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I found this quote from Ray Lane, now lead director of Fisker, in a Forbes article. The main subject was the failure of Bright Automotive, a maker of EV delivery vans that had been seeking DOE funds.
“Solyndra changed the world,” complained Ray Lane, a managing partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, one of Fisker’s major backers, who says the automaker now has no choice but to look to China as a potential source of additional funds. “The Chinese have a lot of money, but they don’t know how to design (electric vehicle) platforms,” he said. Fisker recently hired former Chrysler chief executive Tom LaSorda, who has extensive business contacts in China, to help Fisker move on, with or without help from the U.S. government.
Lane thinks the U.S. is making a mistake by not doing more to ensure advanced vehicle technologies — and the jobs that come with them — stay in this country. “If you believe that in the next few years the car industry is going to become electrified, the U.S. has to take a position on whether we want to own it. My bet is not.”
Its too bad Fisker may need to partner with the Chinese and equip them to compete more effectively with the U.S. in yet another new technology area. But Fisker needs to ensure its own survival, and it looks like they will.
The entire article is interesting reading, and shows how the current political environment in Washington is hurting U.S. chances to lead the EV marketplace.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/joannmuller/2012/03/01/is-america-blowing-its-chance-to-lead-in-electric-vehicles/
“Solyndra changed the world,” complained Ray Lane, a managing partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, one of Fisker’s major backers, who says the automaker now has no choice but to look to China as a potential source of additional funds. “The Chinese have a lot of money, but they don’t know how to design (electric vehicle) platforms,” he said. Fisker recently hired former Chrysler chief executive Tom LaSorda, who has extensive business contacts in China, to help Fisker move on, with or without help from the U.S. government.
Lane thinks the U.S. is making a mistake by not doing more to ensure advanced vehicle technologies — and the jobs that come with them — stay in this country. “If you believe that in the next few years the car industry is going to become electrified, the U.S. has to take a position on whether we want to own it. My bet is not.”
Its too bad Fisker may need to partner with the Chinese and equip them to compete more effectively with the U.S. in yet another new technology area. But Fisker needs to ensure its own survival, and it looks like they will.
The entire article is interesting reading, and shows how the current political environment in Washington is hurting U.S. chances to lead the EV marketplace.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/joannmuller/2012/03/01/is-america-blowing-its-chance-to-lead-in-electric-vehicles/
