Many of the misconceptions surrounding electric vehicles involve the batteries. I even hear comments regarding 90 year old electric vehicles that are still running on the original batteries and if they could do it 90 years ago, why not now?
If I were into conspiracy theories I might say it had something to do with oil companies and car manufacturers. But lets look a little closer at the what has happened in the last century.
Firstly, at the turn of the last century, electricity was more expensive than gasoline so it was actually cheaper to refill your car than recharge it. So the original demise of EV's was likely economical and not part of any conspiracy. And not unexpectedly, now the economies are reversed, EV's are experiencing a rebirth.
The second part of the answer involves our desire for comfort, speed and distance. By today’s standards, the motor and batteries in that vehicle would not perform at highway speeds, or carry us any distance with creature comforts like heaters, headlights, GPS and CD players. In fact from about the 1920’s until 1980’s there were great improvements in electric motors becoming smaller, lighter and more efficient but vehicle batteries remained largely unchanged. There was no need for them to improve since all it needed to do was start a gasoline engine!
Battery advancements only really began with the advent of portable electronics driving demand for higher energy density. Smaller laptops and cell phones with longer life gave commercial success initially to Nickel Metal Hydride and later Lithium Ion batteries. It's variations of Lithium batteries that we are now seeing as the prime candidate for electric vehicles in the near term, (lets leave ultra capacitors for another blog entry). These batteries are safe, recyclable and unfortunately expensive to produce, (at the moment). Retailing at over $1000 per kilowatt hour of electricity storage, and with an electric vehicle needing 20 to 30 kilowatt hours of electricity, (for range and creature comforts like headlights)you can see that batteries are the financial hurdle for consumer EV adoption.
Some of the other misconceptions surrounding these batteries are charging characteristics and life. Things we were educated about like “memory effect” don’t exist for these batteries and the life span is longer than most would think. Current Lithium batteries will last up to 10 years in a vehicle, and emerging battery cells are rated for 15 or more years, (20000 cycles).
One final complaint levied at electric vehicle adoption, is how long it takes to recharge them. Well that issue is solved too. Companies such as Aeroinvironment have what you need for blisteringly fast charging. Plug in, buy a coffee and you’re ready to go in only 10 minutes! And building an electric “gas” station comes at a fraction of the price of its petroleum counterpart, with no concerns about fuel spillage or soil remediation.
While battery electric vehicles are not a solution for all requirements, there is no reason they don’t work for urban personal transportation.
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Sunday, December 21, 2008
Electric Cars Vs. Generation Pollution
Perhaps the most common question I encounter relates to the relocation of pollution due to electric vehicles. The question is usually “Aren’t electric vehicles simply moving the problem of pollution to the electricity supplier?”
The simple answer to this question is a qualified "Yes", (I know there are really no simple answers, but people walk off at cocktail parties if I give the whole story) and although the electicity generaton may be polluting, the efficiencies of creating and distributing electricity versus gasoline are far better, and it's theoretically easier to control emissions centrally, (at a power station) versus distributed control, (on millions of vehicles).
Not convinced? The Electric Power Research Institute and the Natural Resource Defense Council in the United States recently conducted a comprehensive study of the effects plug in vehicles have on both pollution and air quality. Their results showed significant improvements in both categories even with poor adoption of only plug in hybrids combined with current energy sources as a test scenario. In another scenario using broader adoption of plug in vehicles, and the likliehood cleaner electricity sources, the study showed not only an excellent reduction in emissions of carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxides and sulphur dioxide, but more interestingly it showed a positive economic impact through increased spending and employment as a result of decreased importing of oil.
The research seems to show that, althought the pollution source is indeed shifted to the electricity supplier, the net effect is better than driving your old gas vehicle down the highway.
To read the research click on this link: http://my.epri.com/portal/server.pt?open=514&objID=223132&mode=2
The simple answer to this question is a qualified "Yes", (I know there are really no simple answers, but people walk off at cocktail parties if I give the whole story) and although the electicity generaton may be polluting, the efficiencies of creating and distributing electricity versus gasoline are far better, and it's theoretically easier to control emissions centrally, (at a power station) versus distributed control, (on millions of vehicles).
Not convinced? The Electric Power Research Institute and the Natural Resource Defense Council in the United States recently conducted a comprehensive study of the effects plug in vehicles have on both pollution and air quality. Their results showed significant improvements in both categories even with poor adoption of only plug in hybrids combined with current energy sources as a test scenario. In another scenario using broader adoption of plug in vehicles, and the likliehood cleaner electricity sources, the study showed not only an excellent reduction in emissions of carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxides and sulphur dioxide, but more interestingly it showed a positive economic impact through increased spending and employment as a result of decreased importing of oil.
The research seems to show that, althought the pollution source is indeed shifted to the electricity supplier, the net effect is better than driving your old gas vehicle down the highway.
To read the research click on this link: http://my.epri.com/portal/server.pt?open=514&objID=223132&mode=2
Welcome
Who killed the electric car? Who wouldn’t want to drive an EV? Weren’t people driving electric cars almost a hundred years ago? How far can a Hybrid car go on batteries? Are’nt electric vehicles just shifting the pollution from the vehicle to the power provider? How far can an electric car go on a single charge?
As someone that works in the electric vehicle industry these are some of the most common questions I receive. With so much interest, investment and mis-information surrounding electric vehicles, I have decided to publish this blog to discuss the facts and fiction of the industry.
As someone that works in the electric vehicle industry these are some of the most common questions I receive. With so much interest, investment and mis-information surrounding electric vehicles, I have decided to publish this blog to discuss the facts and fiction of the industry.
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