Supplier Exec Calls For Cooperation On Advanced Vehicle Technologies

Mary Ann Wright, CEO of automotive supplier Johnson Controls-Saft says that lawmakers are out of touch with reality when it comes to the development of new automotive technologies designed to reduce dependence on oil and gasoline. She also said that lawmakers were ignorant of the gaps in technology that will be need to be filled to make advanced vehicles perform according to the expectations of the buying public.

She called for the complete overhaul of two research groups, the US Council for Automotive Research and the US Advanced Battery Consortium, both of which have been in existence for nearly 20 years. Wright said that automakers, suppliers and legislators must all work together cooperatively to create the infrastructure to support advanced vehicle technologies, as the Japanese have done. According to Wright, improving the competitive position of US automakers will rely in part on facilitating the transfer of research from the labs to the production environment.

Wright says that the newest lithium-ion batteries are a start, but that the cost is still too high to make the technology attractive to a broad range of consumers, and called upon the government to provide better incentives for battery research and development. She also said that incentives aimed at getting consumers to buy HEVs and PHEVs are also needed.

Source: The Detroit News