Republican presidential candidate John McCain's proposal to create a $300 million prize to spur development of a more efficient battery to power future hybrids and electric cars continues to generate buzz today. Political opponents and energy-industry analysts have begun to weigh on in the plan, and opinions are mixed.
USA Today reports, "Historians said the offer of a multimillion-dollar prize appears to be a presidential campaign first. Author Rick Shenkman, whose books include Legends, Lies and Cherished Myths of American History, said the idea brings a game-show ethos to American politics." Many in the industry said work toward such a battery was underway before McCain proposed the prize. "Alex Molinaroli, president of power solutions for Milwaukee-based Johnson Controls, said his firm is working on a lithium-ion battery that is 'half the size and twice the power' to be available next year."
Mark Warnsman, auto-industry analyst at Calyon Securities in New York City, sees electoral politics in the announcement. He told the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel "It's kind of a populist message, not just in terms of addressing Americans' concerns about price at the pump but also to address concerns in some key Midwest states where I expect McCain and his campaign are looking to improve their chances. Clearly it's about the competitiveness of the U.S. automobile industry, and the . . . Midwest cares about that message."
Electronics Design News says the obvious answer is lithium ion battery technology, which many companies are already working on. But, "Batteries based on lithium ion technology may be hard to come by." Cobalt, a key component of such batteries," is in short supply, in part because high-draw applications such as power tools have swung away from NiCd and toward lithium ion. There are even reports of lithium being in short supply -- hey, just about all commodities are seeing prices skyrocket now."
McCain's opponent called the plan a "gimmick." CNN reports that Democratic candidate Barack Obama told a crowd of supporters in Las Vegas, Nevada " "When John F. Kennedy decided that we were going to put a man on the moon, he didn't put a bounty out for some rocket scientist to win -- he put the full resources of the United States government behind the project and called on the ingenuity and innovation of the American people -- not just in the private sector but also in the public sector."
Kicking Tires points out a practical problem with the proposal. McCain said the prize would be awarded to the developer of a battery "that has the size, capacity, cost and power to leapfrog the commercially available plug-in hybrids or electric cars." The problem? There are no commercially available plug-in hybrids. There are a handful of very low-volume electric cars, like the Tesla Roadster, "but is that really what the senator from Arizona is talking about?" It isn't clear what sort of standards new batteries would have to meet to win the prize.
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