In the last two years the number of potential vehicle purchasers who are considering making their next vehicle an electric car, has doubled. It seems that supply and demand will be keeping pace too as the number of electric car options available to buyers is gaining serious momentum over the next year or two.
The few electric vehicle manufactories currently out there, like Tesla Motors, will have to make room as the EV market broadens with the likes of the Chevy Volt and the Nissan Leaf (pictured above).
While doubling does sound impressive, it should be noted that those considering buying an electric vehicle in 2007 amounted to all of 2%, which has now risen to 5%. So 5% of the US market looking for a car is considering an EV. It’s not exactly a green revolution, but it’s a start.
Hopefully as prices continue to drop, range is extended, and companies like Better Place are able to establish an EV charging infrastructure, we might double that number again in a couple years.
September 29th, 2009 at 7:46 pm
Theme : Addressing Range Anxieties. Charge Stands As A Barometer Of Energy Independence.
1. The range of noticeable EVs are sufficient to meet the daily driving needs of more than 95% of drivers ((The vast majority of people (95%) drive less than 100/km a day, 82% of the respondents said they drive 40 miles or less a day, with an average daily driving distance of 27 miles.)).
As for long trip needs, all but Americans and many of developed nations have existing automobiles, in this regard, EVs are best suited to their daily use until the infrastructure comes into wide use. And people are already doing that.
2. The on-board IT system shows the driving radius on a maximum range display under the current state of charge and calculates if the vehicle is within range of a pre-set destination. And the navigation system points out the latest information on available charging stations within the current driving range.
3. In 21st century, home, workplace, or stores etc also serve as a charge station as electricity is everywhere. With a long extension code inside, just in case, riders can get help from almost anyplace, not to mention the stores to provide charge service, and many of EVs are equipped with a quick charger.
4. Unlike fuel price, as time goes by, the price of battery is expected to drop dramatically in the foreseeable future as with computer components, in that case, mounting additional battery might be not a problem. And the EVs that come in a range of 200 to 300 miles between charges are on fast-tract toward mass-market, as Batteries become more efficient.
5. Indian EV maker Reva said it has also set about addressing anxieties about e-car range, this fantastic wireless electricity/ “instant remote recharge” will be widely available down the line.
6. The vehicle-to-grid communication technology is helping the battery serve as a storage to prevent the costly blackout standing at about $90 to 100bn per year. That means utilities are shedding cost for additional storage facilities and ratepayers are selling electricity during peak demand so that EVs can make more economic sense, as we know. ((The cost of running the vehicle should be 1 to 2 cents per mile, compared to 10 cents or more per mile to run a gas car. Electric vehicles require little maintenance — no oil changes, for instance –. Better still, they can sell electricity or charge at the stores offering charge service.))
It is also in the best interest of electricity utilities that EVs are going mainstream, thereby they need to put in charge stands where needed around highways, major roads with card readers or cell phone tech.
7. I’m hopeful that the charge network will extend the select districts to nation-wide scale throughout the world, and this environment can usher in “active private investings” in EVs. And I remain confident that investing in charge stands could give rise to multiple times as much investing effect, so to speak, some billions of investing, this simple deployment, could call into the most-sought energy independence and solid recovery around the world.
Thank You !
October 24th, 2009 at 7:01 am
I have been a long time supporter of alternative energy and a low energy more sustainable lifestyle. EV cars have a place in that future but a very-very small place.
I have these observations that I never here discussed when people spin EV’s:
Cold outside? Turn on that defroster, so you can see, and bingo – your range gets cut in half.
Hot outside? Global Warming from all those new coal power plants build to handle the load of all those EV’s got you sweating? Crank up the AC in an EV and watch your range get cut down to 1/3.
These are real world concerns for any driver. We all know fossil fuels are in their declining years. We all want so blindly to continue things the way they are. The hard reality is we can NOT scale up electric cars to match even 10% of what is out there now. It isn’t going to happen. And all our attempts in this endeavor will only result in wasting even more of the fossil fuels we have left for the blind sake of “Hope and Change.”
Of course there is the long tail pipe problem – and don’t go off on photovoltaics and wind turbines powering EV’s is the answer. Those are also good technologies and should be deployed but they can NOT be scaled up to the level needed to match the energy of fossil fuels. Also, there are real geological limits to the rare minerals needed to make them.
What is needed is a strong and clear message from the leadership of our little planet saying, “We have to power down.” “We have to slow down and stop this ridiculous pyramid scheme we call capitalism.” There is no way life as we know it is sustainable. Read “Limits to Growth” and remember this great quote:
“GDP actually mesures the rate at which the economy is extracts useful natural resources running them through the econmic system and deposing of them as toxic waste in our air water and soil.” – David Korten