Reply #42: I found one outright lie

[Nederland]

Later on in the article there is this:

A123’s direct battery production costs have averaged over $1,000 per kWh for the last two years. By the time A123 adds a reasonable profit margin for its effort and an automaker adds another layer of markup, the only possible outcome is an end-user cost of $1,500 per kWh or more.

Since most advocates insist that battery costs will decline rapidly, I’ll assume end-user battery pack costs of $1,000 and $500 per kWh to keep the peace. I'll also use several other charitable assumptions including stable electricity costs of $0.12 per kWh, no loss of battery capacity over time, no cycle-life limitations and a 15% second-life value. The following graph presents alternative gas price scenarios of $3, $6 and $9 per gallon, and then overlays depreciation and charging cost curves for an EV with a 25 kWh battery pack priced at $1,000 and $500 per kWh. The solid red and green lines show current gas and battery prices. The dashed lines show possible futures that are uncertain as to both timing and magnitude.

These numbers are simply not true. I'm not exactly sure why he uses the term "end-user cost" because all it seems to do is obfuscate the issue. The simple fact is that the current production cost of the Li-ion battery in the Nissan Leaf is $375 per kWh. If he were truly being generous he would assuming that number will drop even further, making all the math in the above paragraph come up with rather different answers.

Leaf battery cost: http://gas2.org/2010/05/05/report-nissan-leafs-battery-costs-a-staggeringly-cheap-375kwh-to-produce/