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$120,000
Darin,I'm glad you brought this up.I spent a few sleepless nights getting ready for the Earth Day Summit at UNT here in Denton.I was going through my EV scraps and found some amazing ( to me ) facts.
Peugeot was developing an EV based on an existing sedan.They configured everything to "bolt-in" to the existing platform.It was produced on the same assembly line as the gasoline car,by the same workers.
At production levels as low as 4,000 units a year,the car required only a $6,000 premium over the standard Peugeot,and get this,at an annual production level of 40,000-50,000 units a year(which is peanuts for a car maker),the car would demand a EV premium of $0.00
When Paul MacCready was talking about the Impact becoming a 80 mpg car,I thought that GM might produce the EV-1 at Spring Hill,Tennessee,instead of the Reatta Craft Center,and build a look-a-like gasoline version on the same line.They sold the Saturn for $13,000 the year the EV-1 was released.It looks like they could have "sold" the EV-1 for $13,000 as well.This was the price of the Peugeot gasoline,and Peugeot EV.GM would have had to lose some of the exotic materials used in the EV,but if the size and shape were maintained,the alloy wheels and LRR tires,the EV would lose very little,and it would be a quantum leap for the gasoline car.Drat! The EPA gives electric cars a CAFE rating of 135 or 185mpg.This would have really helped GM's aggregate CAFE,it would have made them real heroes,and the purchasing public would have a shot at a real 20th-century car.Guess we'll see what Chrysler comes up with.
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