PLUG-IN CARS ON THE VERGE

Electric Car Batteries Just Hit A Key Price Point

Joe Romm, April 13, 2015 (ClimateProgress)

“…By the end of 2014, more than 700,000 total plug-in vehicles had been sold worldwide (plug-in hybrids and pure battery electrics), up from about 400,000 at the end of 2013. As of 2015, dozens of models of electric cars and vans are available…A major reason for the rapid jump in EV sales is the rapid drop in the cost of their key component -– batteries. The energy stored in a battery is measured by kilowatt-hour(kWh). The more kWh stored, the further the car can go on one charge…The lower the cost [per kwh], the cheaper it is to build an electric car with a significant range…[According to a study by Björn Nykvist and Måns Nilsson,] the best manufacturers have already reached the battery price needed for cost parity with conventional cars…[and concluded that if] costs reach as low as $150 per kilowatt hour this means that electric vehicles will probably move beyond niche applications and begin to penetrate the market more widely, leading to a potential paradigm shift in vehicle technology…[T]hat $150 per kWh can be hit around 2020 without a major battery breakthrough but simply with continuing improvements…” click here for more

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