......the nation is China.from Grist:
China just announced plans to build 1 million electric cars per year. Let's put that in perspective: In Obama's State of the Union Address, he said the U.S. should shoot for 1 million electric vehicles on the road by 2015, total.
Here's the really crazy part of this equation: a panel of U.S. auto industry experts thinks Obama's plan is "too ambitious," and that automakers are unlikely to meet that goal because of "uncertain consumer demand." (As Todd Woody reported for Grist, the U.S. Department of Energy disagrees, arguing that 1 million by 2015 is in fact a conservative goal.)
China's domestic market for vehicles is enormous, but not enough to absorb 1 million (initially relatively expensive) electric vehicles per year. So where are they going to go? Well, maybe you'll be driving one. You and you and you and ... you! Reuters:
BYD Co Ltd, a Chinese car and battery maker backed by Warren Buffett, expects to enter the mass U.S. auto market in the first quarter of 2012, starting with its e6 electric car model, its chairman said on Monday.
The Wizard of Omaha is backing a Chinese electric car manufacturer? You bet -- Buffet knows which side his toast is buttered on. The side with money. BYD is already the world's largest manufacture of cell phone batteries. Since the battery is the single most expensive part of an electric car, this gives it a potentially unassailable leg up in the race to make electric vehicles cost-competitive with gasoline-powered ones, reports The Guardian: .............(more)
The complete piece is at:
http://www.grist.org/article/2011-02-18-china-to-blow-the-doors-off-obamas-candy-ass-electric-car-progra