In the world we live in, the electric car seems like a far off dream. But what would happen if that dream became our reality?
Most auto companies are attempting to look “greener” with a slew of hybrid cars, but some are bringing back the electric car hype of the late 90s with a new wave of vehicles. Nissan will release its plug-in electric “Leaf” model in the U.S. later this year. Chevy’s plug-in electric car with a backup generator “Volt” is expected to be on sales lots by 2011. Tesla’s recent move towards an affordable electric sports car, “Model S,” is expected by 2011.
During his presidential campaign, Barack Obama set a goal of having 1 million plug-in hybrid and electric cars ready for sale by 2015, and that goal might not be as farfetched as some would have thought in late 2008. The Obama administration has appropriated billions of dollars for plug-in hybrids, electric cars and smart energy grids to keep them charging.
The biggest hurdles the electric car owner faces are battery related. Depending upon the car, range is limited to 100 miles, and once that battery runs out, it can take a few hours to recharge. Arguments for the electric car say this is more than enough range mileage to do a workday’s worth of driving, the technology will improve, and that recharging stations will not only exist in your garage, but they will also populate the world. Your office’s parking spot could host a charger as well.
Power delivery would also be affected by the electric car. Our current power infrastructure is built to withstand usage of power during peak hours. Peak hours occur when many people use large amounts of electricity around the same time. If too many power consumers plug in their cars to charge overnight, the local power grid will fail, and infrastructure will need to be upgraded. This infrastructure includes the power plants which will generate the power.
Reed Noss, a visiting scholar from Florida with a Ph.D in Wildlife and Range Sciences, says, “Power needs to be more centralized … I think we could meet most of our energy needs by putting photovoltaic cells [solar panels] on every rooftop, and having the government pay for that. But see, then the power companies would make no money … These companies have such enormous political power. They [renewable energy utility companies] want the facilities built way out in the desert so then they can have these hundreds of miles of transmission lines … your bill is not just the generation of the power, it’s the transmission. They [the companies] make a lot of money by putting these solar and wind turbine fields way out in the desert and building all of these transmission lines.”
In any market, demand will be manipulated for profit; renewable energy is not an exception. Rooftop solar and wind-supplemented power storage methods might be exactly what we need to accommodate the electric car, and with government incentives for clean energy bonded with the coming wave of new electric cars, it’s the perfect time to start saving for green investments in the future of our planet.
