Guest Speaker: Jacques de Selliers
Jacques de Selliers is the Founder and Managing Director of the European Association for Battery Electric Vehicles and a Managing Director of Green Mobil.
He graduated in electrical engineering at the Federal Institute of Technology of Lausanne (Switzerland) in 1979, and then worked in the private secto... Profile
Discussion - April 2010
If the transition to electric vehicles is so important, then why isn’t it happening faster?
29 Comments from our contributors
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Chief Consultant
Not Disclosed
said: On 01/04/2010
Personally, I think it is happening fast enough. I think we have made some remarkable achievements in the past decade or so.
Ever since the first mass-produced car started to roll out in 1914, basically, very little has changed. Yes, cars have become faster and more efficient, but they were mere enhancements (“mere” here does not discount any of the efforts put into the industry so far. These enhancements were indeed vital). Like computing, the changes in the automotive industry are happening quite rapidly recently with respect to the history of the automobile, so far. When a huge shift in infrastructure is rushed, it often results in long-term adverse side effects.
I think most of the points raised in forums in relation to this topic, that we must embrace changes more rapidly, make sense but if you consider the amount of investment that went into making the current oil-based society, the changes will have to take time. You can blame the lobbyist and the oil companies all you like, but oil has made what we have possible. Oil companies and their lobbyists didn’t make this society, but our need and greed for convenience and comfort were the biggest factors contributing to the current shape of the transport infrastructure.
There are very many practical issues that have to be addressed and many of those have been raised in recent discussions such as http://www.linkedin.com . In my opinion, the infrastructure plays the biggest part. Replacing the existing internal combustion engine cars with electric motor will put a huge strain on the electricity grid, not to mention a huge investment into electricity generation. Whatever the source of the electricity, the construction of that power plant requires energy, time and money.
I think it is important to get this right than rush it. I also think it is very important to constantly remind ourselves why we want or indeed need electric cars. Do we really want to go full steam ahead with widespread mass production of lithium ion batteries? I am not a chemist but I hear the current production method involves a few toxic substances as well as high energy input. Similar can be said for the current recycling process. Lithium is often mined out of ground, which raises environmental issues. Majority is mined in China at the moment, conveniently out of sight from the typical buyer of these cars. Like anything else, it has to be planned and understood. If not, we will end up, some years later, in a similar pickle we are now in. The oil made us make a lot of rush decisions in past.
Head of Business Analytics
News International
said: On 01/04/2010
The current generation of cars has developed over time to deliver a range of performance capabilities in terms of range, speed, carrying capacity (people and load) and configurations. Cars have also developed to appeal to individuals at a number of levels including cost effectiveness, performance (acceleration, handling, off-road capabilities etc), image, status and inclusion in groups.
There is a vehicle configuration available to meet almost every conceivable genuine need and many that are merely perceived or transient needs.
In parallel with this we have a supporting infrastructure that combined with performance characteristics enables consumers to travel 1 mile to the local shop, commute in comfort to their place of work, engage in local leisure activities or, should they so wish to drive to the far flung corners of their country or continent without significant concern.
Electric vehicles however, are surrounded by messages that convey real or perceived limitations. They have range limitations, have potentially expensive battery replacement cycles, tend to be ugly or unusually configured, require infrastructure that is still in early development and have doubts expressed about their contribution to sustainability. They also fail to appeal to many aspects of the driving experience that enthusiast consumers are used to and value e.g. gear changing, home maintenance, engine sound etc.
So, it is hardly surprising that consumers aren’t fighting to be early adopters.
Given market conditions i.e. state of the economy, current level of technology, over supply and competition in the motor industry, need for significant investment in supporting infrastructure, reluctance by oil companies to participate and lack of demand from consumers it is hardly surprising that manufacturers are being cautious.
These are natural conditions when a new technology is trying to break into a long established market.
There are well established marketing techniques to help introduce and accelerate adoption of new products and if successful (it has to deliver after all) the adoption process can take hold very rapidly e.g. computing, CDs, DVDs, mobile telephony, flat screen TVs. However, people now take these technologies for granted and tend to forget the long gestation periods, failures and initially poor customer experiences.
I did seriously look at using an electric motorcycle for my 50 mile journey to work but the maximum range of 46 miles and long recharge time made this an impossibility with current battery technology.
The key to marketing electric vehicles is to target them to likely innovators and early adopters within the market, develop them to meet their complete requirement set or target them at specific activities. I for example, would happily use an electric vehicle as my means of getting to the station, my local town (I live 6 miles from the nearest conurbation with limited public transport and no pavements), pub or dog walking location. I would use my other diesel powered vehicle for infrequent long distance journeys, heavy load carrying and off road work (I have a small holding). Once I turn up to the pub my electric car would be a topic of conversation and others may choose to follow my lead. As petrol and diesel prices rise so my choice would seem more obvious to my peers so further promoting adoption.
Although hardly a ’sustainable’ activity, racing electric vehicles would be an excellent way to showcase their performance and characteristics to diehard petrolheads and as with all sport, would produce valuable developments that cross over into everyday life.
Electric vehicles will soon become part of normal life, not as some revelation or revolution but, as a normal part of product and service development.
Volunteer
Forest Products Laboratory
said: On 01/04/2010
I believe that transition to electric vehicles is important, but getting the job done will take time. Transitioning is slow because of difficulties in overcoming supply, cost, infrastructure, and replacing existing inventory.
I don’t know about the Tesla, but unless there is a plug-in electric car available we won’t be able to get a truly electric vehicle. The Prius is a good interim approach, but along with other disadvantages it must now overcome damage, because of the sticking accelerator recall.
It’s true that the electric car isn’t all about mileage or cost. There is also the environment that should be of much more concern in the US than it has been. Depending on how electricity is generated for use in plug-in cars, the electric car could be much more desirable for eliminating ozone in the air in cities on hot summer days and killing old people, and it could conserve on emission of green house gases. I was born in the 1920s, and, of course, I don’t remember anything about the use of electric cars at that time. They were considered to be old ladies’ cars. They were big and they must not have had much power. On this past Sunday I rode with a friend 75 miles to Milwaukee on a Toyota hybrid. I don’t know the model designation, but it was either an SUV or a crossover. There were four of us in the car. We had a nice quiet, smooth ride on the Interstate highway. When I asked the owner about how he liked the car, all he talked about was poor acceleration.
Apparently in recent history General Motors had two attempts to get an electric vehicle on the market, one an all-electric and one a hybrid, that didn’t bear fruit. I hope that they fare better with the Volt, but at $40,000 with a $7,500 rebate in the US, it will be a tough sell.
Founder and CEO
Sinautec Automobile Technologies
said: On 01/04/2010
Several factors restrict the growth of the electric vehicle: High cost, slow charging time, short maximum range, and a lack of charging infrastructure.
GM’s Volt is estimated to cost over $40,000. The high cost discourages consumers seeking for economical vehicles. Some Chinese electric vehicles, such as Chery Mobile’s S18, cost under $25,000. However, the potential high cost of the U.S. homologation process for the S18 represents a high entry barrier for Chinese made low cost electric vehicles. Currently, most lithium iron phosphate battery banks for passenger vehicle use cost over $10,000. Additionally, there are uncertainties about the lifespan of the battery bank. If the lifespan of a $10,000 battery bank can not last at least five years, the lifetime cost of a lithium battery powered electric vehicle would be considerable higher than that of a gasoline vehicle.
Lithium batteries used in vehicles have energy density between 80 to 120, which guarantees an effective range of 40 to 120 miles. This is far below the 300 plus mile maximum range of the gasoline and diesel vehicles. In addition, lithium batteries take 30 minutes to fully charging even using state of the art fast charging technology. It is unrealistic to require consumers to wait half an hour at charging stations to fully charge their vehicle. Absent battery swapping technology, electric vehicles would not be able to make long distance travelling. For American consumers accustomed to weekend road trips, this represents a severe disadvantage compared to gasoline vehicles.
Finally, without an upgrade of the current electric grid, it is unfeasible to fast charge a large number of electric vehicles simultaneously. Most modern urban electric grids cannot absorb peak currents above 150,000 watts. A large number of electric vehicles using the fast charging technology would cause a severe impact to the electric grid and disturb the supply of electricity to nearby buildings. A redesign of the electric grid to include a large amount of storage capacity with fast response time is needed in order to accommodate a large numbers of electric vehicles charging simultaneously. Current there are no effective electric storage technology other than pump hydro, which are confined to base load storage. Micro distributive electric storage with fast response time, such as flywheels, lithium ion battery, or ultracapacitors banks, holds great potential to fill this void. But such technology is not yet mature, and the cost of implementation can be prohibitive. It would be difficult to have large scale adoption of electric vehicles without significant investment into revamping the electric grid.
Webmaster
Electric Tbus Group
said: On 01/04/2010
Although electric motors are terrifically efficient at turning electricity into torque, getting that power to electric vehicles is problematic. Autonomous vehicles need a sort of battery, be it accumulators, fuel cells or supercapicitors – all devices that need complex chemistry to store electricity at nothing like the power density of petrol. If the real question is how do we get off our addiction to oil based transport, not only because it’s running out but also because it’s unhealthy for us and the planet, then the solution should include direct electric public transport, like trolleybuses – the most energy efficient vehicle on rubber tyres that has yet been invented.
Founder, Publisher and Author
Electric Bikes Worldwide Reports
said: On 01/04/2010
In my judgment, one important item is people’s behavior. GMs EV1 failed since gasoline was only $1.25 a gallon and people did not give a damn about EVs though they smashed all the records of enthusiasm, and hope to purchase, when the prototype Impact was shown in Los Angeles in 1990. Gasoline is today at $10 a gallon in Europe and China and this helps people change behavior to move to electric bikes by the multi millions—120 million on the road today in China. Heavy lead acid battery technology in EV1 was a negative also. Today the battery technology, Lithium Ion, is ready to provide much lighter and longer lasting EV batteries and they are being successfully deployed in millions of electric bikes worldwide.
The Light EVs (electric bikes and scooters) are the pathway to the electrification of the personal transportation industry. LEVs appeared on the scene in 1993 in Japan and Europe and I was there in Europe in 1993, the year I retired from GM, where I saw my first electric bike and said–”By God–if we could get people to buy EBs, they surely will be ready to buy GM’s EV1″. So I tried to import and sell a German EB and failed miserably as the bike dealers were not interested to purchase. I started EBWR in 1995 and meet and introduced Ed Benjamin to this business later where Ed now is a very prominent respected leader.
The EV business is at a “tipping point” and the electric bike, now a 17 year old industry, along with advances in battery/motor/controller technology in both the EB and four wheel EV industry being the main drivers. Annual sales of LEVs will soon cross 30 million units a year and will continue to grow. South America, Africa, and many countries are now assessing the LEV and will come into the market strongly like China has. Four wheel EV sales are still problematical in the USA since the USA still has cheap gas and the EV1 experience showed people did not want to change their behavior. The Chinese will be the first to migrate to the four wheel EV since they have 120 million EB users who know the benefit of cheap, silent electricity as a fuel. Europeans will also be ahead of the USA in four wheel EV usage since gasoline and diesel fuel prices are already high so EV operating costs will be lower in comparison.
Bottom line, the transition to EVs is important, to reduce the use of oil and pollution, but it will take a long time to make the transition. We need to move to clean nuclear power for the electricity to be clean for EVs. The USA has a particular problem since it will send 36 TRILLION DOLLARS between now and 2030 to the mid east and other oil producing nations that hate America, increasing the USA national debt that is growing by multi trillions from new and growing entitlements, not a good thing for a sound and free America. The USA is thus moving to replace gasoline by E85 ethanol made from cellulosic sources. This will happen in the next few years. But government policies have been irrational and much needs to be done to move this forward, including increasing the price of gasoline in the USA to $10 a gallon to incentivize the public to use E85 and electricity as fuels for personal transportation. High gas prices are the only way to change people’s behavior to move them to use E85 and electricity instead of gasoline.
From Automotive News today “General Motors Co. will unveil a two-seat electric prototype vehicle in May at the World Expo in Shanghai. The upright, two-wheeled vehicle, called Electric Networked Vehicle, or EN-V for short, is essentially a pod-shaped electric skateboard powered by a Segway Personal Transporter. One of the three models, Jiao, or Pride, is shown here. Created by designers at GM Europe, the vehicle was influenced by bullet trains and Chinese opera masks.” I saw a prototype at the Segway plant in 2008 where I also rode in it. This is a transformational EV since it has all the attributes of a car, enclosed, comfortable seating, but only occupies the space of an LEV. The EN-V will be the answer for short range commuting that is a step up from the electric bike and scooter. So the EV beat goes on!
Chairman
Light Electric Vehicle Association
said: On 01/04/2010
I try not to grit my teeth when I hear this question, as I know the speaker is probably from the USA. In the USA, we have a lot of ignorance about what is happening to the human race in general. And we, as a group, believe that transportation = cars. Electric cars are not so easy. But electric two wheelers are a major success already.
Keeping in mind that most humans on earth do not live in the USA, and frankly, do not drive cars, here are some interesting facts about human transportation.
The only places that cars have been the dominant transportation device are the USA, and parts of Western Europe. Japan does use a bunch of them, but anyone that has been in Japan learns quickly that the metro and trains are more practical. It is true that China and India are buying cars at a frantic pace, (what do you suppose the current expansion in cars – a doubling of the world auto fleet size – at a time of diminishing supplies of fuel will do to gasoline price?). But in China, for example, there is huge investment in metros (subways to Americans) long distance trains, and….electric two wheelers. Even though they buy a lot of cars, cars are NOT the major transportation device. In most of the world, viable train, light rail, metro, and bus systems exist or are being built. (Not in the USA, and we will regret this.) It is interesting to note that even in the USA, cars as the major transportation device date back to the 50’s. Before that we had trams, rail, buses, horses, feet, bicycles. Our love affair with cars is almost exactly as old as I am.
While these systems, plus feet and normal bikes move far more people every day than cars do (when considered on a world wide basis), there is a need for the “first kilometer” solution – or personal / individual transport from the home to the station, or for nearby commuting or errands.
If we look at the world, the normal tool for this is feet, followed by normal bikes, followed by … ebikes.
Yes there are a lot of small displacement motor bikes / mopeds / scooters. But they are stinky, noisy machines that are losing popularity anyplace that folks have viable alternatives. (An example is the huge reduction in motor scooters in Taipei following the opening of the metro.) And usually popular in places where there is not yet any public transport. India, Thailand, Vietnam, etc.
Here are the numbers for annual sales of vehicles, approximately.
Normal Bicycles – about 130 million.
Cars and light trucks – about 65 million.
Light motorcycles – about 65 million.
Electric bicycles – about 23 million.
Consider that bicycles are about 120 years old, Cars about 110 years old, motorcycles about the same as cars, and electric bikes are only 15 years old – and where do we get the idea that the world is slow to adopt electric? Sales of electric two wheelers have nearly doubled every year for more than a decade.
And it is getting better and better for the electric two wheeler. My electric bike costs me about .13 cents per 20 miles of travel. Since I live in Florida where it is warm, flat and (according to our chamber of commerce) does not rain much – it is very practical for me. While not all Americans have such a great living environment, many do. So for those of us whose climate and terrain allow us to do so can save a lot of money and carbon. For those living in cold, hilly, rainy places, a different transport tool will be needed.
In a time of rising fuel prices, increasing urban congestion, rising public awareness of carbon issues, and decreasing average wealth – the electric two wheeler has a bright future. The LEVA has more than 150 members from about 25 countries – all in the business of building and selling electric two and three wheelers. Business is great and getting better.
Founder
Electric Auto Association Europe
said: On 01/04/2010
In my opinion, there are 2 main forces slowing down the transition to electric vehicles:
1) natural inertia and 2) financial constraints.
Natural inertia both in the shape of ignorant and/or misled people (‘consumers’) and also in the shape of indecisive legislators as well as indecisive executive authorities. Financial constraints are influencing both the leaders in the petroleum industry and the leaders of the major automakers, who don’t want to have anything disrupt their profits,and, of course, it’s their job to maximize their profits. So who wants to blame them?
Finally, they do what their costumers (the people) want them to do – don’t they?
This is what I’ve learned from my personal experiences with family, friends, neighbours, colleagues in the automotive industry, politicians, car dealers, leaders of the big automakers a.o. within the last 5 years, and – first of all – from the eye-opening film WHO KILLED THE ELECTRIC CAR?, documenting the sad story of the 1990 California Zero Emission Vehicle Mandate, published by SONY Pictures in 2006.I think, that inertia is typical for evolution and transitions in nature as well as in human minds, and hence it could take decades or even centuries from today until the majority of autos worldwide will drive electrically resp. emission-free, I’m afraid. But I also see a chance to reach the widespread adoption of electric vehicles earlier, more in the shape of a revolution instead of evolution. Many of my friends say that there would be no time for evolution anymore, due to massive problems with global warming and air pollution. But
that’s another question.
Today, I’m looking forward to the film REVENGE OF THE ELECTRIC CAR, scheduled to be released in 2011. And I hope that the people and leaders of the European Union will avoid a repetition of the sad story of the California Zero Emission Vehicle Mandate in Europe.
So, my final comment to the question: ‘If the transition to electric vehicles is so important, then why isn’t it happening faster?’, is: ‘Est igitur res publica res populi’, as the legendaryroman statesman and philosopher Marcus Tullius Cicero reportedly said about 2 milleniums ago. Translated into my personal version of modern English it means something like : ‘Go to your local car dealer(s) and tell them : NO PLUG – NO DEAL, my next car must be a Plug In Car !’.
Transport Planning Officer
Falkirk Council
said: On 01/04/2010
There are really two questions here I think relating to the adoption of electric vehicles. Firstly there are the technological and infrastructure barriers to large scale adoption, such as the technology itself and the lack of robust information on performance and reliability, the suitability and capacity of the generation and distribution network itself and the charging infrastructure required to allow higher speed charging not only for individual homes but for urban areas. The issue of use in rural areas is even more problematic, and is where reliability, range and performance become even more critical.
Secondly, leaving aside the issue of plug-in hybrids, there is an issue around public acceptance of solely electric vehicles. While there has been acceptance of the hybrid model for use as a private car, and in some areas of public services electric vehicles are gaining acceptance, there is still a “milk float” mentality at issue, which sees electric vehicles as a bit of a joke when compared to “traditional” vehicles. They are widely perceived to be unsuitable for use as a “real” car for example, lacking the flexibility of a vehicle which can carry its own fuel source with it.
This is especially the case in more rural locations, where in the UK National Grid access can be an issue. The infrastructure for charging in geographically remote areas is unlikely to emerge through a purely commercial process and there will be a future role for subsidy if this is to become a reality.
However, as with biofuels, there are a number of central issues which need to be resolved, in particular the source of the electricity for the vehicle.
It is not enough simply to switch to electric vehicles and carry on as before. Congestion will still exist. Pedestrians and cyclists will still be vulnerable road users, and road casualties will not decrease if we simply substitute fossil fuel power with electric power. It will still cost energy and resources to produce vehicles, and their batteries, and their disposal and recycling will involve a deal of planning and resourcing. None of these are insurmountable, but each aspect of the above represents a small part of a linked chain which ultimately have meant that electric vehicles are not there yet.
There is some interesting research out there – I would suggest the following would provide a useful grounding in the issues and some likely directions for development of these themes:
The UK Low Carbon Transition Plan (HM GOvt) available as a download from http://www.dft.gov.uk/carbonreduction
An Electricity Supply Strategy for the UK (Council for Science and Technology) May 2005 and
Investigating the Scope for the Transport Sector to Switch to Electric Vehicles and Plugin Hybrid Vehicles (BERR/DfT) Oct 2008
Executive Vice President
Corporate Relations and Sustainability Forum
said: On 01/04/2010
We see four main areas/reasons why the market of electrical vehicles have not had a fast uptake so far:
1. Availability of electric cars in large volumes – economic climate
Manufacturers have been hesitant to invest in large scale production, the current economic climate has forced some of the leading manufacturers to slow down the production
Availability of batteries, the industry is heavily dependent of batteries with new technology. The ramp-up of battery production has been much slower than expected, factors like the economic climate has strongly affected the uptake of this market
2. Lower cost of the vehicles
The demand of electrical vehicles is high but the available vehicles are too expensive and the quality is lower than requested from market. During the autumn of 2010 and 2011 new models from strong manufacturers will be launched and the penetration of electrical vehicles is expected to grow.
In order to ensure a fast uptake of electrical vehicles further cost reductions are necessary both on the battery as the electric drivetrain
In Sweden and Finland no specific economic incentives has been established for electric vehicles. Most other countries in Europe has implemented incentives, we therefore expect a slower penetration curve in Sweden and Finland if no changes occurs in those markets
3. Increased build-out of public infrastructure
Public support schemes necessary to ensure build-out to all users. Scandinavia has a strong grid and the availability of charging possibilities is high
First generation of vehicles will use single phase charging but faster technologies should be developed in order to have a larger demand on the vehicles.
4. Industry standards for technology
Interface and communications between the car and charge point must be developed
Back of standards drives cost and risks and creates barriers for build-out
President
Electric Vehicles of America, Inc.
said: On 01/04/2010
One should not confuse the rate of change with the need for change. It is like dieting. Many of us know we need to diet; but our weight loss may not happen quickly. It takes time and commitment.
It was obvious to me 22 years ago when I started Electric Vehicles of America, Inc. (EVA) that Electric Vehicles (EVs) were the future. Electric motors are almost 5X more efficient than internal combustion engines (ICE); EVs are zero emission vehicles. Transition to any new technology can be difficult; but more difficult when the new technology is not fully developed and the older technology is. I believe there are three reasons EVs are not happening at a faster rate. They are Acceptance, Cost, and Technology. Once these are met, the consumer will ACT.
Acceptance
Many people look for the acceleration, speed, range and comfort of an ICE to be duplicated in an EV. They look for any excuse because they feel they are giving up something. ICE vehicles have been around 100 years; they have been perfected and utilize the inefficiencies inherent in their design. The excess heat generated due to the inefficient engine is used to heat the interior; extra power from the ICE is used for an alternator, power steering, and air-conditioning. These comforts did not appear immediately but over time as ICE vehicles developed. Similarly, it will take time to fully develop an EV.
For now –what if people identified their needs instead of wants? Most people drive less than 30 miles ( 50 KM) a day. Most people do not drive 60 mph (100 KMH). Yet, most people say they need 80 MPH (140 KMH) and 300 miles (500 KM) before refuelling. Why? Simply because ICE vehicles are readily available that can meet these requirements.
Costs
Most EV costs are high because the automobile manufacturers are trying to match the performance of an ICE. The automobile manufacturers have billions invested in the ICE and make billions on ICE repairs and maintenance. Why would they develop a low cost EV?
Remember when computers were mainframes built by IBM, Digital Equipment, and Wang. They knew about Personal Computers (PCs), but they did not introduce them because it would decrease sales of their mainframes. It was the Dell, Apple, and other new startups that created low cost PCs. Why would EVs be any different? That is why you see the Think, Tesla, Kewet, Zap, and other startups introducing EVs; while the major auto manufacturers make slow progress toward EVs.
Manager of Public Affairs
ZENN Motor Company
said: On 01/04/2010
The transition to electric vehicles is incredibly important given the environmental imperative and looming threat of depleting oil reserves. There are three key reasons why the adoption of electric vehicles has been slow:
1. Performance
Current electric vehicles offer limited range, speeds and (long) re-charging times. A consumer purchasing an electric vehicle must be prepared to accept a performance ‘downgrade’ versus an internal combustion vehicle
2. Cost
Couple reduced performance with increased cost and a consumer is double-burdened when trying to make a socially responsible purchase decision
3. Infrastructure
Currently, there is little to no EV infrastructure such as charging stations either at home or in public car parks enabling consumers to charge their vehicles as conveniently as they would fill their gas tanks
To address these core issues, a massive improvement must be made in the field of energy storage. Until such time that a vehicle’s battery can rival the performance characteristics and cost of internal combustion engine, consumers will not make the switch and electric vehicles will remain a niche market. This may sound overly simplified or pessimistic but consumers, by and large, are unwilling to adopt a technology that is less convenient than what is currently available to them. WHEN advanced energy storage technology is developed and integrated into electric vehicles, the supporting infrastructure must then be widely adopted to encourage mass adoption. The good news is that many are working on this energy storage issue and the question isn’t IF a viable technology will be brought to market but WHEN. It is my sincere hope and the hope of many looking to make socially responsible purchase choices that such a technology is on the near horizon.
Professor and Chairman
Centre for Infrastructure, Sustainable Transportation and Urban Planning, Indian Institute of Science
said: On 01/04/2010
Electric vehicles can use the power from a variety of sources, including fossil fuels, solar power or any combination. The electricity may be stored on board the vehicle using a battery, fuel cell, etc. Storage and recharging is an issue on board. Issues related to batteries, however, can add to the operating costs. The challenge is how to make the EV’s feasible technologically both in terms of environmental friendly (batteries are environmental hazards) and in terms of economics. Hybrid vehicles may be the need of the hour to take care of this problem. This technology should be pushed more into Public transport “to move people”. The only way we can achieve this transition may be with government regulation and tax policies. Some issues on charging time of batteries, support system and cost needs to be addressed along with adopting Hybrid techniques.
Vice President
Marketing and Communications
said: On 07/04/2010
The primary barriers for electric vehicles are cost and perceived driving range. Both of these are related to the battery. Historically, lead acid and nickel-based batteries couldn’t store enough energy in the limited space allowed in the vehicle. This has changed with the development of new lithium ion battery technologies, such as that from A123 Systems, which offer higher energy density (Wh/liter.) In addition, previous battery technologies didn’t have the life required for mainstream automotive applications. Over the last few years, there have been significant improvements in battery technology, which helps to explain why there is so much renewed interest in electric vehicles now. Although lithium ion batteries have been around for many years, the new chemistries that are being used in automotive applications must be validated by automakers and designed into products which have long development cycles. In addition, it takes time to expand the manufacturing capacity to create both the batteries and the vehicles. This is happening now.
If we want to accelerate the adoption of electric vehicles, there are many things that can be done. In November 2009, the Electrification Coalition released a report outlining a vision for the deployment of a fully integrated electric drive network. The report describes the challenges facing electric cars—including battery technology and cost, infrastructure financing, regulatory requirements, electric power sector interface, and consumer acceptance issues—and provides specific and detailed policy proposals to overcome those challenges.
Director
Powastation Electric Bikes
said: On 07/04/2010
How can we get the sustainable travel revolution rolling?
What’s the greatest obstacle to the widespread adoption of sustainable travel? Not technology; though the technology may not yet be fully refined, that didn’t stop the internal combustion engine finding favour. Systems evolve faster while they’re in use.
The obstacles are (1) the difficulty of creating the cultural and behavioural change that persuades people to adopt alternative transport, and (2) the cost of the necessary infrastructure (actually the lesser of the two problems).
Electric bikes, for example, ARE technically and operationally viable. They’re
perceived to be the ‘advance guard’ of electric transport, because they’re affordable and can be phased in alongside cherished conventional cars and ingrained lifestyles.
One local authority we’re working with has asked whether the under-used car charging points they’ve installed all over town can be converted to charge electric bikes. Another who’s evaluating e-bikes has a fleet pool of Priuses that ’never get used’ even though they’re not even fully electric, thus not unfamiliar.
Once people are reassured by their experience of electric bikes, they’ll be more receptive to the idea of electric cars and vans But you have to create behavioural change in small, palatable steps.
If the public sector also continue to invest in proper cycle lanes and charging points, the consumer ‘pull-through’ will happen, and electric bikes will get people into the habit of alternative transport. Then the widespread adoption of electric cars will follow at full tilt.
- Graham Green is a director of PowaStation Electric Bikes
(email) powastation@rocketmail.com
Executive Director
Post Carbon Institute
said: On 07/04/2010
The short answer is, simply, that there aren’t enough incentives. While oil prices remain relatively low, the payback period for most people is simply too lengthy for electric vehicles to be an appealing alternative to ICE, no matter how environmentally conscientious they may be. But I think this may be the wrong question to ask. Instead, shouldn’t we ask which alternate modes of transport are the cheapest, easiest to scale, least resource intensive, and have the smallest environmental impact? I’m not certain that low-occupancy electric vehicles would be at the top of that list. After all, with very few exceptions, electric vehicles are powered by fossil fueled electricity–in many cases by coal power, the dirtiest of all fossil fuels. And that’s after all the embodied energy and waste by-products that come from their production. Then there’s the vast cost and fossil fuels that go into the building and maintenance of the roads electric vehicles–like other automobiles–require.
The “good news” in terms of prospects for increased electric vehicle market share is that oil prices are sure to rise as a percentage of GDP. This could make them cost competitive. But even with increased demand, there are serious concerns about the scalability of electric vehicles. Advanced batteries require so-called rare earth minerals, which–almost by definition–aren’t common. China is thought to control as much as 95% of these and has, in recent years, made moves to maintain these resources for their own use.
Does this mean that electric vehicles have no place in our future? Of course not. But we should be strategic about the role they can play, and invest even more heavily in alternatives like rail, light-rail, and smart urban design.
MEP, Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety
European Parliament
said: On 07/04/2010
Yes, the transition to electric vehicles is important, but I do not wish to speed things up. Hypes are often followed by a backlash. At the moment, electric cars are seen as a green dream. They can reduce greenhouse gas emissions and reduce our reliance on fossil fuels like oil. They are clean and therefore have the potential to significantly improve air quality in population dense areas like cities. Electric vehicles are silent, so a move to electric cars will reduce noise levels in residential areas, which will lower noise related health effects like heart diseases and sleep deprivation.
But when we become blind fans, we will wake up to find that the green dream has not turned out to be a green dream yet. Electric cars are not clean cars when they are charged with coal generated electricity. This means that the phasing in of electric cars should not happen too fast. We need to make sure that green power is used for electric cars.
At present, there are a number of technical, logistical and political difficulties that put a brake on the mass uptake of electric vehicles. Technological breakthroughs of the battery technologies are needed, a standardized and widespread battery-charging infrastructure will have to be developed and a political lock-in where everybody is waiting for the other to move should be avoided.
On the technical side, batteries of electric vehicles have a lower driving range than conventional cars and can handle lower top speeds. This means that electric vehicles are currently not well-suited to long distance driving. Most batteries are big, heavy and expensive and there is still uncertainty on their lifespan.
On the political side, there is a struggle for power between the oil companies that oppose the move to electric vehicles and the power companies that push it. The transition to electric cars will reduce market opportunities for big oil companies like Shell and increase opportunities for companies selling electricity. Shell has put its bet on biofuels, which is comparable to oil and the company has lost its interest in solar or wind energy. Moving to electric vehicles will therefore change the infrastructure and the players in it. The result could be a political battle in which the politicians need to stand up to the ´old boys network´ of oil companies and their contacts within the car industry.
We should take care that the transition to electric vehicles does not wind up in a vicious circle. Without available electric cars, there will be no buyers; but without any buyers, there will be no incentive to produce electric cars. And without electric cars, there is no need for the development of a battery-charging infrastructure.
Politicians need to take the first few steps, since electric vehicles still possess an uncertain business scenario. And steps are being taken. Pilots with electric cars have started in cities across Europe. In March, under the auspices of the Spanish presidency, the competitiveness ministers asked the European Commission to present an action plan for clean and energy-efficient vehicles, including electric cars. The plan should encourage the development of a charging infrastructure and spur technological improvements in batteries. Also, last year the EU has earmarked €5 billion for its Green Car Initiative, including money for research into electric vehicles.
It is furthermore necessary that politicians ensure that electric cars actually reduce CO2 emissions. We need to make sure that the steady uptake of electric vehicles is matched by an increase in renewable electricity production. The transition to electric vehicles is important, but only when they are truly green.
Chairman - Country Representatives Committee
NGVA Europe (Natural Gas Vehicle Association), Madrid, Spain
said: On 07/04/2010
Earlier contributions cover the drawbacks with electric vehicles. To be able to market these vehicles successfully it would, I believe, be necessary to legally create subdivisions of vehicle categories such as ‘urban vehicles’ and ‘general purpose vehicles’ respectively. For pure urban vehicles it would be acceptable to settle for lower top speed performance and a reduced operating range. Without a legal subdivision of categories, and different certification criteria for each category, one cannot make a fair comparison of vehicle performance.
Unless we consider a distant scenario where pure electric road vehicles can be recharged while travelling along a road, or, like trains, receive electric power via cables, these vehicles cannot be sold as general purpose vehicles. People are spoilt by their present mobility and the general purpose vehicle will always be their first choice. But, if they could afford two cars, the electric car could cover a large share of their total travelling. Thus we have the paradox that while there will likely be more general purpose vehicles than pure urban vehicles, the latter category may well in the end account for a larger share of the total energy use.
Plug-in hybrids initially sounds like a great idea but will in reality be far less fuel efficient than the use of two vehicles – a small lightweight battery powered vehicle for most of the short distance traffic, and a conventional vehicle (with considerably lower weight than a plug-in hybrid) used for any other trips.
Although the use of lightweight electric cars for short distance travelling in principle is a great idea, the recharging is an underestimated challenge. It is one thing to draw a picture of an ideal future world, another to go in only a few years from today’s real parking situation to the perhaps utopian vision. For suburban villa residents the electric cars may work already to-morrow, but not for people living in inner city areas, and used to parking in the street. Early adopters will need a lot of encouragement
Government Relations
GreenNurture
said: On 07/04/2010
The obstacles standing in the way of the electric car seem to be endless. Among them include reduced profit accumulated with replacement parts, lobbyists of the oil industry fearful of losing business, and very little need for maintenance causing a decreased desire for the automobile industry to even want to make a change. But where I believe the largest issue of them all lies isn’t with any of these external factors; it’s with the electric car itself.
Where the electric car stands now, it is perfect for the majority of the world’s everyday schedule. An individual can wake up to a charged vehicle, drive to work, and then return home all on the same charge. Unfortunately, with the lack of proper infrastructure for recharging and the electric cars inability for a speedy reboot (anywhere from 4-12 hours), there really isn’t much more an electric car can do right now. If someone feels the need to venture out of the city on a road trip to the mountains or the beach, it could be quite a frustrating trip stopping every 50 miles for an 8 hour charge. However, this is where the hybrid technology comes in and solves this problem by taking the car and traveler wherever they need to go – but causing the next issue at the very same instant.
Right now the market is flooded with all different types of alternative fuels and hybrid options. To go along with the electric car, we have hybrids and plug in hybrids running off various fuels like biomass, biodiesel, ethanol, hydrogen, or just plain old petroleum products like diesel and gasoline. The market has many options, and none of which have come to soar above the rest –ultimately leaving one confused consumer. It’s similar to when humans were faced with the dilemma between a Blu-ray and an HD DVD player. Although some people were the early users of the products weighing into the ultimate decision of who wins, the majority of consumers waited to see which technology won out in order to decide which to buy and which not to waste money on. This could definitely hold true with vehicles as it is a much more expensive and potentially life-altering purchase. No one wants to put tens of thousands of dollars into something where it’s going to be difficult to even find the correct charging or fuel stations to keep the vehicle running – let alone the idea that the technology could be surpassed and get put into afterthought within the next decade.
This leads me to what I believe to be the only solution to the problem, and to many people’s dismay I think the answer is through increased government regulation. Federal governments need to begin addressing both the issues of MPG standards for car companies to meet, and the lack of infrastructure available for electric and clean fuel technologies. If our cars can be more efficient and emit fewer harmful substances, then why haven’t we been regulating this sooner? A simple regulation of increased miles per gallon standards every few years can really push this transition and speed the process up a bit. Also, similar to how new office buildings in many cities are being forced to meet LEED standards, why not require charging stations at all new construction facilities? People would certainly be more willing to make the switch to electric car if every day when they parked their car at work a charger were available for them.
A famous quote from the brilliant-minded Albert Einstein can hopefully aid in why governments must now regulate emissions and the automobile industry.
He said, “No problem can be solved from the same consciousness that created it. We must learn to see the world anew”.
There is a reason the government has to step in and make regulation sometimes; civil rights, drug regulation, and women’s rights are perfect examples of this from the past, we need to now make climate change the cause for new regulation in the present.
Director
Centre for Automotive Industry Research Cardiff Business School
said: On 08/04/2010
In the first place, it has to be questioned whether the switch to electric vehicles is indeed so important and if so, for whom. Beyond this, the reasons for the lethargic penetration of electric vehicles into everyday life are many and varied, but cohesive efforts from all involved will result in what amounts to the biggest technological change in vehicles for one hundred years.
For consumers, the case to be made for switching to electric vehicles has to be compelling, and so far it simply is not. In this respect, one part of the problem is that it is difficult to claim that the switch to electric vehicles is so important: because such a switch will not solve very many problems for consumers but will bring new ones. As is now evident from statements from companies of the stature of Mitsubishi and Nissan, early versions of fully battery electric cars are likely to be an order of magnitude more expensive than their petrol or diesel equivalent while simultaneously offering reduced range, increased re-fuelling time, reduced trip flexibility and of course the added technical and financial risks that come with early adoption. While there may be some ‘conspicuous minimalist’ consumers out there, willing to pay a premium for the social pleasure of being seen to be green, the vast majority of pragmatic motorists will need more convincing. A few may be tempted by the ability to get into city zero emissions zones without paying. A few more may value the premium position parking spaces that are in some cases being made available. A few more companies and government agencies may wish to make a public manifestation of their environmental leadership. None of this amounts to a mass market, yet.
For governments, electric vehicles will certainly help with the reduction of toxic emissions in urban areas, although the performance of traditional petrol and diesel cars has already improved tremendously in this respect over recent years. There is rather less certainty that such electric vehicles will help greatly in other policy areas. In terms of global climate change and carbon emissions, much depends upon the source of energy used to generate the electricity and it is by no means self-evident that battery electric cars will offer lower carbon emissions per kilometre than a good hybrid. Meanwhile, electric vehicles will do little to resolve other policy concerns such as those of congestion or deaths and injuries on roads. And in the meantime, governments are desperately keen not to damage an automotive industry that contributes handsomely to the tax base and to wealth creation generally.
For NGOs and environmentalist organisations the low-carbon potential of electric cars is of course tempting, as with governments. But this must be offset against other concerns, not least the disquiet that many such organisations feel with respect to the electricity being generated by nuclear power. Clearly, there is a feeling of swapping one potential environmental and human disaster with another.
For vehicle manufacturers contemplating bringing electric vehicles to market there is the traditional calculation of risk versus reward, but one that must be made in particularly challenging times when the industry as a whole is tentatively struggling out of one of the sharpest downturns in decades. The established vehicle manufacturers have plenty of other calls on their resources. As the centre of gravity of the industry shifts eastward, vehicle manufacturers face the twin costs of closing down surplus capacity in the traditional markets while simultaneously racing to build new factories to capture market share in key emergent markets. The fragmentation of markets into multiple segments is putting immense pressure on model development programmes and undermining economies of scale. At the same time, the quest for low-carbon vehicles is demanding ever-greater investments in a suite of technologies of which battery electric vehicles are just one. In a world of burgeoning technological diversity, the vehicle manufacturers cannot afford to bet one just one ‘best way’ forward. In an era of eco-austerity, the automotive industry has found itself with unprecedented challenges for change just at the time when resources are at their most scarce.
Interestingly enough, some new entrants to the industry are rather less encumbered by existing investments and established brand identities, and in a better position to exploit the business model opportunities that electric vehicles may bring. New intermediaries such as Better Place are acting as catalysts for the co-creation and deployment of re-charging infrastructures and vehicles in a way that will provide vital market space for electric vehicle sales to develop into a genuine niche, and this too may provide the market space for new entrants. Never has the global automotive industry been so fluid, so open to major tectonic shifts in structure and membership as globalisation and radical technical change combine to provide the conditions for a born-again industry to emerge.
Member
European Parliament
said: On 08/04/2010
It is a pity that most decision-makers use the term ‘electric vehicles’ as a synonym for e-cars ignoring the fact that electrified transport systems and vehicles include also trams, trains, e-cars, e-bikes etc. The current discussion on e-cars is – unfortunately – monopolised by the car and nuclear industry that declare the notion of ‘electric mobility’ with e-cars as the solution of future transport and mobility problems. E-cars are still in the beginning of a technical and commercial development and may indeed in future play a role as an individual transport vehicle for limited distances within cities and/or its regions. But only an effective mix of different electronic and non-electronic transport means can be the solution for transport problems like space use, congestion, emissions, noise, health and accidents. By the way, Germany has committed to reduce the daily space transformed into paved areas from now 117(!) hectare to 30 hectare from 2020 onwards. This is an unachievable objective, if automobiles will simply be replaced by e-cars; let alone the incredible number of 39.000 road fatalities per year in the European Union. Rather than pushing a transition limited to e-cars, we should re-think about the improvement of our already existing electronic transport infrastructure!
Coordinator
Triad Electric Vehicles Association
said: On 21/04/2010
When you drive an electric vehicle- you want one- but in many cases you can’t have it.
Electric propulsion is very efficient. For over a century electric drives have run heavy equipment, ships, submarines and trains to pioneer space exploration- servicing astronauts around the moon 4 decades ago (when oil production peaked for the US) to the solar rovers that won’t quit on Mars. Solar powered racers have pushed the speed limit across continents for over 25 years. In the last 5 years the National Electric Drag Racing Association has wowed…
spectators setting new records at nearly every event and beating gas guzzlers. Electric GTX motorcycles raced at the Isle of Man last year and events are spreading worldwide. But,
No options to buy
Go to a car dealership-they only have gas cars (sometimes diesels) not necessary high miles per gallon-But they only sell and service what they have. Ask for the Volt and the reply will be, “Have you seen the Malibu?”
Car companies control the marketplace and their leadership is based on a historical sales culture.
Electric vehicles have a host of opponents-
If you make a living off of the Internal Combustion Engine- need I say more?
How to change faster-
Transparent prices (not externalized, or subsidized). The US Office of Management and Budget estimates actual cost of a gallon of fossil fuel to be above $20 a gallon.
Two tales to make you smile-
A proposal was made to the boss. In lieu of an increase in wages – would the company recharge an EV (>$1/day)? The company could write off the cost as an expense of doing business. This would eliminate commuting by gas car and the savings would be significant to the employee. An EV Carpool could be offered with further savings. Purchase $30 of CFLs and enough energy could be saved to offset the cost of the electricity. Green Power from Renewable Energy could be purchased. Think of the positive publicity! Save the planet!
It seems that everyone who rides an electric vehicle has the electric smile. It is huge,,, from a Tesla, our solar gocart, the solar tractor or the solar boat- The quietness… the power…the smile! Owners of electric vehicles report that range is not a problem. They often will adjust their desires to fit the range of their vehicle. For trips beyond that range, many find they have a network of friends who desire to drive electric. Personally, I have access to Insights and Prius, Biodiesel powered Volkswagons and Mercedes, Pickuptrucks and even a 24 foot box truck.
No other vehicle purchase opens so many trade/share options.
Add to that, the promise of Vehicle to Grid- Storing Renewable Energy. It’s time!
The Triad Electric Vehicle Association (www.teva-nc.org) has gone from zero to dozens of Electric Vehicles in a span of 3 years. And now we are up-grading to newer batteries, controllers and drives. We have encouraged the start of a number of businesses. We offer workshops and classes. And we are helping schools start EV Education Chapters.
How fast do you want it?
Give people the option to access, drive and own an Electric Vehicle. It’s working for us.
Sustainable Transport Programme Manager
Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland
said: On 01/06/2010
Increases in battery energy density is the key technical improvement which has opened the way for Electric Vehicles (EVs) which can offer driving performance which matches mainstream consumer expectation. Up until recently, the only EVs in general use were “milk floats” and forklifts. With Lithium battery performance, heavier “normal” looking motorway standard vehicles are now emerging with ranges of 160km.
Automotive manufacturers are correctly facing regulatory pressure from the EU to produce vehicles with ever improving environmental performance. The combustion engine is a mature technology, so the only major options for further improvements are to reduce vehicle weight, improve ancillary devices, add regen breaking and eliminate engine idle. All this must be done while delivering the same or better performance to the Consumer.
Car companies are realising that EVs offer a unique driving experience. Electric motors produce high torque and offer smooth excellent constant acceleration up to 120kph without any gear box. As the battery/electric motor combination is highly efficient, the Consumer needs to buy very few units of energy. This results in fuel cost savings of 70% and fuel cycle CO2 emission savings of 30% based on current electricity mixes. The drive to decarbonise the electricity sector (renewable, nuclear, CCS and fusion) will lead to the lowest vehicle emissions possible in the long run. This eliminates tail pipe emissions so the Car maker is off the hook…
So we have a solution for the Car company which could meet consumer expectations. Next the Consumer….The Consumer may have heard something about EVs, he/she is not aware of these new battery technology advances/fuel cost savings and has no way to compare these new cars with conventional cars. They are worried that the car will run out of energy and they don’t know where to charge.
Europe and Japan are taking a lead in offering desirable car products such as Renault-Nissan and Peugeot offering all electric vehicles. The plug-in hybrid Opel Ampera offering many of the benefits of EVs while eliminating engine idle and infrastructure issues. All of which are expected to emerge in 2011.
In summary, the reasons why Consumers are not buying EVs are as follows:
• Few practical and desirable EVs currently available for mainstream consumers
• Doubts about battery life and range
• Lack of consumer awareness of EV performance and benefits
• Lack of easy access to charging infrastructure
To fix this problem we must do the following:
• Support Car companies to produce more EV models
• Provide State subsidies to ensure early market EVs are marketable
• Introduce EU Regulation to determine EV performance (vehicle and battery life) and certification for the benefit of the Consumer
• Consider Directives to ensure Utilities and System Operators provide access to charge points
Coordinator
Triad Electric Vehicles Association
said: On 01/06/2010
When you drive an electric vehicle- you want one- but in many cases you can’t have it.
Electric propulsion is very efficient. For over a century electric drives have run heavy equipment, ships, submarines and trains to pioneer space exploration- servicing astronauts around the moon 4 decades ago (when oil production peaked for the US) to the solar rovers that won’t quit on Mars. Solar powered racers have pushed the speed limit across continents for over 25 years. In the last 5 years the National Electric Drag Racing Association has wowed spectators setting new records at nearly every event and beating gas guzzlers. Electric GTX motorcycles raced at the Isle of Man last year and events are spreading worldwide. But,
No options to buy
Go to a car dealership-they only have gas cars (sometimes diesels) not necessary high miles per gallon-But they only sell and service what they have. Ask for the Volt and the reply will be, “Have you seen the Malibu?”
Car companies control the marketplace and their leadership is based on a historical sales culture.
Electric vehicles have a host of opponents-
If you make a living off of the Internal Combustion Engine- need I say more?
How to change faster-
Transparent prices (not externalized, or subsidized). The US Office of Management and Budget estimates actual cost of a gallon of fossil fuel to be above $20 a gallon.
Two tales to make you smile-
A proposal was made to the boss. In lieu of an increase in wages – would the company recharge an EV (>$1/day)? The company could write off the cost as an expense of doing business. This would eliminate commuting by gas car and the savings would be significant to the employee. An EV Carpool could be offered with further savings. Purchase $30 of CFLs and enough energy could be saved to offset the cost of the electricity. Green Power from Renewable Energy could be purchased. Think of the positive publicity! Save the planet!
It seems that everyone who rides an electric vehicle has the electric smile. It is huge,,, from a Tesla, our solar gocart, the solar tractor or the solar boat- The quietness… the power…the smile! Owners of electric vehicles report that range is not a problem. They often will adjust their desires to fit the range of their vehicle. For trips beyond that range, many find they have a network of friends who desire to drive electric. Personally, I have access to Insights and Prius, Biodiesel powered Volkswagons and Mercedes, Pickuptrucks and even a 24 foot box truck.
No other vehicle purchase opens so many trade/share options.
Add to that, the promise of Vehicle to Grid- Storing Renewable Energy. It’s time!
The Triad Electric Vehicle Association (www.teva-nc.org) has gone from zero to dozens of Electric Vehicles in a span of 3 years. And now we are up-grading to newer batteries, controllers and drives. We have encouraged the start of a number of businesses. We offer workshops and classes. And we are helping schools start EV Education Chapters.
How fast do you want it?
Give people the option to access, drive and own an Electric Vehicle. It’s working for us.
Chairman
Modec UK
said: On 01/06/2010
In 1905, there were far more electric vehicles made than Internal Combustion engined ones, as the great difficulty with smelly, dirty gasoline engines was range anxiety: Where can I buy the fuel? Until Rockefeller invented the distribution system called the Gas Station, the same question could have been asked of Petrol vehicles: Why isn’t the transition happening faster? But in the last 100 years, great progress has been made in petrol and diesel; when you put a fuel nozzle into your car you are transferring energy at about 30MW, which means that the power output of a suburban petrol station is comparable to that of a nuclear power station. The competition for electric vehicles is very good, and yet they still produce carcinogenic fumes from their exhausts. If they could really clean emissions up, perhaps they could demonstrate this by finishing the exhausts on the inside of the car!
So how will the transition happen and when? Firstly, where a car is a metaphor for freedom, for the ability to go at top speed wherever takes the whim of the driver, it won’t happen at all. The energy density of fossil fuels and the speed of refueling is unbeatable for decades. But where the vehicle is doing something else, commuting or carrying goods, the school run or shopping trips, then it will happen as soon as we value the cleanliness of the air we breathe in our polluted cities, and are rich enough to afford the economic inefficiencies inherent in having extra vehicles. In a commercial fleet, it is easy to have specialized vehicles, one for long runs on motorways and others for urban use, but this is a lot harder for individuals. The secret is to segment the market and use electric vehicles for purposes where they shine, not moan about their range.
Technically, battery development is a barrier needing to be smashed. Present science is concentrating on Lithium Sulfur and Lithium Air, and they can both produce cheap batteries with lots of energy, (perhaps twice the energy density of the best on the market now) but the problem will be proving longevity and safety. We want to buy a car where we know the engine will last for many years. How can you prove that the battery will last just as long without taking a long time to prove it? We need ways to reliably accelerate testing of battery systems, and these just don’t exist, yet.
So the state of the art vehicle costs a lot now because volume is low, but this will improve when volume rises. In almost every other way, the best modern lithium powered electric vehicles are vastly superior to their old fashioned diesel competitors. Battery technology, in my opinion, is the key, which is why I am also Chairman of a Battery company, Oxis Energy Ltd., which is prototyping very exciting new batteries.
© Jamie Borwick 2010
President
San Francisco Electric Vehicle
said: On 02/06/2010
There is no doubt that a widespread transition to electric vehicles would result in a significant reduction in greenhouse gases and air pollution and is therefore extremely important. I believe the main reason the transition has not yet started in the San Francisco Bay Area is the lack of electric vehicles.
Many people have expressed an interest in purchasing electric cars, but the only highway capable, production vehicle available today is the Tesla Roadster. Although this is an extremely nice car, it does not meet the needs of many consumers. The Coda and the Nissan Leaf are expected to be available in this area in late 2010 and early 2011. Cars from other manufacturers should be available soon thereafter. Then the transition can really begin.
As more cars become available for purchase and the early adopters have gotten their cars, public charging stations and specially reduced electricity rates may be needed to keep the transition from stalling. But at this point, the most important factor in making the transition to electric vehicles happen is the availability of those vehicles.
President
The Clearlight Foundation
said: On 17/06/2010
Electric cars currently make an excellent (though expensive) second car for short trips. But here’s the elephant under the rug: An overnight charge from a normal household outlet will only take you about 80 miles. If you want to take a driving trip you are in trouble. Most cars go about 4 miles per kilowatt-hour so fast charging is not practical without some kind of local energy storage in the recharge station. Anyway today’s batteries are still way too big and expensive.
Range extenders, as in the Chevy Volt, can be quickly refueled with liquid fuel. The problem is that they currently use inefficient engines.
Fuel cells make excellent range extenders. They run on hydrogen which is totally impractical to store and transport economically. Methanol, which sells for $1 a gallon can be easily reformed to hydrogen at low temperatures in the fuel cell. Methanol can be transported and delivered just like gasoline with only slight modifications to the gas pumps. A methanol fuel-cell hybrid may be tomorrow’s all-purpose car.
A Danish company has already shown a prototype: http://www.renewableenergyfocus.com/view/5650/innovative-danish-technology-uses-methanol-to-make-fuel-cell-vehicles-competitive/
President
The Clearlight Foundation
said: On 18/06/2010
Green cars: Electric Cars go 22X farther on Corn CHP Power than Ethanol
Cheap fossil fuel has allowed us to waste the majority of our energy, filling the planet with pollution and waste heat. Our car engines are only 25% efficient and coal power plants are not much better. Corn ethanol is one of the worst wastes of biomass: An acre of corn produces about 330 gallons/year if you cook it using fossil fuel.
Use the ethanol as a heat source and the net yield drops to 214 gallons/year. Car gas mileage is 30% lower with ethanol. At 25 miles/gallon we can only drive 25 X 214 = 5350 miles per year on an acre of corn.
If we take that same acre of corn and burn it to make electricity to charge an electric car, we will be able to drive the car 22 times as far! About 117,096 miles per year!
The energy content of dry corn biomass is about 7000 Btu/lb or 4100 kWh/ton
With an 85% efficient CHP plant the net power out is .85 X 4100 = 3485 kWh/ton
An acre of corn yields about 8.4 dry tons/yr or 8.4 X 3485 = 29,274 kWh per year
The Tesla electric car goes 4 mi/kWh (EPA) 4 X 29,274 = 117,096 miles!
We don’t have very many 85% efficient Combined Heat and Power (CHP) biomass power plants in the U.S. In fact, only 8% of our power plants are CHP plants. But Denmark has 53%, Holland 39% and Finland 38%. CHP plants are extremely efficient with many exceeding 90% efficiency! The secret of CHP is to locate the plant near where heat is needed. The waste heat from electricity generation is then sold along with the electricity so the only real waste is the heat that escapes into the air or past the heat exchangers in the stack.
CHP requires a different way of thinking. You must look first for places you can sell heat. Electricity is easy to distribute but heat is harder so location and sizing of plants must follow the heat demand. Mammoth gigawatt-scale power plants cannot do CHP unless they are built adjacent to a mammoth cement plant, kiln or steel plant. Most mammoth plants today dump about 2/3rds of their power into a stream or ocean just to get rid of it. A horrible waste!
High-rise buildings, hospitals, industrial parks, shopping centers, apartments, housing tracts and hotels are all excellent candidates for CHP power. Hot water, heat and cooling needs are generally comparable to electric power needs so 50% efficient electrical generators are a perfect fit: The wasted heat from the generator is simply used as heat. Fortunately, the needed technology is appearing just on schedule. Fuel cells can generate electricity with 50-60% efficiency from natural gas or syngas from biomass. One of the reasons mammoth power plants were built in the past was that only very large turbines were efficient. The other reason was pollution control. Neither reason applies today, as gas and biomass burn clean, particularly in a fuel cell.
Fortunately, we have a glut of natural gas from new shale bed discoveries. Gas is very convenient in cities, while biomass can generate carbon free power in more rural areas. Switching from coal power to CHP gas power has a massive impact on greenhouse gas emissions. Natural gas produces only 55% as much carbon as coal. CHP plants are three times as efficient (85% vs. 28%) so the resulting emissions are only .33X.55= 18% of a coal plant producing equivalent power! That’s a better improvement than the planned 40% CO2 output of Futuregen and we don’t have to wait decades for it to happen. With 3X better fuel economy, natural gas is way cheaper than coal and we won’t run out of natural gas for a long time.
Giant power plants are custom designed and take 10 years to build. Smaller, modular CHP plants can be based on standard pre-approved designs with components built on mass-production lines like cars. The capital cost can be much lower than large plants. There are several mass-produced home-sized CHP units coming on the market now based on fuel cells. Honda already shipped 50,000 of their Ecowill units in Japan. These units are 85.5% efficient by using generator-wasted heat to make hot water.
What we need now are standard CHP generator designs in the 1-MW to 5-MW size that can run on natural gas or biomass. A biomass unit could be used on a farm to heat greenhouses, cold storage, fish ponds or brick production. Burning 2 MW of biomass would produce 1 MW of heat and 1 MW of electricity. 1 MW of electricity is 8,760,000 kilowatt-hours per year, worth about $876,000 per year. The heat is worth about 1/3 as much. Carbon credits and Renewable Energy Credits add to the income.
To feed a 2-MW gasifier with corn, the farmer would need only about 68 acres of land. Other, more prolific feedstocks like elephant grass could probably get by with only 23 acres. In Germany they have straw bale gasifiers that simply require the farmer to throw in a new bale periodically. The control microcomputer rings the farmer’s cell phone with a text message whenever a new bale is needed.
This decentralized free enterprise approach could revolutionize our power structure in short order. Denmark changed their utility laws in 1990 and within 10 years 45% of ownership of power generation had shifted to consumer owned and municipality-owned CHP plants (25%) and wind turbines (20%). Ironically, ten years is about the time it takes to build one giant nuclear or “clean coal” plant. Distributed power eliminates the need for massive expansion of our power grid to connect old-style monster power plants. Distributed power also reduces power transmission losses since power is consumed near where it is generated.
The U.S. is way behind in efficient power generation because our utilities laws encourage massive inefficient power plants. If we can change that legal environment we can unleash a revolution that will dramatically reduce pollution and global warming, create good jobs and reduce our heat and power costs. The problems are political, not technical!
CEO
Clean Fuels Consulting
said: On 01/11/2010
The European Commission (EC) released a communication on 28th April in response to a request from the Spanish Presidency to prepare a report on Clean Fuel Vehicles focusing specifically on electric vehicles (EVs). Spain now produces as much as 30% of its electricity from renewable sources, including solar and wind energy.
The European Commission’s response is an attempt to meet ‘political requirements’ by enthusiastically supporting electric vehicles but within a strategy that aims to provide an appropriate and technology neutral policy framework for clean and energy efficient vehicles. It recommends following a twin approach: promoting clean and energy efficient vehicles based on conventional internal combustion engines and facilitating the deployment of breakthrough technologies in ultra-low-carbon vehicles. The communication includes specific types of alternatives: electricity, hydrogen, biogas, and liquid biofuels in ‘high blends’. The overall emphasis is on plug-in hybrid and ‘pure’ electric vehicles.
This new initiative is part of an overall strategy called “Research Efficient Europe” and within this framework it sets out a pragmatic set of proposals that it believes will enable the industry to achieve very ambitious market penetration targets for EVs, recognizing (and assuming) that economies of scale will have to make EVs more affordable to consumers: 1-2% market penetration by 2020; and 11-30% by 2030.
Among the specific action headings for electric vehicles are proposals facilitating market placement, standardization of charging and refuelling infrastructure interfaces and emphasis on both public fast charging and slower home recharging. Importantly, some tangible obstacles to EV commercialization also are recognized: the lack of battery energy storage capacity; challenges of battery EVs operated in cold and hot environments; recognition of batteries using rare earth metals from limited geographical areas; and the requirement to develop a network of battery recycling facilities.
The policy portfolio supporting “greener vehicles” includes continuing measures for reducing vehicle emissions such as implementing the regulation on CO2 emissions from cars by 2011, fuel consumption of mobile air conditioning systems, and a strategy targeting fuel consumption and CO2 emissions from heavy vehichles. New emissions regulations will be proposed to reduce CO2 in vans to175 g/km by 2014 (applied to all new vans from 2016 onward) and target 135 g/km by 2020. Lower NOx limits for cars may be proposed by 2016. The plan also includes derogations for small vehicle manufacturers.
The Commission also promotes research into second generation liquid biofuels. But the general inability to come up with a meaningful and practical definition of sustainability (i.e. something simple that can be implemented and enforced) is not addressed. The statement mentions biogas among the potential biofuels to be supported but does not address any specific proposals to encourage biogas and biomethane.
Natural gas and liquefied petroleum gas vehicles (LPG) are mentioned in passing as having an established regulatory framework that can be a model for EVs. But the gaseous fuels are marginalized through omission despite the fact that (or because?) there are over 11 million NGVs and 15 million LPG vehicles worldwide and these options are not promoted as ‘how to get where we want to be’ in a future dominated by EVs or hydrogen fuel cell vehicles.
Also included is a mid-term review of CO2 legislation for both private cars and light vehicles (vans) in 2013. In overseeing these developments the Commission will re-launch the CARS 21 High Level Group, a 2005 effort including EU automotive industry, EU Commission, European Parliament, Member States, Trade Unions, NGO’s and consumers to improve its competitiveness towards the main global competitors.
Does the new communication signal a European policy leading to a more balanced approach for alternative fuels? Though the Communication reinforces the need to generate more renewable electricity, it also recognizes some ‘realities’ and challenges of moving new fuels and technologies to market. It says, for example, “The feasibility of hydrogen technology for mobile applications remains very difficult…due to the very high cost of the technology and the need to provide a fuelling infrastructure.” The Communication also suggests that the Commission will attempt to achieve better balance in its approach to advocating clean and efficient vehicle technologies. Clearly the new Communication is in an attempt by the Commission – drawn from multiple directorate generals touching upon climate, environment, industry and transport — to be somewhat less disjointed than some of its past alternative fuel transportation policy initiatives. As in many countries, the EU travels on a roller coaster of support for hydrogen fuel cells, gasoline-electric hybrids, liquid biofuels and now EVs. But there seems to be a stronger realization by the Commission that there are multiple directions in the road to the future.