Remember John McCain’s energy policy proposal to have a contest for developing better batteries for hybrid cars.

His proposal was to award something like $350,000,000.00 to the company that developed a new battery to be used in plug-in hybrid cars.  When combined with Drill, Baby, Drill and the usual oil, gas and coal industry propaganda, it sounded pretty lame.  For the most part, McCain was talking about continuing our energy policy of the last 50 years, CHEAP GAS!!

But now it turns out that this battery building contest may have been more than a greenwash.

An article in the November 24, 2008 issue of Automotive News has this headline:

Japan poised to control key batteries

Panasonic-Sanyo deal yet another worry for Detroit 3

As if General Motors, Ford and Chrysler didn’t have enough to worry about, the stars are aligning for them to be pulling their hair out over another issue caused by sleeping at the switch.

From the same Automotive News article:

“The worry is that America’s reliance on imported oil will be supplanted by reliance on imported batteries”.

A combined Panasonic/Sanyo will control a majority of the market for both the nickel metal hydride batteries, used in current hybrids, and the lithium ion batteries that will be the next automotive power source.  Sanyo is already the top producer of lithium ion batteries for cellphones, computers and the like and Panasonic produces 83% of the nickel metal hydride batteries used in vehicles today.

Here are some videos about current hybrids and electric cars:

Electric cars with Nickel Metal Hydride batteries you can buy today

http://endependence.info/research/videos-c-1-v-107.html

The Tesla Sports Car that uses Lithium Ion batteries

http://endependence.info/research/videos-c-1-v-41.html

In the spirit of taking good ideas no matter which side of the aisle they come from, the Obama clean up crew (lots to clean up after eight years) should think seriously about McCain’s battery contest proposal.

So the talk is about plug-in hybrids, the next step in vehicle technology to help us achieve energy independence.

Are plug-in hybrids possible?  You betcha’.

Here is Dr. Andrew Frank, from Universtiy of California, Davis, describing a plug-in hybrid suburban built by undergraduate college students (they build a new one every year).

http://endependence.info/research/videos-c-1-v-9.html

Why aren’t the big car companies selling plug-in hybrids already?  The claim is that they are waiting for new technology like lithium ion batteries.  But the people at Plug-in America are already converting their Toyota Prius cars to plug-ins.  These cars use the current nickel metal hydride batteries, and they work fine.

http://www.pluginamerica.org/

There are technical issues with plug-in hybrids, but they can be overcome.  Just check out what the college students do every year at UC Davis.  General Motors and Toyota are both racing to be first to bring a plug-in hybrid to market.  GM is asking for tax credits to make the Chevrolet Volt ($40,000.00 plus) more affordable.

http://www.chevrolet.com/electriccar/

http://www.popularmechanics.com/automotive/new_cars/4227944.html

To answer the question about bridge or empty promise, here is the Endependence take.  Unless the mileage for plug-in hybrids is in the 70 - 100 mpg range, it would be better to concentrate our efforts on full electric vehicles.  A bridge that doesn’t span the gap of our energy dependence isn’t worth building.