PLUG OK license plate
Alliance Bernstein says PHEV are "game-changing technology"
Aug 18, 2006 (From the CalCars-News archive)
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"The transition to hybrid power could change the world!" says Alliance Bernstein--self-described at http://www.alliancebernstein.com as "one of the largest publicly traded global asset management firms in the world with approximately $625 billion in assets under management at June 30, 2006." In the wake of the past months' major reports and articles in The Economist, Scientific American, much testimony in Congress, and endorsements from so many well-respected individuals, this document could be be any eye-opener to any world business or government leader.

Download the 56-page report from http://www.calcars.org/­ alliance-bernstein-hybrids-june06.pdf.

Excerpts from: Ending Oil's Stranglehold on Transportation and the Economy

"The world is on the cusp of a major transition to hybridpower vehicles, which use highly efficient electric motors to boost the fuel efficiency of vehicles powered by internal combustion engines. This is a game-changing technology that promises to increase energy efficiency substantially, make a broad range of fuels available for powering vehicles, and meaningfully reduce demand for oil from the transportation sector.

"Over the last 30 years, many industries have either dramatically improved their energy efficiency or shifted to alternative fuel sources; transportation has been an exception. As a result, the composition of oil consumption has shifted dramatically toward transportation, from 33% of total oil demand in 1971 to about 50% today [...]

"The shift to transportation systems largely powered by electricity will be the next phase in the broad transition away from relatively inefficient mechanical systems [...]

"Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles are likely to arrive as an extension of the hybrids available today. Like the latter, plug-ins are powered by both liquid fuel (gasoline or diesel) and batteries. But in addition to being charged by the gasoline engine and regenerative braking, plugin hybrids may be recharged by plugging into standard electric outlets [...]

"If most consumers recharge the batteries in their plug-in vehicles from the electrical grid, the fuel ultimately powering their vehicle is likely to be coal, natural gas or uranium, rather than oil. Such flexibility would be truly gamechanging. Economic growth, which is inextricably linked to transportation, could be almost entirely decoupled from oil. This could reshape the foreign policies of such oil-importing countries and regions as the US, Japan, Western Europe, China and India. The economic and political implications for the few oil-rich exporting nations, by contrast, are likely to be grim. Indeed, the transition to hybrid power could change the world!"


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