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GoEarthfriendly is an organization of transportation specialists that are working together with additional business partners to create a more sustainable and environmentally friendly transportation system throughout the Northeast; primarily through the deployment of electric vehicles in an economically feasible manner. While many of the EV producers are getting the hype for their production vehicles the economic facts of each of them create an opportunity for an alternative business and economic model that Goearthfriendly represents.
The NISSAN Leaf, for example is the first full production EV ready to be introduced in 2011, at the rate of 100,000 vehicles a year, but it will have a distance limit of 100 miles with the energy stored in its battery pack. Furthermore, this vehicle starts at a base price of over $32,000 ($24,500 with $7,500 government rebate); but the real cost of ownership is much higher as the battery itself is $15,000 and has an unknown capacity over time. We are all familiar with how Li-Ion batteries work (or don't over time) in our laptop computers and so battery life will be a major EV consumer concern; one that will vary depending on the way it is utilzed by the owner. NISSAN is trying to determine just how much warranty to apply to the battery. It is not easily removed and it's capacity deteriorates over time, although it is unknown just how much so, because it depends on conditions of use. The bottom line is that only those that want to pay a major premium for the environment will take the economic plunge. Even NISSAN admits that battery technology will improve as volumes increase, leaving those with early adaptation being further penalized as new batteries will only go into newer cars, reducing the resale value of the older ones.
The Chevy VOLT, to be released also this year--at a higher price of $40,000 ($32,500 with government rebate) but with a IC motor to charge the battery, doesn't have the problem with range--but still has all of the same battery issues and would lose its resale value. It also is much more complex a vehicle. TESLA motors has an even better capability, but at a cost of over $100,000 is limited in it's application, and still has the same problem of battery life. All major car companies, such as Ford and Toyota, are introducing Electric Vehicles, but are doing so with a non-removable battery pack. As traditional car companies they simply can not conceive of not including the power source in the vehicle, which will be to their detriment, as well as any owner who invests in one of their EV's.
Only A Better Place (http://www.abetterplace.com) , in partnership with Renault, has the battery changing technology designed in it that enables switching over to an electric car that will be economically feasible for the majority of the population, including business applications. However, it requires an entirely new infrastructure in order to be applied that includes battery changing stations. Presently being proven out in Israel, Denmark and Northern California; A Better Place is shown to be an economically feasible changeover method to electric vehicles. You don't own the battery, making the initial cost of ownership of the vehicle much less, with the leasing cost of the battery power being economically comparable to, or even cheaper, than filling up with gas at a gas station. The convenience will be even faster and safer than present gas filling stations. The only thing missing is the infrastructure and operations to assure delivery and application of the batteries. In addition, there are limited numbers of new cars being built such that less than half of 1% of cars on the road will be Electric over the next 5 years unless conversions are built up as well.
That is the capability that Goearthfriendly is presently developing in the Northeast United States. Working with new partners for infrastructure locations within 50 miles of each other, developing changeable batteries with flexible applications and converting used vehicles at a reasonable price; the changeover to EV's can explode to a whole new group of consumers. We invite you to learn more about this exciting business opportunity by contacting us.