Plug-in hybrids 5-10 years away?!
Why is Ford Motor Company Chief Executive Alan Mulally saying that plug-in hybrids are 5-10 years away? It makes no sense whatsoever. As I previously wrote, do-it-yourself plug-in kits for hybrid cars are already available. They are a bit on the pricey side, but that’s because they’re after-market. But the automobile production company itself has many advantages that a kit maker doesn’t, and should easily be able to make an automobile with a plug within a year. The hybrid already has batteries for gods’ sakes; all you have to do is add an external plug (easy) and a converter (easy) that plugs into the batteries. That’s it. It shouldn’t cost more than a couple hundred per vehicle at retail, and would be well worth it.
So why is Ford saying plug-ins are potentially five to ten years in the future? It’s not because they’re hard to make. It’s because they’re in bed with the oil companies. This was already amply demonstrated when GM killed the electric car. Unfortunately for them, everyone realizes that plug-in hybrids are inevitable. They’re just going to drag their butt as much as possible in the interim, continuing to scratch Big Oil’s backs with high gas consumption for as long as possible. What they should have learned by now is that this is a disastrous strategy, and it’s hurting them in the most direct way possible: last year Ford lost $12.6 billion and had to lay off thousands of workers.
As long as American auto companies continue their sickening, diseased relationships with Big Oil, they’re going to continually have their ass handed to them. Look at how badly they got beaten by Asian auto companies in the burgeoning small cars market following the recent gas price shocks. And does anyone seriously believe it’s going to take Toyota and Honda a full five to ten years to release a plug-in-capable version of their highly successful hybrid vehicles? Not likely! So once again Ford is going to be playing catch-up, and lose.
