coutinpe
Active Member
I’d imagine that a CEO of an automobile manufacturer has access to a few more clues than the average internet poster. Sure, they’ve all made mistakes, particularly CEO’s of US manufacturers. At the end of the day, they need to be profitable in order to pay their employees, who in turn go out and buy things, like new cars.
Before attacking a statement that includes a fabulously vague term such as “dramatic increase” it would be interesting to know exactly what Mr Hachigo considers a dramatic increase. Would going from 2% to 4% of global sales be considered a dramatic increase? That’s a 100% increase, but still represents a very small portion of overall sales. Is there value in directing resources and capital on such projects?
Interestingly, 2 related articles at the bottom of the above linked article describe how Honda plans to develop battery technology with GM and release EV’s into the market and that they plan to focus on hybrid models to meet CAFE standards. So why dwell on perceived negatives of one article while ignoring some positives in 2 other articles?
For many BEV’s fall short on what is expected from a vehicle. Not everyone has the resources or desire to drop $40-80 grand on a vehicle that has such limitations. Yes, a BEV with a theoretical, best case scenario range of 85-150 miles will make a great commuter car. It will not be so great on a 500-600 mile trip or a 14 day driving vacation.
The Clarity is an ideal combination, electric for commuting and errands, hybrid for longer trips. It is far more versatile than a BEV. I put 4 gallons in yesterday and have driven the past 3000 miles on 10 gallons of gas. That would have taken at least 80 gallons in the old car.
That is exactly my feeling! 600 miles driven since the last visit to the pump and the GOM still shows 289 HV miles left...