Did you know that, back in 1950, an electric car was among the fastest, most efficient cars ever built in the US? It ran on electricity and produced no carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions.
Now nearly 60 years on, as oil supply approaches its peak and with the CO2 emitted by cars contributing to rapid global warming, electric cars are coming back with a vengeance.
Sporty roadsters to luxury hybrids
The Tesla Roadster all-electric sports car
© Tesla Motors
It may be news to you that new electric car models are coming onto the market every year. One recent entrant is the all-electric and super sporty, Tesla Roadster. Presently available only in the US, the Roadster can go from zero to just under 100 kms/hr in four seconds, and can do up to 400 kms per charge.
And there’s more to come. Ian Wright, a former engineer at Tesla, has created a prototype performance car called the Wrightspeed X1. Though it lacks some of the luxury appointments of a high performance sports car, the prototype is road legal and can reach over 185 kms/hr, and can travel 240 kms per charge. In a filmed roadtest the X1 out-accelerates a Ferrari 360 Modena and Porsche Carrera GT!
The cousin to the electric car is the ‘hybrid’, the common term used to describe electric/petrol-based vehicles. Toyota’s Prius is probably the most prominent and most popular - over 500,000 have been sold worldwide, and Toyota Australia report that they have sold 1423 in 2005 and expect to surpass this total in 2006 - 1324 have already been sold in the year to date.
Most, if not all, major car manufacturers have hybrid vehicles planned for release in the next few years. Hybrids are seen as an important transitional technology, as the cars don’t require external charging for the electric engine’s batteries. Instead they are charged by the petrol engine and through efficient energy recapture systems - taking usually wasted energy (like the heat generated through braking) and converting it back into electricity.
Electric and hybrid cars in Australia
ReNew magazine reports that some enterprising electric car hobbyists have managed to convert petrol-driven cars to use electric motors. For most of us mere mortals, however, doing our own conversion is not a realistic option.
Toyota has hinted that they plan to introduce a plug-in Prius to Australia soon - allowing the car to be plugged in to charge the inbuilt batteries, extending the range of the car when using the electric motor (Hybridcars.com explains) - but to our knowledge there are currently no commercially available all-electric cars in Australia, although REVA have been fighting to get their electric vehicles onto Australia.)
Although the Sydney Morning Herald recently reported that Australian car companies have been slow to introduce hybrid and alternative fuel options to the Australian market, there are a number of hybrid vehicles available in Australia - the Prius, the Honda Civic Hybrid and the Lexus GS450h to name just three.
What about hydrogen?
The film Who Killed the Electric Car? suggests that some car manufacturers have given up on the dream of an electric vehicle, instead focusing on the promise of hydrogen fuel-cell technology over currently available electric car technology to power the zero emissions vehicles of the future.
Joel Makower, an environmental consultant in the US writes enthusiastically about General Motors’ and BMW’s rapid advancement of hydrogen vehicle technology.
However, most estimates put the commercial availability of hydrogen vehicles, and the required infrastructure (fueling stations etc.) many years away. Production of hydrogen is also energy intensive, which could make it a much less attractive choice for alternative energy vehicles.
King of efficiency
There’s no doubting the efficiency of electric-powered vehicles. The fully electric vehicle is the leader of the pack in terms of efficiency. Information from Tesla Motors shows that an electric car can go up to 32 times as far on the same energy required for an ethanol-powered vehicle, and three times as far as a car that uses hydrogen fuel cells. The makers of the Wrightspeed X1 claim it to be 10 times as efficient as the cars it outperformed on the drag strip.
Even hybrids stand tall in the efficiency stakes, using up to 50% less fuel than an equivalent non-hybrid vehicle. And hybrid electric/diesel vehicles are on the horizon, which will further improve efficiency and reducing emissions.
Electric dreams
With concerns about hydrogen and the long-term scalability of the biofuels industry it seems that electric cars, powered by renewable energy sources, are a very attractive proposition indeed.
Unfortunately, the current models of hybrids and electric cars are expensive compared to their gas-guzzling equivalents. But as new models come to market (even Google has announced that it will be working on a hybrid car), more are sold. And as fuel prices rise, it won’t be long before hybrids and electric cars are the norm.
So watch this space! And listen out for the quiet electric Vroom… on a street near you…
Related links
We’ve got a bumper crop of links for this article. Happy digging!
- Eco-driving tips - Some of the things you can do to save $$ and reduce our environmental impact when getting from A to B (for those of us that can’t afford a Tesla Roadster!).
- Who killed the electric car - a new film that explores the rise and fall of the electric car in America. The Internet Movie Database has more.
- The Tesla Roadster is a sporty all-electric production car.
- Joel Makower, a US-based sustainability consultant, talks about Who’s reviving the electric car and progress in hydrogen car technology.
- Wrightspeed X1 - Be sure to check out the amazing video showing the X1 going head to head with a Ferrari and Porsche. Ian Wright, the designer of the Wrightspeed X1, is an expat Aussie amateur race driver. There are also more videos on YouTube.
- Tesla have also posted on their blog efficiency information about electric cars vs. biofuels and hydrogen. It’s a bit technical - but it suggests that electric cars are at least twice as efficient as other alternative fuel vehicles.
- EVT scooters are an Australian electric scooter manufacturer - not quite a car, but good for getting around town.
- Plug-in hybrids - Some hybrids can be plugged into the electricity, further improving efficiency. Wheels magazine has hinted that Toyota is planning to introduce a plug-in Prius to Australia soon.
- The Sydney Morning Herald reports on the lack of alternative fuel vehicle options in Australia.
- Hybridcars.com is a weblog that covers, you guessed it, hybrid cars! Green Car Congress is another weblog that looks at the car industry news from an environmental perspective.
- SBS Dateline: EV1 - The Electric Dream.
- The Axis of Diesel - “Mercedes, GM, even Honda, is betting on a new breed of green diesels.” - high efficiency diesels are winning on the racetrack. Will they win in the market?
- The Futuremakers YouTube group highlights some of the videos mentioned in this piece, along with some other intriguing alternative fuel ideas.
- Amanda Congdon (ex-Rocketboom) finds a refurbished EV1.
This article was originally published 19 October 2006 at http://wwf.org.au/articles/racing-to-revive-the-electric-car/
Australian government policy now under review should now require 10% of vehicles in Australia to be of EV type at point of manufacture. If manufacturers do not cooperate they should be named and shamed. There must be no repeat of the EV1 GM saga. Once the vehlcles are available, especially for city/urban work they will sell. If not increase the sales tax on petrol vehicles and have no sales tax on electric vehicles to assist the earliest possible “economies of scale” point. This could be done now without any delay as the necessary technology is available. Holden could, for instance, produce an Australian version of the GM “Volt”. Conversion of existing petrol powered vehicles could also be encouraged by starting a National “competion” open to all vehicle manufacturers with incentive based prizes to be awarded when the first 10,000 vehicles/converted are sold (a new industry designed to make Australia “great”. At the same time massive solar arrays could be constructed in desert areas for cheap electricity production utilised for both grid power and hydrogen manufacture. EV’s can also be used to store energy from this grid. Coal can be phased out in a few years. All that is necessary is to discourage new investment in obsolete petrol engined vehicles by a smooth transition to EV’s. I have read that 4% of sunlight falling on the Australian landmass can generate all the power that we need to meet base-load requirements. Make it illegal for patented EV systems to be bought out by oil companies. Encourage prize based competition amongst battery manufacturers who will be permitted to make only recyclable battery technologies.