Guest Author - William Charles Vetter

For the next few articles I would like to focus on alternative energy sources with a particular focus on our cars, since this is after all the Cars Forum. I hope that you read last week’s article and got something out of it, I know that I did doing the research and reading all that I can find on the various alternatives to gasoline fuel and the various propulsion sources. Eventually I will make my choice for what I personally believe to be the best option currently available, what I would like to see available and also my “Crystal Ball” for predicting what may come to pass some day. This week the focus is on electric powered cars.

Many people would love to see an affordable, all electric car on dealer showroom floors. If demand is so great, you might be wondering why you can’t just go down and plunk some green on the counter and start charging your battery. So just what are the disadvantages of electric powered cars? Is there a cost savings overall? Is the impact of an electric vehicle (EV) to the environment less than an internal combustion engine (ICE) car?

Electric cars have long been seen as the final solution to what can arguably be called the biggest dilemma mankind currently faces, balancing oil, the world’s environment, the worlds economy, mideast political unrest and what we can personally afford. It is truly a global problem. The current situation is that there are some EV cars available but actually very few in general and none that are practical for the average family. The ones that I was able to find are either very pricey sports type models, modified ICE cars or very small, almost golf cart types of cars, some with only 3 wheels. Not exactly something that you can pack the entire family and the dog into for an interstate trip to Wally World. The best EV currently available is barely going to get 150 miles (240Km) per charge. If you never need to drive more than 150 miles in a single day, then you are in luck and you are also in the minority of drivers in the USA. You see if you run out of power in an EV, a minimum recharge time would be in excess of 4 hours, you would however be able to spend plenty of time cleaning the windshield. Some limited production EVs are including an auxiliary power source or APS. Toyota is experimenting with an EV version of the Prius that currently goes about 6 Km on a single charge that's less than 4 miles. No kidding...

The single weakest link in an EV has got to be the batteries. Currently all batteries have a limited life span and without going into how a battery works I can’t see how that will change any time soon. Replacement battery packs cost thousands of dollars. Unlike what you might think EVs are not as necessarily “green” as you might think. It really depends on how the electricity is generated if your electricity comes from a coal fired power plant then your electricity is not going to be as clean as if it comes from a wind or solar powered source. So in that respect EVs might be considered the most flexible of all powered cars because basically the power can come from many varied sources, yes even gasoline or crude oil.

There are many positives to EVs. First and foremost there is the potential that they can be powered by very clean and renewable sources of electrical energy. There is also the cost of the fuel. Using a car that gets 30 miles to a gallon of gasoline as an example the cost per mile is about 10 cents a mile in current fuel cost. The same EV car with a 35 Kilowatt hour capacity battery and 150 mile range would cover that same mile for 3 cents or roughly a 70% fuel cost savings. The fact that electric motors reach maximum power at a much lower speed and maintain that power over a much larger spread of rpm mean that power transmissions could be much simpler and smaller. You never need to change the oil in the engine or the transmission. You never need an engine tune-up and you could get by without a mechanical transmission and differential if you had an electric motor on each wheel to propel you. Simply reverse the polarity to the motors to go in reverse. There is also the convenience factor; you plug it in at home or at your destination. No more gas station lines or messy gasoline all over your hands. In the convenience department nothing tops the EV.

Cheaper to operate. More convenient and flexible than any other car ever made. Limited by batteries, range and availability. There you have it, to sum it all up electric cars can be human kinds savior but they are not quite ready for prime time even if you can get one.