Electric Car efficiency

A video describing an environmental test between two electric cars and two equivalent internal combustion engine cars to measure their respective environmental efficiencies.

Category:

Autos & Vehicles

Tags:

• electric car
• mitsubishi imiev
• g-wiz
• toyota aygo

[NBSV1]

That's all fair and good. But, what about the impact when the batteries are bad and must be disposed of? Generally by the time the cost savings pays off over a gas or diesel car it's close to the time for the batteries to be changed. The batteries are very bad for the environment and therefore can't simply be dumped. I really like the idea of electric cars for normal daily use, but they aren't quite there.

[MikeBoxwell]

@NBSV1 You make a good and valid point, but the story isn't all bad. For a start, once a set of batteries is no longer useful for an electric vehicle, they can have a second life: they can be used for energy stores for solar or wind generation, or for UPS's.

Secondly, the batteries can be recycled and reclamation rates are very high. When you take the battery manufacture and recycling into account, it is the equivalent of a further 3-6g/km of CO2 emissions, so there is still a saving.

[bcubed72]

Mike,

At 2:38 you mention a 20-30% reduction in CO2 emissions when using coal to produce electricity. As it happens, I live in a place where almost all the electricity is from coal.

Given the issues re: mercury, sulphur, fly ash, acid-mine drainage, undermining, etc...would an electric car be a good environmental decision (on net) for me?

[MikeBoxwell]

@bcubed72 Yes... but you are right, coal is a mucky old fuel to make electricity out of! The way to make the biggest difference is to charge up your car when nobody else is using electricity - such as in the middle of the night. Coal fired power stations generate energy at a more-or-less constant rate. In the dead of night, coal fired power stations are kicking out pollution and no-one is using the electricity. Plug your car in then and you're using energy that would otherwise be wasted.

[eldictator1]

Mike, just read the book. Very interesting indeed, rather short for my liking I snaffled it up in a day :).

Just a question as an engineering and technical layman, The tesla roadster has great acceleration and a top speed of around 130? And I believe the electric record is around 240mph. I have to admit that boasting that a car has a 160-180mph top speed is impressive, what is holding back the top speedof an electric supercar, is it the battery tech?

[MikeBoxwell]

@eldictator1 Thanks for the comments about the book. The 2011 edition is bigger!

The issue with top speed is the amount of power that you end up using: yes, you could have a 180mph electric supercar, but your range would probably be around ten miles!

[eldictator1]

cont- Why can't we follow a country like japans or germanys lead

[eldictator1]

@MikeBoxwell Thanks for the reply. My feeling is most would charge their cars at night as you say. I think 15 percent could be reached within 10-15 years...Would this be long enough for new infrastructure to be in place, I think so. Just in my home town alone we have plans in place for a new carbon capture coal fired plant and a wind farm, within the next 4 years. We should be aiming for more renewables, because our output is paltry compared to others. Why can't we

[MikeBoxwell]

@kenboak You are absolutely right, it would be good to do the tests with diesel powered cars as well. I am planning to rerun these tests in the summer using a wider range of cars. I would expect both the electric cars and the combustion engine cars to perform better in the warmer conditions.

[MikeBoxwell]

@eldictator1 Thanks for the comments and I hope you enjoy the book. I haven't driven the Zero, but I have driven a number of electric motorbikes and I have always enjoyed them: very smooth, very torquey and great fun to drive. Electric cars are the ultimate gadget and I think you're right, gadget fans and younger people will adopt electric cars in big numbers once the right cars are available.