General Electric (GE) has announced the largest single purchase of electric vehicles in history this morning – 25,000 to be exact. The vehicles will be purchased beginning next year with an initial purchase of 12K GM made Chevy Volts to achieve its goal of converting about half of its entire fleet to electric. This is a bold and important move from GE and the kind of action that will continue to help drive down the cost of electric cars to make them more affordable for everyone. EV’s from other manufacturers will be added as they come available. No announcement has been officially made as to what those vehicles will be, but certainly the Nissan Leaf and the all electric Toyota Prius (2012) would be possibilities.
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“Electric vehicle technology is real and ready for deployment and we are embracing the transformation with partners like GM and our fleet customers,” said GE Chairman and CEO Jeff Immelt. “By electrifying our own fleet, we will accelerate the adoption curve, drive scale, and move electric vehicles from anticipation to action.
This purchase offers more than just good PR and long term fuel savings for GE. As the manufacturer of the electric car charging station, the WattStation, anything the company can do to drive widespread adoption of electric cars increases sales of infrastructure components such as the WattStation.
GE also announced that as part of its ecomagination business strategy, it will open two electric vehicle customer experience centers in Michigan and Minnesota to provide customers and employees the opportunity to learn about the latest in EV development. Additional centers will be announced next year.
My viewpoint:
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1. I embrace Smart grid & Renewable Energy & EVs as one package.
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2. Large-scale adoption of EVs could help finance smart grid & renewable energy, by channeling oil cash into the utilities.
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3. Better still, they will charge mostly overnight with the untapped, or mostly WASTED electricity without having to build another power plant, as hydro & Wind & nuclear power plants keep operating around the clock.
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4. Used Batteries Can Be Used In Smart Grids for an invaluable storage device As EVs become more widely available, they are also churning out the used batteries down the road.
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5. By storing power from cheaper off-peak periods, the battery in EVs is able to power a house during expensive peak periods, even better, sell excess power back to the grid simultaneously, EVEN AFTER its automotive life.
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6. There is no question in my mind that world can’t expect noticeable employment expansion until it moves towards alterative transportation.
While some critics are counting cents on the utility bill, it is claimed that : ” the U.S. uses about 24 percent of the world’s oil, this equates to 20.9 million barrels a day. If the U.S chooses to embrace renewable energy, the U.S could save $750 billion per year and create about 6 million jobs”.
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