“What if these billion dollar think tanks devoted themselves to some of the tough problems associated with vehicle design…”
How much would it cost to re-educate these scientists and engineers? They are not trained to work on batteries; most are physicists, not chemists. And it isn’t basic research that is the problem with the GM battery, it’s mass production of something that’s been done only on a limited basis so far. The only large lithium ion batteries available are built for spacecraft, and they are expensive. Many small batteries could be joined together like the Tesla does, but that is very expensive as well. I read something recently that said it costs about $1000 per kilowatt-hour for lithium ion batteries, and GM needs a 16-kW unit. That’s very expensive. Is anyone willing to pay $40,000 for a plug-in hybrid? It isn’t just GM. Where’s Toyota’s plug-in hybrid? It’s still in development because they can’t do it, either. The Prius battery is a generation old; it doesn’t have the charge density to work as a plug-in. If the government wanted to provide money, they should aid in development costs for GM’s battery partner, A123.