OK, but the battery is too large.
They should have a 10 KwH class and a 5 KwH class.
At least the cars look like real cars, and not flatfish on wheels.
The trick would be to draw a graph of mpg vs KwH to see how low you can go before it all goes to hell.

Resistance to change the past bread winners and lack of in-house e-vehicles knowledge may be part of it. Also, buyers interest is not there in very great numbers yet. This may change when improved lower cost batteries become available.

New cars should be all electric with a 60+ mi range. Either 25 - 35kW portable gen-sets should be available (rent or purchase) to keep you car charged on long trips. Alternately, batteries your car be equipped with batteries that can be recharged in 10 - 15 minutes like the LiTi units made by Altairnano.

Individually or in combination, these would meet nearly all personal transportation needs without having to carry unnecessary weight like hybrids do.

60 mile range would work for most if there was charging on the other end of the trip. If employers would put in charging stations with some help from the government, we could clean the air and reduce oil imports.

It am sure that as EVs of various types become viable, charging stations will sprout like weeds and we will be on the way to better things..
EREVs, parallel hybrids and series hybrids will all help support the charging stations the pure EVs will need to reduce costs.

We do NOT need studies and trials and gummint money for these any more that we needed them for big flat screen TVs or iphones.

When the EVs start to turn viable, they will come and so will charging stations.

As for the Mississippi State students being capable of doing something the Big 3 cannot do;
I am surprised at the time span between learning to read and being able to understand;

A. That being able to build a type of vehicle does not mean it will be cost effective in the market - and

B. That there is no reason for an automaker to go into production with an EV that is dirt simple, but costly to design and which has proven, over the last 10 years, to be not viable (or marginally viable) in the market place.

C. That the more ardently you wish a car type were in production, when it is not, the more likely you should seek help.

I think SJC said it best "We are trading hardware for energy".
We trade complexity (2 engines) for increased fuel economy.
At present, most people won't pay for this (as it costs too much), so the question is, will the cost of the hardware come down, as the cost of energy goes up?

My guess is that the cost of hardware WILL go down, and go down fast enough, as long as governments apply pressure (like taxation and support for research).

The market is too intermittent - the price of oil fluctuates wildly, making planning difficult, but the EUs 120 gms/km mandate and generally high taxation in the EU will produce results.

I.e It will push the development of higher efficiency hardware, and once invented, ity will be perfected, and the price will come down.

Look at video recorders - they are(were) complex electro-mechanical devices, but they became very cheap once the technology was mastered and distributed.

What kind of business model says that the private sector must buy it at 15 cents and charge 60 cents per kWh to make enough of a killing to make it worth their while?

Even the totalitarian Chinese government does not operate that way. Russia did - - Cuba does.

Why would you assume we need government interference to break chargers free of large R & D costs? There is no chicken and egg deadlock for chargers – not even maybe.

Any big or little company can make chargers, and if/when battery performance makes EVs practical, and some big evil capitalist industrialist company makes a charger, and charges $.60/kWh, when it costs $15/kWh, another company will make one overnight and will charge $.50/kWh.

If it is a steady sure profit, where more people are charging every day, then in three more months you will find it available for $.20/kWh - and dropping.

Of course the cost of hardware WILL go down, and go down fast, as long as there is a demand and governments stay out of the way.
Look at video recorders and VCRs and DVD recorders/players - they are(were) complex electro-mechanical devices, but they became very cheap once the technology was mastered and distributed – and without the government.

The solution that gives the most benefit at the least cost is chosen.
This is where the government MUST make gas less attractive (higher priced) or push CAFE higher.

The monetary costs of gas and fuel inefficient vehicles are too low. It stifles alternatives like FFVs and furthers oil dependence.

The government is too spineless to act.
And it is irrational to think people will make a SIGNIFICANT personal sacrifice for some negligible (1 person out of 6.8 billion) common good.

We should – but we don’t and we won't.

We need low cost, high performance batteries; industry know this, and I am NOT sure we need to fund a bunch of inadequate, cost ineffective batteries on the assumption that good ones will therefore follow.

Where and how is there a chicken and egg deadlock for chargers?

You can only surmise there is a potential for a chicken and egg deadlock. Sure, might happen.

Some trips would benefit from chargers at malls and work places, but some would not.

Like with an H2 auto and infrastructure. Until the FCV is viable there is no deadlock. Ultimately, I believe infrastructure will holding it back, if it becomes viable – if.

Wow! I am so proud of the Mississippi State's Eco car team! They are doing a wonderful job!
Keep up the good work!
Go Dawgs!
Amanda Jordan

So great to see Mississippi State and the Bagley College of Engineering being recognized for the great work they are doing in the state of Mississippi! I hope that you guys wrap up the 3rd year of the competition with another victory!
Good luck and Go Dawgs!