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It is all about batteries. In my opinion batteries are the worst roadblock on the way to further spread of electric vehicles. The Li-Ion-battery as mentioned in the document "Conti-Li-Ion.doc" was shown on the IAA 2008 "Commercial Vehicles" It contains 2 kWh, has a voltage of 350 V and a power of 60 kW. It has a volume of 52 l and weighs 65 kg, all included. It contains an energy of 2 kWh. This is the energy content of 200 ml of gasoline. To get a satisfactory service life you can use only about 20 % of the capacity of the battery, e. g. between 60 and 80 % state of charge. Calculated in gasoline that is 40 ml, about a double schnaps (liquor), as we say in Germany. So all this ado with electro-motor-generator, DC/DC- and AC/DC-converters, controllers and so on serves only for shoving a double schnaps in and out of the battery. Of course you can do it several times, wheras the gasoline, which you take out of the tank is lost forever. But the calculation shows how far the capacity even of the most sophisticated batteries is from what would be really needed.

One of the more aggressive developers is Ford, which has test vehicles on the road as part of its plan to bring electrified vehicles to market over the next four years. Although not alone in its drive to capture this potentially valuable market, Ford’s strategy and product range reflects the market sentiments; primarily that there is no silver bullet. To be successful requires a portfolio of technologies.