Computer illustration of Silex Chreos, 300 of which are slated to be built by 2015.

Hertz in Milan offers short-term rental of Nissan LEAF electric cars.

Workers assembling some of the 20-30 million e-bikes manufactured in China annually.

Sim City video game features Nissan LEAF solar charging station.

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12-Dec-2012

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Next Challenge for EV Carmakers: Make Them Affordable

For those who don’t yet own an electric vehicle, the JD Powers study says, it's all about the bucks, contends Josh Max writing for the New York Daily News.

By now, the novelty of electric vehicles has worn off as Chevy, Nissan, Mitsubishi and Tesla among other manufacturers are up and rolling. Now it’s time to focus on dollars and cents as well as the environment if the industry isn’t going to remain a marginal, barely significant blip in the sea of new autos available for sale in coming years, a new study says.

According to the J.D. Power and Associates 2012 Electric Vehicle Ownership Experience Study, recently released, electric vehicle purchasers cite driving an environmentally-friendly car as being the top benefit of ownership. But for those who don’t yet own an electric vehicle, the study says, it's all about the bucks, baby.

"Current EV owners focus on the emotional benefits of owning an electric vehicle--which are having a positive effect on the environment--but the way for manufacturers to take EVs to the masses and increase sales is to address the economic equation," says Neal Oddes, senior director of the green practice at J.D. Power and Associates. "There still is a disconnect between the reality of the cost of an EV and the cost savings that consumers want to achieve."

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