The Challenges Of Going Electric
Hybrid vehicles are now mainstream:
“The Prius first went on sale in Japan in 1997, making it the first mass-produced hybrid vehicle. It was subsequently introduced worldwide in 2001. The Prius is sold in more than 70 countries and regions, with its largest markets being those of Japan and North America. In May 2008, global cumulative Prius sales reached the milestone 1 million vehicle mark, and in September 2010, the Prius reached worldwide cumulative sales of 2.0 million units. The U.S. is the largest market, with 814,173 units registered by December 2009.” (Wikipedia)
Gas-electric hybrids are are now available from many manufacturers, Hyundai, Lexus, Lincoln, etc… Â The beauty of the hybrid is a conventional engine kicks in to supply power. Â You can drive cross country in a hybrid without worry.
The next frontier is the electric car. Â GM was out front in 1996 with the EV1 but it famously killed the project in 2002, sparking the 2006 documentary, “Who Killed The Electric Car?”
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nsJAlrYjGz8
GM had purchased the Hummer brand name in 1999 — the opposite vehicle of the EV1. Â The Hummer brand is gone and next week GM is introducing a mass market electric car — the Chevy Volt. Â Next month Nissan is introducing the all-electric Leaf. Â Unlike a hybrid, the Volt & Leaf require charging.
“Your Volt will be fully charged in about 10 hours, depending on climate, with standard 120-volt line, or as little as 4 hours using a dedicated 240-volt line”
So I can just run a long extension cord? Sorta, maybe, depends:
The batteries that power electric cars can be charged by plugging them into a standard wall socket or nearly twice as fast with a charging station. Yet a station could cost at least $2,000, including installation, and possibly $4,000 higher if you need a new electrical panel, according to the Associated Press.
“The main thing to consider is how you are going to use your electric car,” the story says. “If your commute is short, or there’s a charging station near your office, you might not need much of a charge at home. You can get away with topping off your battery overnight.” (USA Today)
I’m thinking in ten years or so I will be able to buy an electric car. Â Many of my neighbors already have hybrids, they might get an electric sooner.
Our condo association has 78 units, in two buildings joined by underground parking containing 88 assigned spaces.
In most of the garage the only electric is the lighting. Â One of the three sections has power for car lifts.
The car lifts are hard wired on a common electrical service for the building. Â These owners pay a tiny bit more in monthly condo fees to offset their electric use. Â With the lifts I’d say we have a capacity for about 100 vehicles. Â I could see 2-5 electric vehicles with 10 years. Â But how would we charge them? Can the electrical service for our two buildings handle the demand? Â Could one 30-minute quick charge station make more sense for those owners to share?
Assuming we figured out how to charge a handful of electric cars without causing our buildings to go dark, could downtown’s electrical grid handle the concentration of electric cars? Here is a short news report from AP explaining the issue.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pkfteMpRgWQ
Complicating the challenge is both the production side – coal and nuclear are both dirty, in different ways, and transmission losses are significant over longer distances – and the disposal side – batteries are a challenge to recycle. Both issues can be addressed – solar, wind and hydro for electric, and a new infrastructure for batteries – but we're not there, yet.
I was reading someplace that the charging requirements for a vehicle can approach the power consumption needs of a small home. I'm guessing this boils down to a time versus cost tradeoff – 8 hours at 110 volts, 4 hours at 220 volts and 1-2 hours at 440 volts. Trickle charging at lower voltages overnight (when demand is lower) should place few stresses on the system, and, if anything, help even out demand. Power charging at higher voltages during the day WILL put added stress on the existing infrastructure. This will raise the spectre of who pays, everyone or just the electric vehicle owners? Much like suburban impact fees, should the buyers of homes in new subdivisons be assesed fees to cover the costs of new schools and roads? Or, should taxes be raised for everyone? And, can incentives be put in place to have most charging occur at off-peak times?
The final challenge is prioritizing scarce financial resources (taxes). The current crop of electric vehicles (Volt and Leaf) are eligible for significant tax credits, approaching a quarter of their purchase price. Those dollars could've been spent on public transit, bicycling facilities or just better roads for everyone, yet the decision was made to subsidize a different power source for the typical single-occupant vehicle that defines our autocentric nation. This won't help congestion and the benefits to air quality and the environment are debatable. Don't get me wrong, I'm intrigued by the “new” technology and challenges, I'm just not sure that we've thought through all the implications . . .
Though people will complain it will increase construction costs, why not add it to municipal codes that new construction must include adding a 240 volt electric vehicle docking station? It seems like most new construction includes 200 amp service, so adding the line out to the garage should be no big deal. Perhaps it could be included in municipal codes for updating old electric service as well….if a homeowner is having their entire panel upgraded then they could be required to add the 240 volt line to an exterior parking space.
One problem I envision….most of us reading Urban Review STL are probably urban people, and many of us live in areas of street parking only. How do these people add electric vehicle docking stations? Perhaps the architect could respond.
That is where the neighborhood quick charge station becomes very important. Stop by one for a half hour on the way home, grocery shop while your ride is charging. Running 240 to new alley garages would be a good idea.
Sure, we can add whatever we want to the building code. The two big problems are that codes are meant to protect the public's health, safety and welfare, NOT to modify public behavior, and added costs ARE an issue. The latest codes require fire sprinklers in new residential construction; they're receiving significant pushback because of both the added cost and the perception / reality of added government intrusion, with little perceived direct benefit. The same holds true of electric vehicles – even if they get to 10% of the market, that still leaves 90% that have no need for a charging station.
As for the public ream, it's going to take both public resources and cooperation by public officials – who pays and who maintains? With private statons, responsibily is pretty clear cut, but public stations are both no one's and everyone's responsility
So before funding public charging stations, we need a majority Americans to drive EVs? Guess we'll sticking to 19th Century technology for the foreseeable future then.
We don't fund public gasoline stations, so why should we fund public electric stations?! Your assumption is that EV's are 21st Century technology; they're not. The earliest automobiles, in the late 19th Century, did try a variety of power sources, including both batteries and steam. Gasoline (and diesel) won out because it's the most convenient, the most efficient and the least expensive alternative. Plus, we're already subsidizing EV purchases through a variety of initiatives, why should we subsidize their daily operation, as well?
I'd be more willing to jump on the EV bandwagon IF it were a significant net improvement, but with current emission standards, the only real gain will be in high-pollution bowls, where weather patterns trap emissions. EV's can move the pollution, the power plant, outside the bowl, but the only problem with that “solution” is that some rural area now gets to enjoy dirtier air so that some urban area's air is cleaner.
IF electric vehicles are superior, then yes, we should support their wider use. The real answer is extremely complex, however, and includes fighting wars for oil, building more coal-fired power plants, the success of wind and solar power installations, miles driven because of sprawl, single-occupant vehicles versus public transit, higher densities versus NIMBY, paying taxes for something you don't believe in and may not actually work as promised, the Law of Unintended Consequences, etc, etc, etc.
Bottom line, the likely answer will be a combination of EV's with a range of 100+ miles and plug-in hybrids. For most people, 50-60 miles per day is more than enough, and plug-ins would cover those who need to go further and/or don't want to rent a vehicle for longer trips. And if employers or retailers (or for-profit entrepreneurs) want to offer public charging stations, go for it – I'm all for free enterprise. Remember, too, that most people do have off-street parking, so it should be up to them to install and maintain any charding infrstructure.
Providing overnight charging for residents who only have on-street parking presents multiple challenges. Do we have designated spots for EV's? First come, first served? Free or metered? Locked and vandal proof? Or, can someone hijack your connection? Who pays for the infrasructure? Its maintenance? (Remember, we don't have to do anything special for gas or diesel vehicle owners.) Unfortunately, until magnetic proximity charging is perfected and some private entity (like a utility or a cable company) is willing to fund its rollout, I'm guessing that on-street parkers will be SOL – life ain't fair . . .
Unfortunately, with the state of politics, as well as the nature of technology we will see an uneven roll out of both the electric car itself and the infrastructure to support it in this country. Sadly, most of our electric grid even though very reliablie is still based on century old technology and supports its own share of inefficiencies. Fortunately for the electric car their is a market as the nature of the world becoming much more urban (very different when EV1 came out) and more wealthier (more people demanding cars and resources) will provide the basis for success.
At some point, a US commuter like me will consider an electric car. However, its still 5 to 10 yeards down the road at best. Why? the economics of buying a small somewhat fuel efficient car in a relatively cheap fuel market (no high taxes relative to other developed countries) is tough to beat.
Your last sentence hits the mark exactly. Gas prices are so low (compared to the $10 per gallon seen in some parts of Europe) that there is no motivation to not use regular gas to power my car. An author, P.J. O'rourke authored an essay once, (I abhor his conclusion that it's dumb to invest in pulbic transit), that spelled out the economics of the personal automobile and how with gas priced as it is and most public transit investment going into highways that Americans will not be giving up the personal automobile for at least another couple generations.
That combined with land use patterns that make using mass transit nearly impossible due to low densities . . .
i was in boulder, co this past week and dropped into the Telsa showroom. currently they make a $150k full electric sports car (0-60 in 3.7 secs, 135 mph governed max speed), but by 2012 they will have a $50k sedan, and 2-3 years after that a $25k commuter. And, beginning with the Sedan, they will be making a 100% American made car (parts, assembly, the whole thing). I see this company doing a lot more for electric vehicles compared to the “big 3”.
Ya know, Toyota has partnered with Tesla – http://www.teslamotors.com/about/press/releases/tesla-motors-and-toyota-motor-corporation-intend-work-jointly-ev-development-tm – their first product will be an electric RAV-4.
yeah, the Tesla dealer i talked with mentioned that. as well as a partnership on an electric mercedes c-class and one other.