Requiem for Plug-In Cars

Electrification of modern transportation is not totally new to the US – from 1997 through 2003, almost 6,000 electric cars were produced, mostly for the state of California, under the zero-emissions vehicle (ZEV) mandate established in 1990 by the California Air Resources Board (CARB). In 2003, CARB drastically scaled back the ZEV mandate and the auto companies withdrew their ZEV offerings. In the same year the Tesla Motor Company was formed with the goal of reinvigorating the electric car by using lithium-ion batteries as a replacement for the nickel-metal-hydride (NiMH) batteries used to meet the CARB ZEV requirements. Based to some extent on Tesla’s new EV commitment, GM initiated the development program in 2006 that led to the Chevrolet Volt – a lithium-ion-based Pluggable Hybrid Electric Vehicle (PHEV).