Although these are still early, early days in the electric vehicle (EV) market, a time when things are being sorted and shifted, organized and dissolved, there is an interesting development, one that shows the EV market is becoming more competitive in a more significant way.

Honda, staring June 1, will be lowering the lease price for the Fit EV to $259 per month from $389.

As Steve Center, vice president of Environmental Business Development at American Honda, put it, “Now it’s the only EV on the market with no down payment, unlimited mileage, collision coverage and a free home charging station, giving customers an unprecedented value that only Honda can provide and a compelling reason to get off the barrel and onto the grid.”

While the “that only Honda can provide” may be a bit over the top, the “off the barrel and onto the grid” is a rather clever phrase.

“Wait a minute,” you might be thinking. “Didn’t I hear that cars including the Chevy Spark EV, Nissan LEAF, and Fiat 500e have a monthly lease payment of $199? Why couldn’t Honda do that?”

Well, Center and his colleagues have calculated the costs of leasing an EV thusly:

The collision coverage is a nice touch, as is the home charger credit (a Leviton 240-volt, 32-amp system: you have to pay for installation, but you get to keep the charger after the lease is up).

That home charger makes a lot of sense. Here’s why. Say that one would drive the Fit EV 12,000 miles per year. The car has an EPA-rated driving range (city and highway combined) of 82 miles. This means that one would need to charge the car 144 times, or so, during the year. The 240-volt AC level 2 charger connected to the standard 6.6-kW onboard charger requires a charging time of “less than three hours.” Let’s just call it three for the sake of simplicity. That means the recharge time would be about 433 hours, or 18 days of recharging time during the course of the year.

See why you want to plug it in at night after you’re done driving (sort of like the way you probably charge your cell phone).

Still, moves like Honda’s will undoubtedly be countered by others, and more people will seriously consider getting “off the barrel and onto the grid.”

One might think that when it comes to R&D, automotive supplier companies are probably dwarfed in their efforts and investments as compared with their OEM customers.

And one might be wrong.

At least so far as Delphi goes.

Jeffrey J. Owens, chief technology officer and executive vice president of Delphi, heads up a team of thousands, and makes R&D investments in the billions.

You read that right.

Owens says that the company is focused on tech developments in three areas:

• Safe: Active safety systems, like collision mitigation systems.
• Green: Engine control units and diesel and gasoline systems.
• Connected: Integrated display, navigation, and various other telematics.

What Delphi is doing in these spaces and why the future of autos may not be wholly autonomous (at least anytime soon) but will be profoundly systems- and sensors-based are among the topics Owens explores with John McElroy, host, Peter DeLorenzo, the Autoextremist, and Gary Vasilash on this edition of “Autoline After Hours.”

In addition to which, McElroy, DeLorenzo and Vasilash discuss everything from fuel cells to Danica Patrick.

Earlier this week, Better Place, the company that came up with the idea that electric vehicle batteries ought to be exchanged rather than recharged (well, the driver would have the battery exchanged; Better Place would then recharge the battery so that it could then be replaced in another electric vehicle) filed a motion in court in Israel for “dissolution of the company and the appointment of a temporary liquidator.”

According to a statement from the Better Place board of directors: “We stand by the original vision as formulated by Shai Agassi of creating a green alternative that would lessen our dependence on highly polluting transportation technologies. While he was able with partners and investors to overcome multiple challenges to demonstrate that it was possible to deliver a technological solution that would fulfill that vision. Unfortunately, the path to realizing that vision was difficult, complex and littered with obstacles, not all of which we were able to overcome. The technical challenges we overcame successfully, but the other obstacles we were not able to overcome, despite the massive effort and resources that were deployed to that end.”

Over the years, we had the opportunity to interview Shai Agassi—who had a seriously convincing way about him—and to witness the first functioning battery exchange system in Tokyo.

While it seems like a good idea, there were probably more technical challenges than the statement of the board would imply. For example, OEMs are selecting different battery configurations and battery chemistries. There isn’t something like a C-cell battery. What’s more, some OEMs are basically using the battery as part of the structure, so this isn’t something that is readily replaced.

Some people might perceive this as being another blow to the whole notion of electric vehicles, to their viability. Fisker. CODA. Better Place. Etc.

The streets are being littered with electrons, it seems.

Source: American Automobiles, a fascinating website worth spending some time with

Yet if we look back to the history of the auto industry in the U.S. alone, from the ABC to the Zentmobile, there were literally hundreds of companies that tried and failed, cries of “Get a horse notwithstanding.”

Last week Ford sent out a press release that opens, “Ford Australia has announced a new strategic direction for the company, including significant investment in new projects and accompanying facilities, totaling more than AUD1.8 billion over the next decade.”

Sounds good, doesn’t it?

It went on to explain that Ford Australia, which is an engineering and design center of excellence for the Asia Pacific and Africa region, would be getting increased responsibility, as in having the lead on the design and engineering of a new architecture for a light commercial vehicle that will be available in more than 80 countries.

In addition to which, it will continue to work on its Falcon and Territory, sedan and crossover, for Australian and other markets.

Inside Ford Australia Broadmeadows Assembly

The not-so-good news from Ford last week vis-à-vis Australia: Come October 2016, it will no longer be manufacturing products in the country. Broadmeadows Assembly and Geelong Stamping and Engine plants will be closed.

Design and engineering: Yes. Manufacturing: No.

Clearly, as the company works to leverage its global resources, there is some shifting of capabilities. Some are reduced while some are enhanced.

Which got us wondering about other countries.

So we thought about one on the other side of the world, but in the same hemisphere: Brazil.

And there Ford seems to be maintaining a robust presence there.

Ford EcoSport: Designed in Brazil

It has a design studio in Camaçari, where the new EcoSport, a crossover for some 100 global markets, was created.

There is Camacari Assembly in Bahia, where the Fiesta and EcoSport are built. There is another assembly plant in São Bernardo do Campo, São Paulo, where the Ka, Courier and cargo trucks are built. There are both engine and transmission plants in Taubate, São Paulo.

Although Ford struggled in South America in the first quarter of 2013, the company expects to break even there for the entire year. Apparently Venezuela and Argentina are presenting challenges to profitability, not Brazil.

Bottom line: shifts in capabilities to address market needs is the new normal in the auto industry.

When you talk with people involved in a particular material technology (i.e., steel, aluminum, plastics), there seems to be consensus among the competitiveness that the future of automotive bodies, interiors and structures is not going to be dominated by any one material, but by a blend of materials. Each type of material will be used where it is best suited, where its particular properties fulfill the requirements.

Among the facilitators of material use, of course, are the tools and techniques that are necessary to transform them into parts and components.

BMW i3.  Not traditional designs.  Not traditional powertrains.  Not traditional materials.

So if you’re interested in learning more about or are involved in the burgeoning deployment of things like advanced composites and structural plastics, you might want to attend the amerimold conference and expo, which is being held at the Donald E. Stephens Center in Rosemont, IL (nearby O’Hare) on June 12 to 13.

The conference program is made up of three tracks.

There’s Engineer, sponsored by the Society of Plastics Engineers, Moldingmaking & Mold Design Div.

Build, sponsored by the Tooling & Manufacturing Association

And Maintain, sponsored by ToolingDocs.

In the expo hall there will be a wide range of exhibitors of technology and capability, categorized into:

Cutting Tools & Tooling
CAD/CAM & Design Related Software
Machining
Mold Components
Mold Materials
Maintenance & Repair

All of which is to say, this will be the essential single point of information and resources this year for learning more about the ins and outs of molds and moldmaking.

Here’s the kicker. Because you read this, and because amerimold happens to be put on by one of our siblings, they’re offering a FREE (yes, that’s as in FREE) expo pass and a 25% conference registration if you register by going HERE.

If you have an interest in the advances related to making things with molds, attend amerimold.