When we talk about Hybrids/Electric everyone has their own opinion some good and some bad. All of us start to wonder if they’re the future, if they’re less polluting and the issues that surround these vehicles. Like how much it can cost to buy a new battery, the distance you can travel, the amount of time it takes to recharge, the amount it cost to buy these vehicles, and the difference between Hybrids/EVs and Internal Combustion Engine vehicles (ICE). Since Hybrids/EVs do help our environment, my question is why not buy them and how many people will actually buy these vehicles?
During the early 1900’s there were more people driving EVs on the roads than vehicles powered by gas. Gribben says they’re many Critics who consider EVs “elsewhere emission vehicles” because they can transfer the emissions from their tail-pipes to smoke stacks. To me this means that the critics believe the emissions are coming from power plants. Being able to generate electricity from renewable resources and a variety of fuels gives EVs a big advantage. Not only are they able to do this but they can also charge from hydroelectric, nuclear, wind, and solar power sources that have zero emissions. In a study done in the Los Angeles Basin which operates EVs California Air Resources Board (Carb) has estimated that that they’re 99 percent less carbon monoxide, 89 percent fewer oxides of nitrogen, and 98 percent few hydrocarbons than ICE vehicles. In study’s conducted by Los Angeles Depart of Water and Power over the course of 100,000 miles EVs were not only significantly cleaner than ICE, but they also projected less emissions by 25 tons (Gribben).
About half the electricity generated in the U.S. has come from coal-fired plants; larger regions in the country such as California and the Northeast are turning toward cleaner fuels such as natural gas. Also northeastern states have started to explore the idea of using solar energy to generate electricity. In California, over half of the state's pollution comes from ICE vehicles, the overall mix of power plants is one of the cleanest in the country. Power plants burning cleaner fuels, such as natural gas, account for a major share of the state's electricity. In fact, natural gas facilities in California emit 40 times less Nitrogen Oxides (NOx) than existing coal plants in the Northeast. Renewable sources such as hydro, solar, wind, and geothermal produce a respectable share of the electricity generated in California. California has a mix of cleaner fuels and renewable sources, several studies have concluded that improvements in air quality can be achieved easily by plugging in to EVs.
EVs have the unique efficiency advantage over Ice vehicles since they recharge from fossil-fuel power plants such as coal and oil. While there may be losses generating electricity from fossil based-fuels, they’re more efficient in converting their energy into mechanical power and two times more efficient than ICE vehicles. Since smokestacks have emissions that are used to recharge EVs “State of The Art Equipment such as Scrubbers” is used. Electrostatic precipitators (ESPs) between the boilers and smokestacks remove up to 9g-75 percent of the ashes emitted by power plants. In Texas, coil-fired plants use ESPs to remove up to 13.4 million tons of ash each year, releasing only 3000 tons into the atmosphere. Thousands of EVs will immediately reap the benefits of improvements when one power plant upgrades its emission controls (Gribben).
While they’re things to be impressed about from EVs they’re also disadvantages. Such as the time it takes to recharge, the short distance it can travel and the cost to replace the battery and the cost of the car. To recharge EVs it will take about four to ten hours from your home electricity supply depending on the current flowing through your outlets. But they’re recharging grids being developed, which will shorten the time to possibly as little as 10 minutes for an 80% recharge. The Tesla Roadster uses a Lithium-Ion battery pack (same as laptops) that is projected to have a 5 year span about 100,000 miles. It uses over 6,000 lithium-ion batteries to make the car run. At the end of that time you will need to replace the battery which can cost approximately $10,000, while the Roadster costs $100,000. The Tesla Roadster can travel about 244 miles (393 km) on a single charge. The Nissan Leaf is an all-electric car with a 24 kilowatt-hour (kWh) battery pack. The battery costs about $9,000 or $375 per kWh. The Nissan Leaf costs $25,280 but if you factor in the $7,500 tax credit it can cost $32,780. To reason lithium-ion batteries cost so much is because they can cost anywhere from $450 to $1,000 per kWh (Dennis). The Nissan Leaf can travel up to 87 miles and might be able to make it to 100 miles depending on how much you drive.
Gartner estimated that the price of Lithium ion batteries cost about $900 today, but expects the price to drop to 10 to 15 percent per year, reaching $470 per kWh in 2015. Ben Schuman estimates it to be $1,000 today, but “believes it can go down to $600 to $700 quickly” and optimistically to $350 in three to five years. Also depending on what type of vehicle you have, replacing the battery can cost about $2000.
Hybrid vehicles have the best of both worlds being able to run on gas and batteries. Full Hybrids such as the ford Fusion, Toyota Prius, and Ford Escape can run on the engine, batteries or both. Plug-in Hybrids (PHEVs) use a combustion engine to back up the batteries when they are depleted. So not only do they emit less pollution, they also travel further distances. They can also be plugged into external electric power sources allowing it to be restored to full charge. Hybrids are also afford and comfortable cars. The third generation Prius only costs $23,520, Ford Escape costs between $32,000 and $35,000 and Ford Fusion is about $29,000. All are reasonable prices comparable to that of convention cars.
A disadvantage of Hybrids is the costs of the batteries, even though they might not be as expensive as EVs batteries. The earliest Toyota Prius battery costs about $5,500, while the second generation overcame the previous version and produced a better battery which is about $2,000 less. The Third generation battery pack boost cost about $2,400. The Ford Escape SUV can cost about $5,000 and the Toyota Highlander can cost about $4,900 to replace batteries.
During my interview with Eastern Michigan University, Mechanical Engineer Professor Mary Brake, I asked what car manufacturers need to do to improve EVs. She told me that we have to find a way to make battery technology last longer so we can travel further distances and also so we won’t have to replace them as often. When asking if the duration of recharging EVs would be a problem, Brake told me that it would only be a problem if you were called to work for an emergency and the age of your house. She told me an interesting fact; that the age of houses could be a problem because of the fact that you might not be getting as much electricity flowing through your house as newer models. In my interview with Royal Chrysler car dealer Johnny, he told me the price of cars and batteries could be a big problem for people who don’t have as much money. But he believed that the price of EVs and their batteries will lower in 5 to 10 years. He also told me that yes EVs are less polluting but the fact that they’re using coal and natural gas power plants could mean that they’re polluting more. Also the making of what goes into EVs could also be considered pollution. Even though I was told this both Johnny and Mary agreed that if EVs can work out all their problems as well as lowering the cost they will be without a doubt the future of the car industry.
A couple a years from now I believe that we will come up with technology to make EVs travel further distances, batteries last longer and cost less, they will be known as the it car. At the moment we are only have way there since we have started to use Lithium Ion batteries to power EVs. But once we figure out how to make EVs better the future is bright, not just for cars but also for the environment. There’s only one reason why I believe that Hybrids can’t be the future and that is because they use different types of gases. Yes, they can travel further distances but you are spending more for it because of gas and they’re not as clean as EVs. To make EVs better we have to find some way to recharge the battery while we drive that can be effective. I truly believe if this happens along with car prices being lowered there will be more people buying EVs, and helping are environment become a cleaner and better place to live.
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