Coalition: NRC Missed Mark on Battery Costs for Electric Cars
The Electrification Coalition said it disagrees with assumptions used in a
study released Dec. 14 by the National Research Council (NRC) on potential penetration rates for electric vehicles.
"The National Research Council has done important work over the years, but in this case, some of their assumptions are off the mark," Electrification Coalition President and Chief Executive Officer Robbie Diamond said. "Ironically, however, the report's conclusions still illustrate a crucially important point: without action by policymakers, the United States transportation system is likely to remain dependent on oil for years to come."
The NRC report reaches its conclusions by assuming battery costs that are far higher than current industry estimates. In addition, the report underestimates expected reductions in cost as battery technology continues to improve and economies of scale come into play.
"The battery cost assumptions going into this report not only run counter to our own exhaustive research, they run counter to the findings of most anyone who has looked at this issue or worked in this field," said PRTM, a global management consulting firm that has provided market analysis and technical input for the Electrification Coalition.
The Electrification Coalition is a nonpartisan, not-for-profit organization committed to promoting policies and actions that will facilitate the deployment of electric vehicles on a mass scale in order to combat the economic, environmental, and national security vulnerabilities caused by our nation's dependence on petroleum.
In November, the Coalition released the Electrification Roadmap, a report detailing the dangers of oil dependence, explaining the benefits of electrification, describing the challenges facing electric cars, and providing specific policy proposals to overcome those challenges. Among its many policy recommendations, the Roadmap proposes the creation of electrification 'ecosystems,' geographic areas in which all of the elements of an electrified transportation system are deployed, thus providing a crucial first step toward moving electrification beyond a niche product into a dominant, compelling, and ubiquitous concept.