News

April 19, 2009

The Week In Alternative Power: An Electric Week For Cars

By Sally White

It was an electric week – for cars, that is. The UK and the US both crept a little nearer to popularising them, though not yet catching up with Germany, Denmark, Australia, Israel and China. In the UK, Transport Secretary Jeff Hoon announced incentives of up to £5,000 for consumers to buy electric cars as well as plans for cities to become testing grounds on how drivers can use and charge them. Widespread adoption of electric vehicles with a maximum speed of 30mph would halve UK road transport emissions. But not much else is yet clear from the 16-page document that the UK government released – like how anyone will be able to persuade people to spend on money on a car than can really only be used in cities other than by offering big cash payouts.

Meanwhile, electric car battery production in the US should become more competitive following last week’s moves by four majors to set up facilities in Michigan at a cost of US$1.7 billion. Currently, despite the government’s push for alternative energy, Asian electric car technology is far ahead, with Japanese companies dominating the market for hybrid-vehicle batteries. The battery supplier to the most popular car, Toyota’s Prius hatchback, for example, is Panasonic.

A US-French joint...