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GordonGekko's picture
The summer of 2009


The BlueCar, a concept which has been presented at several European autoshows, can run 250 km (155.3 miles) between charges, has a top speed of 125 km per hour and can accelerate from zero to 60 km per hour in 6.3 seconds.

Cedric Bollore said on Thursday Pininfarina would produce cars from 2009 and, from 2012, at a rate of 15,000 cars per year.

The 36 million euro ($52.8 million) factory, will produce 100,000 supercapacitators -- electric energy storage elements -- per year, and production can be ramped up quickly.Investments in the project so far total at least 250 million euros, Bollore said during a trip to the site.

Vincent Bollore

By GordonGekko at 2008-01-29 18:07 | Stocks | GordonGekko's blog


pelcmarek,What's your

pelcmarek,

What's your opinion of Tata Motors and that super low priced car?  It's about $3,500 or something.  I'm not sure if it'll pass the safety standards here, but maybe.

I keep hearing the name of Tata in the press for some reason.  Two months ago, I never heard of them.

Thanks,

Vooch
By Vooch at Wed, 2008-01-30 03:36 | login or register to post comments

Tata motors

They were the first to create a car that will be sold for US$2500. While there is a market for that, there are few problems with the price,
  1. insurance - these cars are not exactly super-safe => much less so than a SmartCar for example
  2. they are marketing it as "car for the other billion" => gas prices and lack of roads will make this not affordable as they imagine. A car that just sits there with no fuel is not worth any price.
  3. they were already having problems meeting their goal of $2500 (100,000 rupees) due to costs of materials and labour increasing.
And finally, if there is a market for this type of vehicle, Tata motors will NOT be the only one in the game for very long. How long do you think until GM could have a cheaper (costs) and better version of such a vehicle?

Anyway, Tata motors is an Indian car marker that's been around since the 60s.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tata_Motors

The OICA ranked it as the world's 21st largest vehicle manufacturer, based on figures for 2006

Stock symbol is TTM on NYSE.

http://finance.google.com/finance?client=ob&q=TTM

My gut feeling is their future is more questionable than GM or even Ford for that matter. Currently they are ridding the soaring stock markets in India/China and the publicity they received from Nano, but will it last? Though Ford is in talks with them to sell Jaguar and Land Rover.

By adam at Wed, 2008-01-30 14:50 | login or register to post comments

Supercapacitors

FYI, but supercapacitors and reliable hydrogen fuel cell are what is required to create a realiable long-distance capable electric-only car.

Whoever has a patent on a reliable and safe supercapacitors, will make loads Of course, the patents may expire by the time the idea is commercialized, though EU CO2 emission targets may make commercialization sooner.
By adam at Wed, 2008-01-30 14:57 | login or register to post comments

batteries not supercapacitors

If you do the math you will find that supercapacitors are far away from acheiving the energy storage required to run a car.  However, battery technology is close if not close enough as Tesla motors will soon be selling cars that you can drive to Las Vegas from Los Angeles on one charge.

http://www.teslamotors.com/
By buybackking at Thu, 2008-01-31 16:46 | login or register to post comments