Does anybody know whether Tesla patents are actually worth anything? I have never heard anyone say that these patents are limiting the industry. Batteries: none of importance. E-motor: nice design but there are many other good designs vehicle integration: easy to get around Supercharger: as mentioned by others, this is a tactic to get the standard adopted. TEPCO did the same with the CHAdeMO patents; open to anyone. Please DO correct me if I'm wrong on these points... I think Tesla is a great company but its patents do not seem to me to be especially important, like the ones owned by Toyota on hybrid powertrains, U of Texas and Hydro Quebec on some battery chemistries, etc.

I wonder what the well-to-wheels energy consumption are on this type of vehicle... Aluminium production is extremely electricity intensive. Are part of the spent plates recycled? Even if QC is blessed by abundant sources of hydropower, electricity needs to be used efficiently. I would tend to think that rechargeable batteries are still much better choice in this regard. But then again, if consumers don't want them...

(a) VCs are lazy, they like to invest locally. It saves them time and gives them more control over their investments. (b) A lot of VCs are based in California. That alone explains a big part of the report's findings.

163 g/mile of CO2for cars and light-duty trucks by Model Year 2025. That's about 100g/km, just above the EU target for 2020. However, BCG and others have already demonstrated that OEMs can meet these targets without selling xEVs, i.e. by applying incremental changes to IC engines (including stop-start/micro hybridization), downsizing cars and engines, etc. So it's not clear what impact this will have on Electrification... As Roger noted, we also need higher fuel prices, which improve the TCO of xEVs.

Assuming an average of €6000 Euro subsidy per vehicle, the budget allows for 12,000 vehicles to be subsidized. That's peanuts. We need much larger numbers than that to drive EV costs down. I suppose the combined subsidy effect of Spain, France, UK, etc. will be significant, but it's not like Europe is completely borderless. OEMs also have to invest in local advertizing, distribution systems, etc. Anyway, I guess this is all that a Souther Euro-zone country can afford these days.

A false dawn for micro fuel cells. You don't say...

People pay money for such studies?

As I've said before, the best way for the US military to deal with energy efficiency and related issues is to STAY HOME. It's really simple, STOP interfering in foreign countries as you did in Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Iraq and Afghanistan, not to mention the proxy wars in El Salvador, Nicaragua, Angola & Mozambique (along side Apartheid South Africa).