History and Benefits of Electrical Vehicles - Essay Example

of affiliation: Introduction Background Over many years now, cars have served indisputably as important means of transportation, particularly for persons moving to places not served by public transport. Such is the case that cars can move people wherever they want and within their preferred time. The fact that cars play a significant role in modern life and the fact that many things would be impossible without them is no secret. Today, cars serve many functions that include: helping people get to work, schools, shopping malls or even just going to the grocery stores. Unfortunately, as good as the benefits are, cars still pose some serious problems. The most obvious drawbacks are their high maintenance cost and their potential to pollute the atmosphere through the noxious gases produced. Air pollution is one of the major challenges facing urban areas currently, and with gasoline cost skyrocketing with each new day, the internal combustion engine face the danger of soon becoming a luxury that many people simply cannot afford. In the face of these shortcomings and the fact that many people would not advocate giving up the luxury of cars, one major question arises; “is there a way we can have the power and convenience of an automobile without the pollution and expense caused by burning gasoline?” fortunately, technological advancement in the automobile field has a timely answer. Here, I am refereeing to the development of electric cars popularly known as Electrical Vehicles or EVs. Definition Electrical vehicles have been in existence since mid 19th century. As we will alter EVs technologies centre’s around the batteries developed to run the automobile. Battery in the EVs functions by running the controller that in turn runs the motor responsible for moving the automobile. For these reason, the battery used should be powerful and long-lasting if it will take drivers to their preferred destinations without the need to recharge after short distances Wada, K. (2010). Over the past decades, no serious efforts had been made to produce such batteries that could have possibly made electric cars compete with gas-powered automobiles. However, recent developments have realized a significant change. Electric cars are not only considered feasible, but they are now taking over the assembly lines of renowned automobile manufacturers. In the face of these, the following work takes an in-depth research as to whether battery electric cars are worthy replacement of petrol powered cars. The first argument is based on the pollution issue mentioned earlier. The most obvious benefit derived from EVs is that they do not produce pollutants in a high degree compared when compared to internal combustion engines. This means that they still pose environmental problems but not like their counterparts. Here, the electricity used when recharging EVs batteries is tapped from someplace, and today, most electricity is derived from burning fossil fuel. It’s no doubt that this causes pollution. But one needs to take a break and consider the pollution resulting from fossil burning to recharge EVs batteries and the pollution resulting from internal combustion engines, how do they compare? Research conducted by Electric Vehicle Association of Canada (EVAC) clearly indicated carbon emission resulting from EVs recharged by the use of coal-powered electric generators was half that produced when using internal combustion engines (Minami, 2011). This can be reduced further when using cleaner forms of electrical power generation like nuclear and hydropower plants. In this case, the carbon emission is said to be cut down to less than 1% of those resulting from present internal combustion engines use. Another research conducted by Michael Quanlu Wang of Argonne National Laboratory using a computer simulation supports this idea. According to this study that compared the use of EVs and gasoline cars in 4 large U.S. cities, electric vehicles will potentially carbon monoxide and reduce hydrocarbon by 98 percent. These gases are accountable for much environmental harm, including the ozone layer depletion. Emissions of nitrous oxide, is the other problem of conventional cars that results to ozone depletion and formation of deadly acid rain. From all this it is clear that even in the worst circumstances, automobiles that use EV batteries are cleaner when compared to gas-powered ones. Another significant benefit of battery-powered cars that makes them most preferred to gas-powered engines is the lower fuel cost. Here, we are taking into account the cost of electricity for EVs Versus the Cost for Gas when considering the internal combustion engines. According to United States Department of Energy, a typical EV can take only a dollar worth electricity to run for 43 miles. Such cannot be possible when using gas-powered cars unless the world realizes a substantial drop in gasoline cost. Energy security is also an important reason why EVs may be preferred to conventional cars. For instance, in 2012, forty percent of the petroleum used in the United States was imported. Transportation accounted for about three-quarters of the total United States petroleum consumption (US Department of Energy). Considering the fact that world’s petroleum reserves are located in regions termed politically volatile, many nations of the world including the United Kingdom will easily embrace the EVs for fear of supply disruptions and price spikes. Using EVs as an alternative for convectional cars will help reduce United Kingdom dependence on imported petroleum, a factor that will in turn increase energy security. EVs are capable of using off-board electricity sources that is produced locally from domestic coal, natural gas, nuclear energy and other renewable resources. EVs have the advantage accruing from infrastructure availability. Such is the case that EVs can charge throughout the night at a residence or even in a fleet facility, at public charging centre or at a work place. Additionally, EVs can easily be charged using various distributed sources of renewable energy like solar panels on a rooftop. Despite the scarcity of public charging stations, it is still possible to establish an extensive network of charging infrastructures. For instance, in the US there are efforts taken by automakers, charging equipment manufacturers, utilities, municipalities, and government, and Clean Cities coalitions that seek to establish a rapidly expanding charging infrastructure network (General Electric). Yet another benefit of cars that use rechargeable batteries is the fact that these batteries are recyclable. Close to 100% of batteries used in this cars are recyclable, a factor that keeps used batteries from becoming an environmental problem. Old batteries deemed unfit for EVs are potentially powerful source of energy for the community. Such is the case that these batteries when combined, can assume a second life operating as uninterrupted power supply for PGE customers in the event of an outage. Additionally, they can be used to hold up renewable power and help minimize effects caused by intermittent wind (Bolger, 2010). EVs batteries also pose a potential benefit to both the overall electrical grid and the consumer when connected to the “smart grid.” In this case, electricity from EVs batteries is fed back to the grid when the demand is at its peak. This move also help keep the total electricity cost at its minimal since it reduces the need for PGE used to create supplementary power source. Charged EVs can also be used as emergency generators in homes or businesses during outages. May be the biggest challenge with battery-powered car is the time taken when recharging the batteries. A fully charged EV using a lithium-ion battery technology has been said to have the capability of traveling a distance equal to that taken by an internal combustion engine car with a full tank gas. The only problem is that the EV battery will require to be recharged at the end. Definitely, this presents a serious problem. As time go by, technologies that will allow faster recharging may be developed , however as it is presently, electric cars will not be preferred for long journeys. Even so, cars are mostly used relatively close to home and thus battery power will serve well. May be a better solution to the recharging problem will be coming up with battery-replacement centers, where people can simply swap their drained battery for a fully charged one instead of waiting to recharge (Mkahl & Moh, 2013). If such system comes in place, batteries will be recharged away from the cars, a factor that will significantly reduce the time needed to get an EV back on the road after its battery is fully drained. The batteries weight is the other disadvantage associated with electric cars. EVs typically require an array of batteries linked together or even battery packs to provide the additional power required. These collections of batteries offer unnecessary bulkiness that can significant reduce the vehicle range. In a Tesla Roadster, For instance, the ion battery pack weighs about 1,000 pounds (453.6 kg). This is obviously a lot and may result to great inefficiency. However, Roadster designers have come up with ways to offset this battery weight using a light body panels. In this case, total car weight comes to about 2,690 pounds or 1220.2 kg (Wada, 2010). Future advancement in this field holds greater promises to solving this problem and make electric vehicle the most preferred. Conclusion EVs pose greater prospects with regard to betterment of the automobiles filed, especially when considering the major concerns of the automobiles field. All over the world nations are fighting to contain the effects pollution, a factor that cannot be addressed without mentioning the effects of conventional automobiles. New generation electric vehicles are expected to employ batteries that will prove more powerful and yet still maintain lightweight. This will help increase vehicle range, and support highly efficient electric motors to boost performance. Plug-in hybrid and Battery electric vehicles will offer its users the convenience of recharging from easily found places such home and places of work; this is of great benefits since electricity prices in comparison to gasoline is considerably reasonable. In addition, EVs users will benefit from renewable energy sources that include wind power expected to evolve to serve the EVs market. References Bolger, J. G. (2010). The significance of automated opportunity charging to the viability of general purpose electric vehicles. New York: John Willey and sons. Minami, S. (2011). Reality and Virtuality of Electric Vehicles. Journal of Asian Electric Vehicles, 9(1), 1447-1451. Mkahl, R., & Moh, A. N. (2013). Modeling of Charging Station Batteries for Electric Vehicles. Journal of Asian Electric Vehicles, 11(2), 1667-1672. General Electric. (n.d.). Basics: Benefits of Electric Vehicles | PGE. Basics: Benefits of Electric Vehicles | PGE. Retrieved March 16, 2014, from https://www.portlandgeneral.com/community_environment/initiatives/electric_vehicles/basics/benefits_electric_vehicles.aspx US Department of Energy. (n.d.). Benefits and Considerations of Electricity as a Vehicle Fuel. Alternative Fuels Data Center:. Retrieved March 16, 2014, from http://www.afdc.energy.gov/fuels/electricity_benefits.html Wada, K. (2010). Further Evolution Towards a New Generation of Electric Vehicles i-MiEV. Journal of Asian Electric Vehicles, 8(2), 1405-1408. Read More