Honda and Hybrid Electric Vehicles
Honda and Hybrid Electric Vehicles1. Are hybrid electrical vehicles a radical innovation or an incremental innovation? Are they competence enhancing or competence destroying, and from whose perspective? How would you answer these questions for fuel cell vehicles?
Hybrid electrical cars/vehicles could be considered an incremental innovation because they build on existing engine technology, and do not require big changes in the fueling infrastructure or in consumer behavior. It is still a bridging technology from current fossil energy and just supplemented by battery-powered emission that basically charged by fuel engine.
When we looing at it from major stakeholders (customers, automakers, petroleum companies)’s point of view, the technology will likely be seen as competence enhancing, though it might be seen as competence destroying to an automaker that is unwilling to develop a hybrid electric vehicle.
I would consider fuel-cell vehicles are a more radical innovation that requires more significant changes to be made to the body of a vehicle, to its engine, to the fueling infrastructure, and to consumer behavior.
Fuel cell vehicles are competence destroying for the petroleum companies, gas stations and perhaps even for many automakers. They might be competence enhancing for battery makers (since the vehicles will require much larger and advanced batteries).
Until we know more about the changes consumers will have to make to use fuel-cell vehicles, it is difficult to assess whether the technology will be competence enhancing, competence destroying, or competence neutral for them.
2. What factors do you think influence the rate at which hybrid electric vehicles are adopted by consumers?
The rate at which HEVs are adopted by consumers will likely be influenced by the following factors:
a. The initial investment, such as the additional price of the automobile
b. On-going cost, such as replacement parts and maintenance cost
c. Saving (long term gas saving expectancy and technology on...