GM CEO Dan Akerson Says That Cadillac Will Take On Tesla
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There’s no two ways about it, Tesla Motors offers, at the very least, a genuinely interesting product. Although the new automaker has something new and different, that’s not going to stop GM from creating something competitive.
According to The Detroit News, General Motors CEO Dan Akerson is skeptical of the notion that full-electric vehicles are desired by Americans at this point in time, but understands that the future may not be this way.
Of all the GM brands to take on cutting-edge California-based Tesla, who better to do it than good old Cadillac, right? “If you want to compete head-to-head with Tesla, and we ultimately will, you want to do it with a Cadillac,” Akerson said. It’s a tough market, and Tesla wasn’t the first to try it, as we all know. “Does anybody even remember Fisker? I mean, there were a number of them; they are all gone.”
Ouch.
On a related note, Akerson knows how the numbers will work with Volt sales. “We’ll sell more (Chevrolet) Volts and lose less money on the Volts than they’ll lose on the (Tesla) Model S,” Akerson said.
Interestingly enough, Tesla has turned a profit this year, merely because of the sale of California zero-emission vehicle credits and other credits. Even though Tesla might not seem to be a real threat on paper yet, the company is moving very quickly. Tesla paid back its $465 million in Energy Department loans an incredible nine years early, and the stock price has soared; Elon Musk’s company is now worth over $22 billion.
Meanwhile, it’s said that GM is working on bringing an EV with 200 miles of battery range to market while aiming for a price point of under $30-$40,000.
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As much as Musk/Tesla are on what I see as a winning track, I see severe limitations with LiOn batteries and all electric. I’ve done a lot of research on Fuel Cell and although it is in it’s infancy and distributing or producing pure hydrogen to fuel PEM FCs is counter productive, I believe the future sweet spot is an SOFC/Electric hybrid using Graphene batteries. The Solid Oxide Fuel Cell can run on any hydrogen rich fuel i.e. Gasoline, diesel, propane, natural gas with out any converters or scrubbers all the while not “burning “it. The Graphene batteries take a charge much like a capacitor yet are capable of trickle out put, and are extremely light weight and cheap to produce. Whether that combination will ever happens remains to be seen, but “I” believe it is an all out winner.