Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Network, Inc.
“Empowering the Planet to Overcome Our Dependence on Fossil Fuels”
Going Green
Nov. 17, 2009
SABA Motors & EVIN
May 27, 2009
"Uncorked" at Laguna Seca
Will consumers migrate to electric vehicles, just to reduce greenhouse emissions and decrease our dependence on foreign oil?
GM’s Tahoe Hybrid experience suggests the consumer will not migrate to a greener vehicle, if the overall package of the customer experience, is not met. GM reduced the overall payload area, trunk space, and lowered the power output of the Tahoe Hybrid; thus, mismatching the consumer expectation of an SUV that could tow their boat and carry their gear.
What is the cross-over price of gas to electric?
Our analysis suggests that $2.00 per gallon is the leading edge of the curve where electric fuel vehicles begin to equal fossil fuel vehicles from a cost per mile perspective. (Fuel consumption cost, not total cost of ownership)
Will the consumer drastically change their driving habits?
When gas prices reached $4.00 per gallon, consumers began to noticeably change their driving habits. As gas prices have retrenched to under $2.00 per gallon, consumers have not returned fully to their prior driving habits. This suggests an inflection point in which consumers have made fundamental changes to their driving habits.
The fundamentals of supply and demand, cost vs. benefit, human nature, and the resistance to change appear to remain the leading factors to any migration from a fossil fuel based to an all electric fuel vehicle.
Going green is only as good as it is good for the consumer’s pocket book and meets their automotive driving experience, culture.