Dave Erb

The Detroit-based American car industry, particularly General Motors, deliberately dragged its heels in the development of electric cars, Dave Erb, a hybrid electric vehicle engineer, said at an April 21 program in UNC Asheville’s Robinson Hall.

The program, hosted by the UNCA Society of Automotive Engineers in honor of Earth Day, began with a screening of “Who Killed the Electric Car.” Erb, who also is an adjunct professor at UNCA, served as moderator of the program and fielded questions. About 30 people attended.

The film reviewed a major electric car program, which began in 1996 in California, and its demise almost 10 years later. The film contended that the vehicles were reluctantly manufactured by car companies to meet California mandates — and were rounded up and destroyed as soon as they no longer were required to meet state law, despite consumer demand for the vehicles.

The film sought to identify which party was guilty in the car’s abrupt removal from the market, particularly General Motors’ popular EV1.
Following the 93-minute film, Erb moderated a discussion of sustainable transportation.

A man opened the discussion by noting, “It’s unusual that GM destroyed its own technologies.”

Dorothy Sulock then asked Erb, “Are you going to tell people about the new little Tesla?”

With a smile, Erb noted that the Tesla sports car, “bankrolled by the Google and PayPal fortunes,” reportedly had 100 orders for its $100,000 prototypes. But he noted that the cost was three times that of an EV1, which was priced as a $34,000 car. “It’s better than the EV1, but not that much better” for its price to be so much higher, However, he noted that Tesla has devised a sedan coupe at $49,000 — more in an affordable price range.

A man then asked why GM is having a problem with its Volt, its extended-range electric car.

In response, Erb said, It’s because GM hires 15 salespeople for every engineer — and I say that angrily.”

He fumed that GM product czar Bob Lutz said recently that “if anyone thinks hybrids will be a success, they’re fools.”

Erb also lamented that, “as you look at Volt publicity, you’ll see they note the car won’t be ready in time.

In Erb’s estimation, the Volt “was more of a public relations exercise” than a real production effort. “Now, with tremendous demand for the Volt, they’re actually (finally) working on it.”

However, Erb added, “I guarantee you’ll see a Toyota plug-in way before the Volt.”

He also called the $750,000 that it cost GM to engineer the EV1 “chump change in the auto business.”

In addition, Erb said, “You or I, or anyone else who is rational, you’re probably skeptical enough to wait on new technology like an electric car. You have to know and trust that person.”

A man said, “If they had a battery good enough 10 years ago for the EV1, why is this an issue with the Volt?”

Erb noted that the first 800 EV1s featured lead-acid batteries, but the second round of EV1s nickel hydride batteries, which double the range.

With Tesla, “they’re soldering together 700 cellphone batteries” to power the cars, Erb said.

A man asked, “Whatever they’re happy with battery-wise, why aren’t they happy in Detroit?”

“Because of the cultural resistance in Detroit,” Erb replied. “They’re concerned about making a profit. There’s a certain groupthink in Detroit — that nobody can make a profit with hybrids.”

A man asked about the warranty on batteries in a Toyota Prius.

“The batteries in a hybrid, including a Prius, are warranted for 100,000 to 150,000 miles ... Batteries are a creature of their industry.” Erb noted that a joke in his circle of friends is: “Batteries don’t die, they’re murdered.” He said the Prius’ battery pack costs about $2,500 to replace. He also said it takes about six to eight hours to recharge the Prius batteries.

A man marvelled that Tesla “essentially is stringing together a bunch of laptop batteries.”

Erb nodded, noting that “there are too many” advantages to the lithium batteries.

A man asked Erb, “Who do you work for?”

“I’m a self-employed consultant and I’m also engaged here (at UNCA) part-time as an adjunct professor.”

In a follow-up, the man asked, “The 15:1 ratio of P.R. people to technical people — is that literal?”

“No,” Erb replied. “I just made that number up, but it’s probably not far off.” He noted there were 50 people on the Volt development team. “Until a few years ago, much more effort was put into publicizing the Volt, than developing it.”