Thursday, May 21, 2009
Duracell and Chrysler
Back to the future...Mr. Nardelli is gone and the former head of Duracell is now Chairman of Chrysler.
Most of us forget that the electric car played a large role early in automotive history, until petroleum took over. We're seeing a resurgence in electric and hybrids but the technology is still struggling to become affordable. And, unless most Americans want to make major economic and lifestyle changes, pure electrics have a long way to go.
Back in 1995-6 we wrote a paper on the impact of limited range. Conclusion? Pure ZEV (zero emission vehicle) needed a range of 100+ miles to gain a penetration of over 5 to 10%.
When we did a price sensitivity analysis, we felt that if gasoline went over $4/gallon that people would look for alternatives...mmm. We were surprisingly accurate, 13-14 years ago!
