1. Strong policy control has seen Iowa become the second-largest producer of wind power in the U.S.
2. Four of the year’s most important environment stories that have gone unnoticed. How many have you heard before?
3. Pranksters play a trick on the Chamber of Commerce climate change event.
4. Electric bikes make a splash at the Interbike trade show in Las Vegas.
5. New York City successfully sues Exxon Mobil for contaminating ground water and awarded $105 million in damages.
The advent of plug in vehicles, whether hybrids or fully electric, signal the end for conventional miles per gallon ratings. The electrical energy in the battery needs to be taken into account and therefore some kind of conversion between electrical energy and gallons needs to be made. Do you calculate the amount of energy stored in the gas and the battery and compare? But what about the energy that went into producing the electricity, which is a highly organized form of energy, do you include that? If so, what about the energy that went into refining the gas and transporting it? Such a calculation becomes so complicated and opinionated that ultimately it comes down to what the NY Times describe as ‘fudge factors’.
This is just an off hand idea, but what about a simple miles per $ measurement to compare plug in hybrids? You calculate how much it costs to fill the tank and charge the battery – perhaps using national averages for gas/electricity prices – then drive it until all the juice is gone and see how far you get.
Now, I know this is flawed. Gas/Electricity prices fluctuate for one, nor can you derive what ratio of gas to electricity a car uses based on a miles per $ figure, but there’s no methodology that doesn’t have problems. Also traditional mpg figures are always quite different to real world usage, the important thing is just that they are standardized so you can compare different vehicles directly. So as long as you use the same prices to calculate MP$ figures for different cars, you will have a fair comparison.
Without dwelling on the flaws, let me point out two simple benefits: Firstly and most importantly, there is no opinion in the calculation and there can be no gaming. It is entirely objective. As the NYT says in their article, the current ways to calculate miles per gallon-equivalent (MPGe) are ‘no longer a strictly scientific measurement, but takes into account compensating factors’. This subjectivity is always going to be problematic as you will never be able to satisfy all the different manufacturers, environmental groups & scientists with the compensating factors that you choose and you run the risk that companies with most influence will get factors and comparisons most suited to their vehicles. With a measure of miles per $, there is no scope for this kind of wrangling and opinion.
Secondly, it caters to the average car buyer’s main concern: price. Consumers will get a much better idea of which cars will offer the lowest running costs. Conveniently, lower running costs are highly correlated with fuel economy, so although consumers might simply be trying to save money the end result will be a reduction in their carbon footprint. You could even speculate that because consumers react more strongly to price than any other concern, a MP$ metric might actually induce even more people to purchase vehicles with greater fuel economy than if they were doing it simply for the green benefits.
As I said previously, this is just an idea that I accept is not perfect and I welcome any feedback in the comments. In a world where corporate transparency is very blurred and traditional mpg estimates seem so far from the real world performance of vehicles, I believe that MP$ could prove a more accurate, honest and relevant statistic for consumers. The EPA is working on a methodology for MPGe as we speak, and from what I understand they are not considering anything like this, rather there will be some kind of system that converts the electrical energy into an amount of traditional petroleum gallons.
Reva Electric Car Company, manufacturers of the most highest selling electric vehicle to date, will next week be announcing two new models to their range of electric vehicles at the Frankfurt International Motor Show. The REVA NXR, pictured above, is a four-seat, three-door hatchback family car suitable for that is suited to urban driving. The REVA NXG will be a sporty two-seater with a targa roof.
Its great to see REVA innovating and producing new electric vehicle technology. Its clear that they have taken on board some of the criticisms of their current offering, the G-Whiz. For example the new NXR model looks a lot sturdier than the G-Whiz, which failed various safety tests and had to be labelled as a ‘quadracycle’ in the UK in order to circumvent safety regulations. Another criticism was the limited range, which REVA have responded to with the announcement of their new remote recharging technology, REVive, although the details of how this works are still unclear.
To date, REVA have managed to combine good technology with a low price which has led to great success with the G-Whiz. Its been quite a hit in European cities where its compact size helps it fit in and is now a common sight in places like London where it now enjoys on-street charging posts. This strong technology and low price has led to REVA putting 3,000 EVs on the road and gaining more than 70 million kilometres of user experience.
The company is building a new factory in Bangalore with a capacity of 30,000 per annum to cope with its increasing demand, which sure is a great sign for the EV industry as a whole.
If a driver of one these new vehicles should run out of juice on the road they can make one call or SMS to REVA and they will implement the REVive technology, which is said to provide an instant remote power boost. Wireless charging has been a fierce area of research for a long time and unless REVA have really developed some kind of revolutionary technology, we think this must work by activating some kind of backup battery in the car that is only accessible by themselves.
As the UK based member of the PlentyWays team, I yesterday found myself face to face with a REVA G-Whiz electric car charging on the side of the street in central London. I thought it was a fascinating sight as its quite simply a glimpse of the future. Electric vehicles are going to be hugely necessary in the battle to reduce carbon emissions and being able to charge electric vehicles whilst you are out and about is going to be very important for the growth and adoption of this industry. Battery technology for electric vehicles is not yet developed enough to allow driving limitlessly so pulling over for a quick charge, much in the same way drivers need to fill up with gas currently, could be a common occurence in the (not so distant) future.
To use the scheme you need to register your vehicle first and you will receive an id card. You flash your card on the meter, plug the power chord into your car and thats it. You can charge for up to 2 hours, and power is provided by EDF who partially use renewable sources for their electricity generation making you just that little bit greener.
Electric cars are a very promising technology in reducing the carbon footprint of transport. Although we are likely to see much innovation in this field in the future, many people do not realize that the technology to produce cars that run on electricity is already here. Electric cars in general produce far less emissions than the best fossil fuel cars on the market. Furthermore, if your electricity supplier uses renewable energy sources, the emissions of your electric car will effectively be zero. So with out further ado, lets take a look at the top electric vehicles which are available now, or will very shortly be in production.
The REVA G-Whiz is currently the most popular batter powered electric car in the world. Manufactured in India, the REVA is a smart 3-door city car that will fit two adults in the front and two children in the back. A full charge will take around 6 hours and will cost less than $1.50 meaning running costs are an astounding 2c per mile. The newest version includes higher performing Lithium Ion batteries that extend the range to 75 miles.
The Th!nk City is another 3-Door Electric vehicle running on sodium or lithium batteries. A product of Norwegian firm Th!nk, the City car is available in Norway and European markets with plans to come to the US soon. It is one of only two crash tested and highway certified fully electric vehicles. (The Tesla Roadster is the other). The car is designed so that it can be recycled after it has been decommissioned helping to further reduce its environmental impact.
Available next year, the Smart ED is the first all electric vehicle from SMART, manufacturers of the pocket sized city cars that are ever more popular in Europe, and – believe me – they look even smaller in real life. The ED follows much the same design as other Smart vehicles, but behind the fuel cap is actually a standard mains plug. The Smart ED can fit only 2 passengers and will take around 8 hours to charge the batteries to capacity.
The Tesla Roadster is without doubt the cream of the crop of electric vehicles. With a stunning design and performance to rival some of the best fossil fuel powered sports cars, the Roadster is truly a break through vehicle that demonstrates that you don’t have to make cutbacks on quality if you want to go electric. It combines a 0-60 mph time of 3.7 seconds, with an efficiency that is up their with the best electric vehicles – achieving a breathtaking 120 miles per gallon equivalent (mpgge). The only drawback would be the over $100k price tag, however the Silicon Valley company behind the Roadster is planning a more accessible sedan version known as the ‘Model S’, which will cut the price in half.
Whilst not technically a fully electric vehicle, the Toyota Prius with its hybrid engine deserves a mention here. The greenest vehicle by the world’s largest automaker is an important milestone and a very advanced specimen of technology. The hybrid engine means the car will run on fuel but will also use advanced techniques such as regenerative breaking (which captures a vehicles kinetic energy whilst breaking) to charge an onboard battery. When the battery has sufficient power stored up, the engine can switch to EV mode, whereby it is propelled purely by electrical energy. This hybrid engine results in 54.7 mpg rating, although the 3rd generation models will bring this up to 60.3 mpg. Its no surprise to learn that worldwide sales of the Prius reached 1.2 million in early 2009.
The Lightening GT is in a similar mould to the Tesla Roadster. The British made Lightening features a sleek design and a 0-60 mph time of under 4 seconds. A killer feature is its fast charging lithium-titanate battery which, given the right high capacity power source, can charge in 10 minutes. On standard mains power this would be more like overnight. The lightning GT is a 2 seat convertible and is available to order now for 2009/2010 delivery in the UK and is set to reach the US market ’soon’.
The iMIEV from Mitsubishi Motors Company is due to start production in 2010. It can fit four full sized adults but has a greater efficiency than the G-Whiz, getting around 100 miles from 16 KWh and has an impressive top speed of around 80 mph.
The Mega City available from NICE (No Internal Combustion Engine) is a french made 2-seater city car. NICE also have a large truck version, the “Mega Mutitruck” and a pickup style version, the “Mega Worker”.
The Vectrix was the first high powered electric scooter available on the market. Its great design and 0-50 mph in 7 seconds made it very desirable. The company unfortunately went in to liquidation earlier this month and won’t be able to continue existing in its current form. However, Vextrix scooters are still readily available second hand and the technology could be given further life if a suitable company swoops in to buy the remaining assets.
The Cargo Scooter is a Dutch Made Electric Scooter that has been picked up by Domino’s Pizza to equip their fleet of delivery vehicles. Taking only 2-3 hours to charge, it is adept for traversing short distances quickly, cheaply and environmentally. It is available now in both European and North American markets.
Clearly there are very good options for fully electric vehicles on the market right now and even more in the near future. It is exciting to think that the technology is still in its infancy and there are further gains and innovations to be had. There are many advantages to driving electric cars over their combustion engine equivalents. No more trips down to the pumps, electric cars all work off standard mains electricity that we have at home. No more remembering to check the oil level in the engine, electric cars don’t require the stuff. No more shouting over the sound of the engine, electrical engines are near silent. Some even worry that this may be a safety hazard as people can’t hear the cars coming down the road. It would be trivial however to add an artificial sound and it would surely be engineered to remain as quiet as possible to those within the vehicle. Also bear in mind the running cost of an electric vehicle is far less than a petrol/diesel powered vehicle. Take a look at the following calculation for a demonstration. Note that it does not include various subsidies and reliefs that you can get for driving an environmentally friendly vehicle, which are only likely to increase further in the future.
The average American vehicle does 20 miles per gallon. At $2.80 a gallon, this is around $0.14 per mile. As noted above, the G-Whiz costs around $0.02 per mile. The average American drives around 12,000 miles per year, which will cost $1,680 in your gas guzzler, or around $240 in your G-Whiz, giving a massive saving of $1,440 a year. The car will pay for itself in no time.
Now imagine a more extreme case: You drive a gas guzzler that manages 13 mpg, fuel hits $4 a gallon again and you drive an amount towards the upper limit of the US Average (say 15,000 miles per year). In this scenario your car costs around $4,615 a year to run, compared with the same $240 for your G-Whiz! A truly amazing difference.
Update: Just stumbled across ZapWorld as well, who seem to do a range of electric vehicles. If anyone has any knowledge of them let us know in the comments.
