INDEPENDENT TO DO EV RETROFITS, BEAT BIGS TO MARKET
Barry Bernsten has been bitten by the EV bug. Like other EV enthusiasts before him, he is not waiting around for the major automakers to bring EVs to showrooms. Through his BG Automotive Group Ltd., he’s going to roll his own converted low speed electric vehicles off assembly lines in Philadelphia this year and begin making highway-ready EVs in 2009.
Detroit types think Bernsten is smoking something funny. Dennis Virag, head, Detroit’s Automotive Consulting Group Inc.: "You need to show this is more than a golf cart…You need a dealer network, which is very, very expensive to put together. You need a warranty program from the original equipment manufacturer, which isn't easy to get once you start doing work on their drive train. And we are a litigious society. One little mishap can cost you everything…"
EV enthusiasts with a stake in plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) and electric vehicles (EVs) on the verge of coming to market are not sure Bernsten’s plans are sound either. Sanjay Deshpande, manager, industrial lithium-ion battery-maker EnerSys: "We think plug-in hybrids are probably more a reality than pure electric cars…We're not convinced that the consumer is ready to accept the limitations the pure electric car imposes."
John Hanson, spokesman, Toyota: "Battery technology right this minute has not advanced to the point where we can develop a vehicle that will live up to the expectations of customers, in high volume, at an affordable price."
Bernsten is undaunted. From 30 years of steel business experience (which made him independently wealthy), he has manufacturing and trade finance contacts. He knows how to mass-produce and keep prices down. He intends to avoid mistakes that have defeated previous EVs (ex: plastic parts, poor-quality steel, small-batch production, high sticker prices). He believes ready global trade, improved battery technology and a plethora of Asian auto suppliers makes the time right to bypass the major automakers.
He is not the first EV enthusiast with big plans. Will he be the first to succeed? One of them will.
(Rocker Neil Young was recently bitten by the EV retrofit bug, too. See NEIL YOUNG ROCKING AN ELECTRIC CAR)
Bernsten looks perfectly sane - but he's taking on the big automakers. (click to enlarge)Retrofitting for efficiency; A local entrepreneur says he’ll buy 4,000 cars, install batteries and electric motors, and blow right past the big carmakers
Joseph N. DiStefano, June 16, 2008 (Philadelphia Inquirer)
WHO
Barry D. Bernsten, steel wholesaler/founder&head, BG Automotive Group Ltd;
WHAT
Bernsten will build an assembly plant for retrofitting vehicles with internal combustion engines with batteries and electric motors to turn them into EVs.
Plug fever gets a lot of people but it's not fatal - it just creates visions of the future. (click to enlarge)WHEN
- Bernsten plans to begin operations in 2008.
- He plans to upgrade to the production of high-speed highway-ready conversions in 2009.
- 2006: New Jersey legalized low speed EVs.
- 2008: Pennsylvania is considering legalization of low speed EVs.
- Toyota sold 1000 all-electric vehicles in California in the 1990s but it was an expensive undertaking.
WHERE
- Bernsten owns American Steel Industries L.L.C. in Center City, PA.
- Most states (not Pennsylvania ) allow low speed (below 35mph) EVs.
- BG Automotive will ship through Baltimore's port. It will safety-test sample vehicles in a D.C. facility. It’s mass-production plant will be "within 30 miles" of American Steel in Center City.
WHY
- Bernsten’s plan is to build a plant for 100 workers and begin with a run of 4,000 vehicle retrofits.
- The first run of vehicles will be low speed EVs and will retail for approximately $16,000.
- Likely first buyers: urban commuters, students, vacation-home owners.
Retrofittin' in the electic world. (click to enlarge)QUOTES
- Bernsten: "We're going to put new cars on the road [this fall]…"
- J. Eustace Wolfington III, industrial real estate broker, Grubb & Ellis: "We have sent them a list of 30 available properties in Philadelphia and surrounding counties that have 200,000 square feet, expandable to 400,000…"
- John Hanson, spokesman, Toyota: "[W]e had to subsidize [the 1990s all-electric Toyota] heavily to get the price down to $42,000…"
posted by Herman K. Trabish @ 6:01 AM
2 Comments:
He's a total stud.
While everyone else bitches about "When the big three will come around", he's doing what must be done to jump start competition.
We all agree that America is demanding what he is producing. His cars (the "Real" ones, not the low speed ones) will fly into the hands of consumers faster than he can produce them.
This will be the first mass produced plug in for regular people....The kind of people who make purchase decisions based on sound economic reasoning, not "environmental sensibility". All the other vehicles announced by other companies seem to be asking people to make a bad personal financial decision for the sake of going green...with the possile exception of a Prius Plug in. Even at 7.00 per gallon for gas, "regular people" won't buy a $50,000 plug-in.
This is how Americans will replace thier cars, one good financial decision at a time.
Detroit actually still thinks 30 mpg is something Americans are attracted to, and they're not willing to give up power and features for new technology.
You have to laugh when you hear a spokesperson from a failing auto company in Detroit criticize his idea by saying "He just doesn't understand the car business". Folks in the car business forget, that like any other business, you need to produce what the consumers are asking for. Right now all I hear from consumers is how they don't have enough money for gas. Sow how does the $50,000 Chevy Volt capture that consumer?...It doesn't. It will only capture "Rich Folk" doin' thier part for mother earth.
But he hasn't got dealerships? Henry Ford didn't start with dealerships, he started supplying cars every American WANTED and could AFFORD. He won't need dealerships if he stays true to that school of thinking.
America needs to stay FOCUSED, AWARE and EDUCATED.
History reminds us that every time oil prices peak and the North American market/consumers start to discuss alternative energy sources, the oil exporting countries start to trim down their prices. History also tells us that the oil exporting nations have been very successful in the past and in fact, we have lost our enthusiasm and dropped many of our alternative energy initiatives after oil prices are reduced.
WE need to stay focused this time.
1) Al Gore and his energy initiative is on course.
2) T. Boone Pickens and his wind power initiative is on course.
3) BG Automotive Group’s mass production electric vehicle program is on
course.
4) Richard Branson from the UK is on course.
5) The Gas Reduction Act of 2008 might not be the most environmentally sound
solution, but yet it shows that Congress has finally realized that we have an
energy crisis (again), and a real threat to our national security.
The continued dependence on foreign oil is a threat to our long term democratic values. We must become an energy independent nation, and with this, some sacrifices will have to be made by the American consumer.
Be aware!!
We are exporting approximately USD $700 Billion dollars per year of U.S. currency. The majority of this money is being transferred to the Trillion dollar “sovereign wealth funds”. This is USD $700 Billion not being spent on America’s educational system, health care and security.
The “sovereign wealth funds” are directly buying major interests (large blocks of stock) in U.S. companies, including most of the major banks. Also, billions of dollars of “sovereign wealth fund” money is being invested in our hedge funds, private equity firms, and the investment banking industry. A few of these firms are directly and indirectly investing large sums of money into our “gas combustion” automobile industry. Do we want our auto industry in the direct or indirect control of the firms that are supplying us oil? This is an interesting topic for an investigative reporter.
There are automotive consulting companies in Michigan (heart of our auto industry), lobbying States and our Federal Government, NOT to subsidize the Electric Vehicle industry. The latter seems to be contradictory to what the American public would like to see from our automobile industry. After the billions (excess of $20 billion) the automotive companies have lost in the past 6 months producing gas combustion vehicles, you would think they too would change course. Changing course is not adding 2-4 miles per gallon w/Hybrids. Drastic measures in our auto industry must take place and NOW!
Do not let the temporary reduction in oil prices push us off course….AGAIN.
Read, Read, Read- Stay on top of the issues. Let’s not be fooled again.
STAY FOCUSED, AWARE and EDUCATED!
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