Will electric vehicles replace today's oil-guzzling motor cars
No real difference from your current car
EVs are actually quite simple, safe and proven. The main components of an EV include an electric motor, controller (electronics) and battery. Oddly enough, the first automobiles were electric and invented in the 1830s before the internal combustion engine (ICE) became popular. While ICE has been the dominant technology for the last century, electric motors remained in use for trains and smaller vehicles given their energy conversion efficiency of over 90 percent.
With increase in scale, ongoing research into battery chemicals and insulation, and continued technological improvements, battery technology is expected to become more viable as an alternative to ICE technology, particularly as charging cycles become shorter. The fun part of EVs is that they can provide full torque over a wide revolutions per minute (RPM) range, so acceleration can be as responsive as with current motor cars.
More fuel choices
Given that the majority of remaining oil reserves are in potentially unstable areas within the Middle East, Eastern Europe and Latin America, the ability to use electricity as fuel for transportation offers alternatives including renewables, coal, gas, oil and nuclear. Relying on one fuel--oil--has led to supply shocks and price volatility. With oil prices expected to increase given flat global production and steadily growing demand from Asia and the Middle East, alternatives are becoming increasingly important.
The cleaner option
Using coal or gas to power electric vehicles is still less carbon-intensive than a similar ICE vehicle, given the higher motor efficiency. Clearly, using renewables and cleaner sources of electricity is the preferred method that can result in a significant drop in carbon and other particulate matter pollution.
EVs as a potential energy storage alternative
A critical way to help mitigate grid losses resulting from generation, transmission and distribution is through large-scale storage. Once greater numbers of EVs are on the road, the aggregated battery capacity can provide meaningful storage capacity (an EV battery is roughly equivalent to an average household's energy use).
One of the projects that Greenlots has been working on with a major European utility and carmakers is in vehicle-to-grid (V2G) technology, which allows EVs to communicate with the power grid to enable bi-directional energy flow critical for load balancing, thus improving grid efficiency. For example, unpredictable large bursts of wind power pose a problem for grid operators and dumping this power can be extremely expensive. Once an aggregated number of EVs are plugged in, the grid operator can help "push" electricity to EV batteries and improve grid efficiency.
Strong government support
Governments around the world are supporting the rollout of EVs. China has pledged nearly 20 billion US dollars and is targeting the first 500,000 EVs by 2015. President Obama has stated a target of 1 million EVs by 2015; Germany is pushing for 1 million EVs by 2020. Globally, subsidies for both vehicles and charging infrastructure are significant and growing as more EVs are introduced.
Car companies are onboard
EV-only manufacturers including Tesla, Reva, Coda and Fisker are developing solid commercial vehicles, raising significant capital and are being taken seriously by consumers and industry. Most major car companies have or are developing plug-in hybrid or fully electric models, with companies like Nissan, Renault and Mitsubishi investing in production of EVs and R&D work in EV related technologies. China alone has over 90 pure-battery electric car models. Electric vehicles are also gaining traction in public transportation, with Chinese car maker BYD recently signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Singapore transport service provider SMRT to supply all-electric buses and taxis.
Mitigating range anxiety and charging issues
In our three years of experience with EVs, running out of "fuel", or charge, is a smaller risk in an urban environment like Singapore. Most EVs being introduced have a range of 100km or more, and with the average commuter driving around 55km per day in Singapore, this is not a significant concern. EV drivers simply plug in when reaching home and are fully-charged well before leaving in the morning.
Though EVs can potentially be more convenient than petrol cars, as there is no need to drive to a fuel station, the charging infrastructure needs to be convenient, affordable and easy to use. The charging infrastructure can be placed in accessible locations city-wide and EV drivers will be able to simply plug in and charge their cars at the office or at home once they sign up with a charging service provider. Of course, there is the need for governments and utilities to install initial infrastructure to encourage the use of EVs. This is happening globally, with many EV hotspots popping up in major urban areas globally such as London, Amsterdam, Lisbon, San Francisco and Hong Kong.
It truly is an exciting time in the transition to more sustainable transportation. Right now, EVs offer a viable alternative to oil, and given the component and vehicle manufacturing in Asia, we are smack in the middle of this trend. Singapore is an ideal test-bed location for EVs given the short distances and the city-state's compact and urbanised environment. The test-bed aims to test and gauge different EV prototypes and charging technologies. With the 25 June 2011 test-bed launch of the first EVs and charging stations in Singapore, it is a first step towards a Smart Energy economy.
By : Ron Mahabir, Greenlots