The Car Hub

Honda Forecast 10-20 Years For A Major Presence Of Electric Cars.
In recent days Honda’s CEO has stated that his company will need to depend on China for its future development of battery powered electric cars.
What then is the real talk within their boardroom if Honda are willing to state so openly that they have serious doubts about the future of electric cars.
What the CEO of Honda has basically conceded is the car industry as a whole now needs to have a major technology breakthrough in the development of battery powered cars and is looking to China to supply it.
Honda are now cooperating with leading battery makers in China to hopefully provide the needed breakthrough. The Chinese government are providing huge financial and business location grants and subsidies to develop that technology and try to break away from the present limitations of the battery pack provision of power for today’s electric cars.
There is a train of thought that the longer this battery pack/electric car technology breakthrough takes the more likely electric car manufacturers are to lose out to the competition provided by the Hydrogen car movement.
Some of the restrictions to be contended with  by any owner of an electric car these days are: range limit of vehicle, re-charging times of batteries, availability of recharging facilities in the locality, the cost of replacing a battery pack – stated to be similar in cost to an engine change, a  further detrimental fact frequently overlooked is the need to carry around in the car at all times a very heavy battery pack which unlike a petrol tank does not get any lighter with travel, and finally, the very hefty extra cost loaded onto the price of buying an electric car in the first place.
Honda are  now forecasting the battery powered electric vehicle will not  become commonplace on the roads for another 10-20 years, should that really be the case, and other car manufacturers have similar forecasts, it can well be imagined there will be no mad rush to provide a nationwide infrastructure of support/charging facilities in any country.
Should it be the case that other major companies do agree with Honda’s forecasts, how long before the government grants/subsidies are cut back or maybe disappear completely?
At present Honda have their own very successful hybrid electric/fossil fuel Civic and Insight models on sale which have praiseworthy environment credentials, are not overpriced, good on fuel consumption and low on insurance costs; this is the type of car today which is far more in keeping with the average motorist’s affordability and including all the support and servicing facilities in place.
Lastly, we should ask ourselves, what is the reasoning  for the production of an electric car? The need to provide an electric car originally was to provide a method of transport which did less harm to the environment than current fossil fuelled models; ok, but what are we ending up with?
To date no car maker has produced clear total production costs so we have no idea of these, neither do we know the total number of billions of dollars or pounds spent on battery development by car makers and governments, added to which are government grants of approx £5k per vehicle to some of the public as an incentive (bribe?) to buy an electric car.
And really finally, all that extra development and production of battery components have not been costed by way of carbon gas emissions produced in their manufacture and emitted into the environment, which just about brings us full circle. 
Bill Williams