Q&A: Renault-Nissan CEO Pledges $5.6 Billion for EVs

[IDemo]

Chuck Squatriglia
June 16, 2011

Carlos Ghosn is either a brilliant visionary or crazy as a loon.
The CEO of the Renault-Nissan Alliance is easily the auto industry’s biggest advocate of electric vehicles, possessed of an enthusiasm bordering on fanaticism. Others may speak with louder voices, but no one is placing a bigger bet on cars with cords. <--- :wtf:

Ghosn is going all in with an investment of 4 billion Euros ($5.6 billion) in electric vehicles. That will give Renault-Nissan the capacity to build 500,000 electric vehicles and batteries at 11 factories in eight countries by 2013.

Half a million electric cars and batteries. Within two years. Most of the major automakers promise to bring an electric vehicle to market within the next few years, but Ghosn is pushing them on a scale like no other.

http://www.wired.com/autopia/2011/06/qa-with-carlos-ghosn/

[Rosa Luxemburg]

1. I will be glad when people stop using gas

EVs or solars will be the thing of the future.

[frazzled]

2. I wouldn't trust anything Renault comes up with

We owned one once. Mechanical nightmare.

[Nihil]

3. Renault = Ford = GM = Rover = Nissan = whatever in the anecdotal stakes.

We've had two Renaults, both of which were excellent cars that lasted well.

:shrug:

[txlibdem]

4. Mechanical nightmare = internal combustion engine vehicles

The internal combustion engine contains around 5000 separate parts. An electric motor, fewer than 100. Following the KISS principle is, in this case the best case scenario.

EVs need no oil and therefore no oil changes, no gas/diesel, no tuneups, no vacuum pumps and hoses, no emissions control garbage, no radiator, no anti-freeze (toxic to pets BTW). Some EVs don't even need a transmission and the ones that do only need a far simpler one than your standard ICE vehicle.

ICE vehicles are lasting longer than ever before: it's not unheard of to exceed 100,000 miles and some are going to last for 200,000 miles. That's nothing compared to EVs, however. Electric motors regularly last for the equivalent of 1 million miles.

[Kolesar]

5. And if you need a commuter and/or a grocery-getter car, they are fine

I could see buying a car that never leaves the county. It is a bit of a sacrifice, but it would be better than being without transportation.

[txlibdem]

6. Accurate description of the situation in 2010

Since this is the very first year that electric cars are actually available for sale at the dealerships, I'm not surprised that the infrastructure isn't in place nationwide yet.

When gasoline cars were just starting out people had to look high and low to find a gas station in most parts of the country.

Google EV charging stations to see how many are already installed and how many will be available soon.

[Kolesar]

7. Intra-city travel is going to be challenging

I don't know if any battery can be recharged in as short of a period as a lunch break. Trips to Disneyworld or tours of the National Parks just won't happen. Mass transit will have to substitute for personal transportation.