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Add to FavoritesIn the long run electric vehicles are not the answer to high gas prices. It may appear to be so to the few who can avail of these vehicles today. But if we consider the scenario when everyone can replace their internal combustion engine driven vehicles by electric vehicles, the complete picture would change. The economics and environmental impact of such a dramatic change in the source of energy to meet the requirement of motive power today would be quite different.
Today, electric vehicles (EVs) form a very small part of the total vehicle population. The addition of new EVs per year also forms a very small part of the total number of vehicles being added on the roads every year. In this scenario, the EV vehicle appears to be a very viable solution to the high gas prices for those who can afford the EVs from the price point of view and also from the practicality point of view.
To understand the problems which can be created by putting EVs on the roads in place of the IC engine driven vehicles we need to examine the problems and limitations of the EVs which will be magnified to huge proportions when the existing vehicles are replaced by them in significantly large numbers.
Presently EVs are powered by on board batteries. When fully charged, the batteries store the energy required to move these vehicles. This gives a limited range of travel till the batteries are discharged, after which they have to be recharged before the vehicle can get back on the road. A mid-sized electric car would have a range between 150-180 kilometres per charge at a top speed of 100 kilometres per hour. Scientists and engineers are still working on how to make the batteries more compact, hold more charge at a time, get recharged faster, have a longer life and cost lesser.
The long term problems of the electric vehicles are mostly related to the problems related to the batteries used in them. Initial costs are high because of the batteries. In some smaller electric cars it costs half as much as the original vehicle cost to replace the batteries after two or three years. This more than offsets the savings in not having to use gasoline. Another reason why initial costs are high is the need to use newer lighter composite materials to build the vehicle to keep its weight down.
The practicality of using such EVs is also another problem which really means changing one's lifestyle. The range of travel of EVs is limited by the capacity of its battery. The driver must therefore return to the starting point where the battery can be recharged before it runs out of charge. Alternately, the driver can only travel to locations where facilities for charging the batteries are available.
All electric vehicles come with some compromises to the needs of the vehicle owner since weight is a major factor which affects the vehicle's performance and range. The batteries are heavy and require a lot of space and cannot be dispensed with. It needs a lot more space than the fuel tank it replaces. The requirements of power, speed and acceleration, space for the batteries, space for the occupants and their baggage, weight of the vehicle and requirement of longer travel range on a charge of the battery put conflicting demands on the vehicle manufacturers and designers. As a result some sacrifices have to be made depending on the market segment targeted by the manufacturer.
The few owners of electric vehicles who find themselves in the niche market addressed by the manufacturer would be reasonably happy with their vehicles. But this would not in any way have any major impact on the overall scenario of high prices.
If we consider the other scenario where the major problems relating to the batteries and vehicle weight are solved and the EV replaces a majority of today's IC engine driven vehicles thereby having no major dependency on petroleum products, then a whole new set of problems appear.
Of course, the battery would still be at the root of the problem. Whatever new types of batteries are developed for electric vehicles, it would still be undergoing cycles of discharging and recharging. This would then shift the energy requirement from gasoline to electricity.
The amount of electricity required to keep the vehicles on the roads would go up phenomenally. By a very basic layman's calculation it is estimated that to keep one million compact electric cars on the road by meeting their battery charging requirements, about 30,000 megawatts of electricity is required additionally. This after considering that the vehicles would be much more energy efficient than today's gasoline engine vehicles as the heat loss in the vehicles would not be to that extent.
If we consider larger picture we will find that the problems of emission pollution and energy losses due to engine heat have been just moved away from the individual vehicles and shifted them to the power plants required to produce all the electricity required for charging the vehicles. Of course, there would still be some considerable reduction in all the losses and pollution as these can be more effectively tackled at the power plant than on the roads.
The main question then is how we are going to generate the vast amounts of electricity required. If we are going to use oil or gas we are back to square one. So that is definitely not an option. Are we ready to use coal a "dirty" fuel which is available in abundance? It would also mean tackling the environmental issues raised by mining coal and burning it in the power plants.
The unconventional sources of energy like wind power, solar power and geo-thermal power would not be able to meet any significantly major part of this new requirement which is just too overwhelming.
This leaves the only choice of using nuclear energy. This is a clean and relatively cheaper way of producing electricity in large quantities. Of course, this has its own share of problematic issues relating to safety and disposal of nuclear waste. But if we are going to require such large amounts of electrical energy this option is the most feasible. The only question is how long it will take to build all the nuclear plants.
But whatever time it takes to build the nuclear plants it may take the same time to tackle the other related issues which will come with regards to providing the infrastructure to meet the requirements of the EVs. To make using EVs practical, charging points have to be provided in all parking bays in all parking structures, parking lots and even parking meters. This in itself will be a huge investment. In addition the issue of recycling of the old batteries from the EVs after their useful operating life will have to be addressed. This is however not a difficult issue as it is something the vehicle makers and the battery manufacturers can take care of while developing the battery and the vehicles.
All this does seem to make the issue of replacing the existing vehicles by electric ones very cumbersome and expensive. It will require complex infrastructure to set up and maintain. In addition, it raises another issue which will affect the economy, viz, what happens to the oil industry. The huge infrastructure that comprises the oil refineries, the distribution system and the jobs would have to gradually fade away and reduce to a much smaller scale which would be difficult to do without seriously hurting the economy. Thus it can be safely assumed that any such move for large scale migration away from gasoline engine vehicles would be in some way, direct or indirect, opposed to or at least obstructed by the oil industry.
Another alternate technology for vehicles would be the fuel cell technology. Vehicles would use hydrogen as fuel. It is also clean and vehicle owners do not have to worry about reaching a power outlet before they stop dead in their tracks. The existing distribution centre could be used to dispense hydrogen also and the oil companies could enter into the production of hydrogen.
But the immediate concern is to keep gas prices down. This can be done by using more biofuels for the existing vehicles, use fuel efficient vehicles, hybrid vehicles and some electric vehicles to keep the demand for gas from growing. This will also keep the oil producers on their toes to ensure they do not raise the price of gas to the extent where the alternative and more expensive options begin to look viable.
To that extent it can be agreed that electric vehicles can play an important role today in helping to keep the price of gas from growing rapidly out of reach. But they are not a viable answer to replace the existing gasoline vehicles in significantly large numbers.
Learn more about this author, Rajiv Mahajan.
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Yes
Gas prices have become dangerously high and the media states that prices for gas are going to climb even higher in the coming months. The earth's oil supply is dwindling and there is no way to create more. The government is talking about alternative fuels but those fuels will still pollute our earth which causes global warming. There is another solution that is healthier for the environment, and possibly not as costly. The solution is electricity; this resource will never run out because it can be created. Electric vehicles do not use gas and can be charged at home. Electric vehicles eliminate the need for gas thus doing away with high gas prices.
Because the economy is dependent on gas, the prices are high for this dying fuel source.
Gas prices are on the rise
It is a fact that twenty years ago, in 1987 gas prices were $0.97 per gallon. Ten years ago gas prices were $1.46 per gallon. Today in California, gas prices are the highest they have ever been. The local gas station in Palm Springs is charging $3.26 per gallon this is the lowest price in the area.
Oil resources are perishing
What some people don't care to realize, is that while we are driving around in our fuel powered vehicles, we are using up the earth's resources which can not be replenished. The oil companies like to use this fact to their benefit, by claiming that our resources are running low so we need to conserve, and the way to conserve is by charging higher prices.
Our economy is dependent on gas and oil
The oil companies claim that their reasons for raising gas prices is to prevent consumers from traveling so much, if consumers can't afford the gas they will not drive as much. That is not true, no matter what the price of gas, people will still need to travel. So the fact that the gas prices have risen another .20 a gallon, just becomes another inconvenience, people will not stop traveling.
Benefits to fuel powered Vehicles
Electric vehicles can currently go 100 miles without needing to be recharged. But cars that run on gas average at 27.5 miles to the gallon. A smaller car can carry 10 gallons of gas and go for almost 300 miles before having to be refilled.
Car companies have been making fuel powered vehicles for at least 100 years. It is easier for car companies to continue to make these cars because they already know what materials are needed. Car manufacturers do not want to build electric vehicles because they are afraid that they will not earn as much profit making vehicles that run on electricity.
Manufacturers build fuel powered cars to be attractive to the consumer for example the Mitsubishi Eclipse or the Mustang Convertible, these are gorgeous cars compared to the Tango or the Dynasty. But the fuel powered vehicles have been in mass production a lot longer than electric vehicles.
Benefits to Electric Vehicles
Technology for electric cars will continuously improve. For instance the house hold computer is constantly improving; the technology in just the computer mother board has doubled in speed in just the last year. Computers will soon be able to retrieve information almost as fast as the human brain can think. Electric vehicles have that same technology available which can improve their speed and charging capabilities. One woman who loves her electric vehicle said, "I plug it in at night and can drive 100 miles the next day and go faster than 80 mph on the highway" (Paul, 2006, 1).
Another advantage to electric vehicles is that they are much more reliable because they require less mechanical maintenance. Their engines are not polluted with oil, gas and other fluids because the entire car is electrical.
History of the electric car
The electric car has been around since 1900. Back then the electric car was more popular than the gasoline or steam powered vehicles because electric cars were cleaner, smoother riding, and noiseless. But in 1912 the internal combustion engine was created and eliminated the use of hand cranking to start the vehicle. This simple convenience caused the electric vehicle to be forgotten.
In 1990 General Motors created an electric car prototype called Impact. Then in 1998 the California Air Resources Board decided that if such cars could be made, car companies should build them to better the economy. A mandate was made stating that 2 percent of vehicles sold in the state of California must be emission-free. By 2003 the board expected that number to rise to 10 percent. The car companies manufactured about 5,000 vehicles, but in 2005, due to pressure from the car companies the mandate was eviscerated. In order to cover their tracks the car companies that built the electric vehicles had the majority of the cars retired and crushed.
What is being done today?
"The infrastructure to charge is already in place (electric outlets are everywhere), and the technology (batteries) has been tested in the field and greatly improved upon for over 15 years." (Paul, 2006, 17). A charging base has been created so the consumer can plug in their car at home.
A man named S.R. Ovshinsky created a Nickel Metal Hybrid battery for the electric car so it can now travel 140 miles with out needing to be recharged. However this battery was bought out by a major car company who thought it would be best not to put this battery in their cars. Instead they used another battery that does not get nearly as much mileage and does not allow the car to travel as fast as it could with the other battery.
A Hybrid car has been invented which uses both electricity and gasoline. This car is as fast as gas powered vehicles and gets good mileage on a single charge, and then the engine switches over to gas once the electric resources have been exhausted. The only problem with this car is that the use of gasoline has not been eliminated. Consumers will continue to buy gasoline but fortunately not as often.
More electricity can always be created
There are many benefits to using electricity, unlike gas or oil, electricity can be created. Through wind power, water dams, solar arrays and many other ways, these sources will not harm our earth the way that oil has.
Man has been making electricity since Thomas Edison discovered what it was, and how it can harnessed. Man has discovered natural ways that electricity can be created, that is why it is unlikely that the earth will ever run out of electricity. There are also more harmful ways to produce electricity such as power plants but thanks to technology hopefully in the future these types of sources will become obsolete.
Solar arrays
"Of all the renewable energy sources available, solar cells have the smallest environmental impacts. Electricity produced from photovoltaic cells does not result in air or water pollution, deplete natural resources, or endanger animal or human health" (NESEA, 2001, Solar Electricity 14). Solar panels can be installed for private use. The government has also created incentive programs in California that give discounts to residents who are interested in having solar panels installed on their homes to create more energy. This is a clean source of energy that is created naturally through our sun rays.
Wind farms
"Of all the renewable energy technologies, wind power is currently the most cost competitive when compared to traditional, fossil-fuel-based energy production technologies" (NESEA, 2001, Wind Power 7). Wind power is one of the fastest growing energy source being used around the world.
The wind farm in the San Gorgonio Mountain pass just outside of Palm Springs contains more than 4000 windmills which generates power for the entire Coachella valley. One Wind Mill can produce 300 kilowatts of energy in an hour that amount of energy can power a typical house for a month.
If consumers start to use electricity, gas and oil will no longer be needed.
The economy is in a desperate need for change, the earth is running low on crude oil resources and some day they may completely disappear. If something is not done to prevent this from happening, the world will be in a crisis and bring about another dark age. Electricity is a clean source of energy that can be created by man. If more people request electric vehicles to be made, then the car companies will realize that there is a need for these types of vehicles. If everyone drove electric vehicles then there would be no need for gas or oil and this will eliminate gas prices.
References
Paul, A. (2006) Who killed my electric car?
Retrieved October 21, 2007 From CNN
Website: http://www.cnn.com/2 006/US/07/25/paul.co mmentary/
Northeast Sustainable Energy Association (2001) Wind Power
Retrieved October 21, 2007 From NSEA
Website: http://www.nesea.org /energy/info/wind.ht ml
Northeast Sustainable Energy Association (2001) Solar Electricity
Retrieved October 21, 2007 From NSEA
Website: http://www.nesea.org /buildings/info/sola relectricity.html
Learn more about this author, Jaime Porter.
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