Electric Cars: Building the Momentum in China against Gas-Engine Vehicles - Essay Example

full Electric Cars (Building the Momentum in China against Gas-engine Vehicles) 12 March Introduction The electric car was built as early as between 1832 and 1839 (the exact year is difficult to ascertain) coinciding during the years of the invention of the electric motor but the electric vehicle was soon abandoned as impractical due to problems of the car’s batteries. However, a good number of alternative transportation modes used electricity such as bicycles, motorbikes, boats, trains, and much later, even airplanes. The early nineteenth century was also a time of very cheap crude oil prices because it was still in great abundance and supplies were secure. In other words, the electric vehicle (car or automobile) was abandoned much too early in lieu or in favor of the internal combustion engine because of many practical considerations. Many people today mistakenly think the electric car is a modern invention when in fact, it had existed almost two centuries ago and it is only now the electric car is having a revival of sorts due to environmental concerns, peak oil, and global warming due to carbon emissions. Discussion Most of the cars manufactured today are used in modern Western countries but China of late has also seen a strong demand for cars due to robust economic growth coupled with a big rich middle class that arose as a result of China’s rapid industrialization and transition to a free-market economy in the last few decades. The People’s Republic of China is now number one in terms of total vehicle production (including passenger cars, light commercial vehicles, buses, trucks, and coaches) surpassing the European Union, the United States of America, Japan, and even Germany. However, most of this production is internal combustion vehicles and the top producer is Toyota, followed by General Motors, Volkswagen, Hyundai, Ford, Nissan, and Honda. Electric car makers can grab the huge Chinese market if they are astute. Marketing – makers of electric vehicles can appeal to Chinese buyers by claiming how the electric car produces much less carbon emissions (pollution) compared to an internal combustion vehicle (gas engine) by highlighting the benefits of electric vehicles (EV) while addressing the concerns of potential buyers on the drawbacks of EVs which are now being tackled by improved technologies and at the same time point to the disadvantages of the continued use of gas-engine vehicles in a resource-scarce country like China. a. Pollution – even if EVs are charged using electricity produced from coal-powered plants, the resulting carbon emission is only about one-half of the pollution from internal combustion engines. If electricity for charging EVs came from renewable sources like solar power, hydro power, or nuclear power, the resulting emission is only about one percent of gas engines. The pollution index in China has reached alarming levels already (Channel News Asia, para. 4). In big Chinese cities, the poor air quality due to cars is now a health risk (China Daily, para. 2). b. Lower cost – a normal electric vehicle can run for 43 miles on a dollars worth of electricity which translates to a much lower cost per mile traveled compared to gas-powered cars. Only a significant reduction in gasoline prices will make the two cars comparable using miles/gallon (MPG) as equivalent ratings but gas prices will not be cheap again (Erjavec 91) c. Peak oil – the world is fast running out of fossil fuels. Production on a global basis has been going on a downtrend for several years already due to less oil found. It is necessary for the automobile industry and car buyers to shift to electric cars before oil runs out (Worth 3). d. Selling Price – although the initial selling price of a fully electric or hybrid vehicle is a bit high, the buyer can recover this over the years of ownership as it is cheaper to operate than the gas-engine vehicles, especially with gas prices remaining high due to unstable supplies, price shocks, environmental concerns, geopolitical considerations, and even security threats from terrorists, climate change, pollution, and declining supplies due to peak oil (Aleklett et al. 7). Technologies – the main drawback of an electric vehicle has always been its batteries and relatively shorter range compared to gas vehicles. But these had been addressed by innovative ideas such as plug-in vehicles or PEVs (Sandalow 170) and to lower their prices. a. Battery life – longer battery life and longer intervals between re-charging are now a reality with the invention of lithium-ion car battery technologies (Yuan, Liu, & Zhang 327). A newer technology has vastly improved the energy density of these batteries (Andrea 2) and energy efficiency of a fully-charged car battery is equal to a full tank of gas. b. Disposal of batteries – the new lithium-ion batteries are now also environmentally friendly because they can be easily disposed as almost 100% of the parts inside can be recycled so there is no disposal problem (Chu 18); a potential use will be in electricity grid storage. c. Recharging stations – put up more re-charging stations and also battery replacement station where car owners can just swap their drained car batteries for a fully-charged battery for a fee. This temporary measure solves the downtime incurred when waiting for a battery to re-charge and instead allows the car owner to free up his time by re-charging a battery outside a vehicle. A battery swap is an incredible marketing ploy to overcome objections of car buyers while in other countries, swapping (recharging) stations are already in place (Larminie & Lowry 95). d. Battery weight – almost a third of the cars total weight can be attributed to the lithium-ion batteries because these batteries need to be put together in an array to provide more power. It is a drawback which cause electric vehicles to be heavy and shorter driving range but this is also now being addressed with newer car designs using lighter materials to reduce the total weight of the car without compromising passenger safety in case of collisions and accidents. The heavy battery pack is compensated by use of lightweight but strong materials in a cars body frame and panels; the auto industry is constantly re-inventing itself (Rubenstein 353). Regulations – the Chinese government regulated the use of cars to reduce pollution from carbon emissions, among which is the cap on issuance of new car license plates raffled off to a few lucky winners. Implementation of other measures include number coding schemes of private vehicles off certain urban roads to reduce pollution and improve air quality (Associated Press para. 5). Car sales in China surged 18% on February 2014 from the previous month (see fig. 1 in the Appendix). The regulations now in place is an incentive to buy electric vehicles instead of gas cars. In this case, it is a good marketing opportunity to advertise the advantages of electric cars if stricter measures are taken to improve air quality. Conclusion Car sellers of electric vehicles in China can appeal to the sense of patriotism and civic duty of potential car buyers by saying they will be helping the government fight smog and pollution by shifting to electric vehicles without waiting for the government to ban the use of internal combustion engine vehicles on all its roads. Electric cars are infinitely cleaner compared to gas vehicles, there is no need to worry about escalating gasoline prices, and the owners of electric vehicles can help improve the air quality index of their locality and help to improve their own health by buying electric vehicles instead of gas vehicles. At any rate, the long-term energy outlook is going towards cleaner, safer, and cheaper renewable energy as its prices continue to decline due to technological advances in renewable energy generation as the world also runs out of conventional energy sources like fossil fuels (Yergin para. 12). The pollution level in China is serious enough for it to utilize unconventional methods to control it (see fig. 2). China is now the worlds largest market for new cars since 2009 and 2013 sales increased by 13.9% to reach 21.98 million units (fig. 3). All these cars can add significantly to pollution concerns as most of these new cars are gas engine vehicles and not electric. Works Cited Aleklett, Kjell, Michael Lardelli, and Olle Qvennerstedt. Peeking at Peak Oil. New York, NY, USA: Springer Books, 2012. Print. Andrea, Davide. Battery Management Systems for Large Lithium-ion Battery Packs. Norwood, MA, USA: Artech House, 2010. Print. Associated Press. “China Dispatches Pollution Inspectors Amid Bad Air.” 24 Feb. 2013. Web. 12 Mar. 2014. . Channel News Asia. “China sends Investigators to Smog-hit Areas.” 24 Feb. 2014. Web. 10 Mar. 2014. . China Daily. “China City caps Car-buying to Curb Pollution.” 23 Dec. 2013. Web. 11 Mar. 2014. . Chu, Steven. Critical Materials Strategy. Darby, PA, USA: Diane Publishing, 2011. Print. Erjaveck, Jack. Hybrid, Electric, and Fuel-cell Vehicles. Boston, MA, USA: Cengage Learning, 2012. Print. Larminie, James, and John Lowry. Electric Vehicle Technology Explained. Hoboken, NJ, USA: John Wiley & Sons, 2012. Print. Rubenstein, James M. Making and Selling Cars: Innovation and Change in the U.S. Automotive Industry. Baltimore, MD, USA: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2001. Print. Sandalow, David B. Plug-in Electric Vehicles: What Role for Washington? Washington, DC, USA: Brookings Institution Press, 2009. Print. Worth, Kenneth D. Peak Oil and the Second Great Depression (2010-2030): A Survival Guide for Investors and Savers. Parker, CO, USA: Outskirts Press, 2010. Print. Yergin, Daniel. “Power in 2030: The Roads We May Take.” New York Times, 27 Nov. 2013. Web. 12 Mar. 2014. . Yuan, Xianxia, Hansan Liu, and Jiujun Zhang. Lithium-ion Batteries: Advanced Materials and Technologies. Boca Raton, FL, USA: CRC Press, 2011. Print. Appendix Figure 1. Sales in February 2014 surged 18% from the January sales figure and surpassed the analysts estimates of 1.27 million units when it reached 1.31 million units instead (Source: Ho, Alexandra. Bloomberg News, 10 Mar. 2014. Web. 12 Mar. 2014. . Figure 2. An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) or drone, spraying some chemicals over the city to control the smog by crystallizing or freezing the pollutants (Source: Woollaston, Victoria. Mail Online, 10 Mar. 2014. Web. 12 Mar. 2014. . Figure 3. An auto show in China to further promote sales but the government has imposed new rules to restrict new car sales as pollution levels have reached alarming levels (Source: Savadove, Bill. Agence France Presse, 09 Jan. 2014. Web. 12 Mar. 2014. . Read More