percent a year through 2015. Parking and charging plug-in vehicles at federal buildings could make those goals hard to meet.
Even the $300 million in the Recovery Act allocated to purchase fuel-sipping cars for government agencies will largely bypass plug-ins and all-electric vehicles. The General Services Administration announced this spring that it would spend $287.5 million of those funds by September 30, 2009, well before these new vehicles start rolling off assembly lines.
The hope for plug-ins may be real. But don’t expect any federal employees to be driving them anytime soon.
http://blogs.wsj.com/environmentalcapita...-federal-fleet/
Quote:
Among the hurdles were some pedestrian concerns, like cost. Lithium-ion batteries with enough juice to power a car are pretty expensive. As a result, the electric-powered vehicles are expected to retail for much more than their internal-combustion-engine cousins.
An electric pickup truck designed by Phoenix Motorcars, a startup, will retail for $47,500. The Chevy Volt is expected to sell for about $40,000. Compare that with the $15,111 the government pays for a Ford F-150 or $12,600 for a Chevy Cobalt and you get the picture.
Quote:
The irony is that even once the industry matures and costs come down, plug-in vehicles might still conflict with existing federal mandates. The landmark 2007 Energy Independence and Security Act requires that government agencies reduce the energy intensity of their facilities by 3 percent a year through 2015. Parking and charging plug-in vehicles at federal buildings could make those goals hard to meet.
Even the $300 million in the Recovery Act allocated to purchase fuel-sipping cars for government agencies will largely bypass plug-ins and all-electric vehicles. The General Services Administration announced this spring that it would spend $287.5 million of those funds by September 30, 2009, well before these new vehicles start rolling off assembly lines.
The hope for plug-ins may be real. But don’t expect any federal employees to be driving them anytime soon.
http://blogs.wsj.com/environmentalcapita...-federal-fleet/
