wheego whip light

The Wheego Whip Life: 90 miles on a charge. (Credit: Jim Motavalli)

ATLANTA–We’ve reached the make-or-break point for electric vehicles. As many as a half dozen different models will be on the road by the end of the year, and when it comes right down to it we have no idea if people will line up to buy them.

There are several big hurdles, including price (EVs will be significantly more expensive than we’re used to — small two-seat cars will start around $25,000), unfamiliarity (people will be plugging in at night, instead of going to the gas station) and range anxiety (most of these cars will go only 100 miles between charges).

Last week, I talked to Mary Ann Wright, managing director of the business accelerator at major battery maker Johnson Controls (they’re supplying lithium-ion packs to both the BMW and Mercedes-Benz hybrids), and heard about the “EV gap.” She said the industry worldwide has the capacity to produce four million cars, but the actual demand might be only two million.

Wright was among several witnesses at a Senate hearing last week asking the feds, specifically the Department of Energy, for help closing that gap — with one popular concept being the mass purchase of EVs for government fleets, which could include more than a million vehicles. It makes a lot of sense, particularly because fleet cars come back to central depots that make recharging a cinch.

Wright also told me that EV costs will come down with desperately needed volume. “Scale won’t get us all the way, but it is going to be a significant driver,” she said.

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