Recent Announcements Will Spark Electric Car Sales

by: Jeff Wilson November 21, 2008 | about stocks: ALTI / CTTAY.OB / DAI / GE / GM / MMTOF.PK / NSANY / TM    

Jeff Wilson

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The last couple of days have given us major announcements of electric car infrastructure projects.

As the keynote speaker at the L.A. Auto Show, Nissan (NSANY) CEO Carlos Ghosn announced a partnership with the Oregon Transportation Department and Portland General Electric to install charging stations around the state. Nissan will provide a fleet of electric vehicles to the state, and Oregon will offer a tax credit to buyers of electric vehicles.

The mayors of San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose met with Shai Agassi, CEO of Better Place, an electric car infrastructure company. The mayors announced at the meeting that they will roll out policies in December to promote the purchase and use of electric cars in the Bay Area, such as the expediting of permits for the installation of charging stations. They are also hinting at tax incentives, although no details have been released. Better Place hopes to have the first round of charging infrastructure in place in 2010. Better Place's first two clients are Israel and Denmark, and a deal is pending with the state of Hawaii.

Last July, the city of San Jose signed a 2-year contract with Coulomb Technologies to develop charging stations around the city. Coulomb is also installing charging stations at many locations along Interstate 5 and highways 99, and 101 through California.

These projects will develop technologies and standards that will allow for rapid deployment of charging infrastructure in other locations. The timing is early enough that infrastructure can be put in place in many populated areas prior to the availability of large numbers of electric cars. This will encourage the purchase of electric cars, boding well for electric car manufacturers and battery manufacturers.

GM (GM) is planning to have the Chevy Volt shipping in 2010. Mitsubishi (MMTOF.PK) is planning to have the i MiEV electric vehicles in volume production starting in 2011, and Nissan and Toyota (TM) are planning to have electric cars in volume production in 2012. Mercedes (DAI), Audi [VOWG:DE], BYD Company [BYD:KOSCOM], and BMW [XETRA:BMW.DE] have also announced plans for electric cars.

The battery manufacturers that stand to gain from increased car sales are A123 Systems, partly owned by General Electric (GE), LG Chem [051910: KOSCOM], Electrovaya [TSE: ELF.TO], and Altair Nanotechnologies (ALTI), and Continental AG (CTTAY.OB). Nissan and BYD are both auto and battery manufacturers and will sell batteries to other auto makers.

Disclosure: No positions held.

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This article has 12 comments:

  •  
    Nov 21 08:28 AM
    fed gov should impose a tariff on imported oil to support oil prices at some level ex. $50 to $60 per barrel to support alternate fuel and car developers so we don't go thru this again in the future as in the past
    Reply | Link to Comment
  •  
    Nov 21 08:51 AM
    Man-made global warming is BS and the environmentalist want to usher us all back into the dark ages. Americans don't want these damn electric cars - they will never sell in big volume numbers and the auto manufacturers are committing suicide to make the switch completely. The alternative energy sources are real good for fixed energy - heating and lighting homes and other buildings, but transportation will always need fossil fuel.
    Reply | Link to Comment
  •  
    Nov 21 09:09 AM
    93228: Baaaa, baaaa.
    Reply | Link to Comment
  •  
    Nov 21 09:23 AM
    Nissan is going to be a clear leader in electrics.
    Reply | Link to Comment
  •  
    Nov 21 12:16 PM
    I agree, now is a good time to put a tax on oil. People are already going back to the old ways of wasting fuel.
    Reply | Link to Comment
  •  
    Nov 21 01:43 PM
    Hummer Ads on the rise. Go the European route and increase the Gas tax rate by $1.00, use it to fund all of the ALT.E infrastructure needed.
    Reply | Link to Comment
  •  
    Nov 21 08:58 PM
    The sooner the electrics get here, the better!!
    Reply | Link to Comment
  •  
    Nov 22 08:37 AM
    JUST what we need guys, a new consumer tax on gasoline. It is certain to help our failing economy at least as much as EV's.

    Only problem I see is there are 250M ICE's in existence here, and ZERO
    electrics. If you REALLY want to get off oil, you can convert ALL of them to NGV's. Starting TODAY.

    If CA, OR, WA, et al want to kill themselves by mandating EV's, that's fine with me. And IA and other farm states can require e-100 for all I care. Never let the facts get in the way of a good story, I always say.

    If this doesn't work (which it won't), at least my money won't be tied up in it. If it does (and I'm wrong), gas should stabilize at around $1.50. I can live with that, too.

    But just remember, NG (and hydrates) can fuel ALL our transportation 40% cheaper than gasoline. And do it FOREVER.
    Reply | Link to Comment
  •  
    Nov 22 09:15 AM
    Electric cars are patriotic....I love the idea of my car running on American power, whether coal, nuclear, gas, or renewables. I love the concept of charging my car at night off a smart grid, that provides demand response to customers as well as better service from the utility. I love the idea that an electric car will not be laying off environmental costs on the world, and will allow Americans to look much better as a nation. Yes, electric cars are part of national security and restoring America as leader nation.

    Driving cars on oil, just makes no sense, it's killing our world and enriching our enemies. The cost of a gallon of gas needs to reflect the real environmental costs, as well as the cost of the military, etc., but until then we are just subsidizing big oil and nations like Iran.
    Reply | Link to Comment
  •  
    Nov 22 02:33 PM
    Since when is NG not oil? And when did we stop importing it? Besides, why bother with worries about CO2 when using NG will increase its output at the same time as it destroys the rest of the ethanol complex which has no role in the CNG vehicle.
    Reply | Link to Comment
  •  
    Nov 22 08:17 PM
    I'd rather plug in than use a gas pump and I'd rather get 150 mpg than 20mpg...... oil is dead, solar is here...... finally.
    Reply | Link to Comment
  •  
    Nov 23 12:45 PM
    California cities getting infrastructure for electric cars how exciting is that? I say go California, Go Arnold Arnold Schwarzenegger, Go "Better Place", And Go America, let's get this show on the road!!!

    Check out this link to read the news. This is so exciting for those who realize the importance of seeing out country transfrom away from fossil fuels and to cleaner, cheaper electric cars. I read about this in the author's book after I heard him on a radio talk show interview. I am thrilled and surpriesed to see it taking place so soon. Link to news story below or simply type electric car infrastructure california or better place into search engine. www.freep.com/article/...

    Reply | Link to Comment
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