Expert panel tries to guess the automobile’s future
This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.
What is the future of the car and what will be different in 2020? Last week, at the New York International Auto Show, three participants in a Newsweek Executive Forum tried to answer that question. The panel consisted of Henrik Fisker, chief executive of Fisker Automotive Inc., Lou Rhodes, vice president for advanced vehicle engineering for Chrysler and Kevin Smith, editorial director of Edmunds.com.
Fisker said his company was on track to sell its electric vehicle this fall. He promised the car would deliver 100 mpg for most users and that it would have true mass-market potential.
When Newsweek senior editor and moderator Daniel Lyons asked what we’ll be driving in 2020, Fisker said, “You’re going to be driving a Fisker.... We will have plug-in hybrids that cost $20,000. And at least one-half of the vehicles in each niche will be hybrids.”
He also said, “What’s going to change is the way we generate electricity in this country. People will be able to drive in the cities, people will be able to drive only in electric mode.’
This coming from a company with prices that will start in the $80,000 range, was an interesting viewpoint. “The car industry,’ Fisker said, ‘has to reinvent itself and it has to happen now. We can do it because we start from a clean sheet of paper.” He said the company had raised an additional $85 million in venture capital money.
Chrysler’s Rhodes has an unusual distinction. He raced in an ENVI electric car against the Dodge Challenger and won.
Rhodes said, “We had to reach a solution that met all our customers’ needs and had to find a common approach across all our cars.”
Chrysler has five solutions in the form of cars in various stages of development, one of which will be on the market next year. Rhodes declined to announce which it would be.
Smith of Edmunds.com said, “All the bailout dollars mean nothing if the consumers don’t shop.” He also said there was still plenty of room for improvement for the internal combustion engine.
Rhodes said, “It’s about giving people a choice. People are concerned about the cost of the car, the cost of electricity.” He said one of the advantages was that plug-ins would also provide information to carmaker and owner. It would be another point in the data stream.
He said 100,000 vehicles sold annually would be the point where electrics are competitive with traditional cars. And the cost of parts will be driven down by more manufacturers getting in the market.
-- Doug Stewart