Are Electric Cars the Answer to Energy Woes? Here's the Lowdown
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Ted Nygreen ’67 is one of 500 field testers of the first all-electric Mini Cooper (MINI E). Last month, he began a yearlong trial to provide insight to BMW for when it mass-produces the vehicles. And he created a Web site to quench curiosity seekers' thirst for empirical data.
So does the car live up to the hype touted by auto maker, which claims the lithium-ion battery has a range of more than 150 miles? Maybe, Nygreen says, if you measure at a constant rate of speed with no stops and no accessories in use. Turn on the air conditioning or lights or radio and that number drops by about half in Nygreen's opinion, to about 75-100 miles on a charge. Just an around-town vehicle.
One of the car's most interesting features, and one Nygreen had to get used to, is the regenerative braking system. Remove your foot from the accelerator and the car begins recharging the battery as it slows down (which feels like downshifting a manual transmission into a much lower gear). The car actually comes to a complete stop without touching the brakes. In city traffic, BMW says, some 75 percent of all deceleration can be done without the brakes, which recoups energy and can extend the car's range.
Certainly the MINI E's zero emissions beat gas-powered vehicles in a which-is-better-for-the-environment contest. But will it save money too? BMW estimates that it's about 40 percent cheaper to drive its electric car than one that gets, say, 28 mpg. But after crunching the numbers and per mile cost himself, Nygreen estimates the MINI E will cost about the same as a hybrid.
Read more about Nygreen's experiences with the car, including how long it takes to "fuel" up, how much torque it gets, whether it's comfortable, and exactly how it all works.
Comments
Hugh
Thu, 07/23/2009 1:53am
My comment about food to fuel was the concern of some that while people are starving, we are using food to make biodiesel.
The older, smaller, cheaper wind turbines in CA used open frame towers that actually attracted nesting raptors to build nests at the frame intersections. Then they raised chicks there, constantly flying in and out of the blade area, so a significant number were killed. Now the wind turbines use closed tube towers with no reason for the birds to come near unless the turbines are sited in a migration flyway.
Even with an expensive battery replacement, I expect the electric car body to see less vibration and heat, so I expect it to be useful longer than an IC car body, and so there is some saving of invested energy there. but that's a reach.
Tom Jackson
Wed, 07/22/2009 11:49pm
I agree, if CO2 is the issue, why not plant more trees? We're going through the coldest summer in over a century, so, I cannot believe the hype, and never have.
I am still not sold on the electric car either. I find it almost impossible to get rid of a cell phone battery the correct way, much less a lithium-ion monster.
Gray
Wed, 07/22/2009 10:13pm
Carl,
Isn't replacing the batteries at 150k analogous to replacing timing chains, fuel pumps, head gaskets? (My Mercurys each have had to have one recently.)
If we're talking an "around town" car 150k will take 10 years.
It still comes back to the source of the electric power.
I live 4 miles from work. I calculate that a hybrid with solar panels on the roof would allow me commute without ever buying gas. [I'd ride my bike but, with no shoulders for half the trip, survival would be a dice roll every day.)
Carl
Wed, 07/22/2009 7:52pm
Now the pure electric car clearly has an advantage since maintenance should be greatly reduced over an internal combustion engine. I would definitely go for a pure electric if it was available, even if it only had 100 miles or so of range. Actually 150 miles would be *much better* from my viewpoint, but 100 wouldn't be a deal breaker.
Carl
Wed, 07/22/2009 7:50pm
Like anything electric, the absolutely BEST it will be is as "green" as the method used to create the electricity. If Nuclear Power is used, then carbon emissions will be relatively low (NOT zero, don't forget about the oil used to extract the uranium ore and process it). On the other hand, I'm a much firmer believer that CO2/global warming isn't the great hobgoblin that most people think it is - what we should really be concerned with is overall energy independence and if that's by use of Nuclear, Coal (for now), or by creating some type of oil substitute that burns just like it, then I'm all for it.
As for these hybrid and/or electric cars - don't forget about the batteries. I asked a Ford Dealer how long the batteries in their Hybrid Fusion were supposed to last and they said "150,000 miles". Cost to replace - $5500.00 !!! Holy Cow Batman!
Let's do a thought experiment here. At 150,000 miles I need to spend $5500.00 - at $4/gal that's 1375 gallons worth of extra cost. At 41 mpg, 150k miles uses 3658 gals. So, if we add the two we get 5033 miles, or an average of 29.8 mpg - not very much more than a standard car. If gas is less than $4/gal then the hybrid isn't worth it, if it's much MORE then it becomes more worth it. How much? Let's Check $5/gal and $3/gal:
$3/gal = 1833 gal (extra) + 3658 = 5491 = 27.3 mpg avg
$5/GAL = 1100 gal (extra) + 3658 = 4758 = 31.5 mpg avg
It doesn't change very much. The real question will be - does the hybrid need more/less maintenance and at what cost. Clearly, owning one for mileage sake alone doesn't cut it until gas gets *very very* expensive.
Tom Jackson
Wed, 07/22/2009 7:37pm
Hugh> So you prefer to convert food to fuel?
Our bodies do that all the time, not sure your point.
Tom Jackson
Wed, 07/22/2009 7:35pm
Currently over half of our power comes from coal plants. Nuclear would be the ideal source of energy, but we'll mow down all the CO2 consuming trees necessary to put up the wind mills that cannot keep up with the our consumption as is. Meanwhile, caving to PETA and shutting down the wind mills California has been trying for a decade to get energy from, because they chomp up the birds flying by.
Hugh
Wed, 07/22/2009 3:19pm
Electric cars can be recharged with electricity from any! source and can be used to level electricity loads to make wind power more useful.
So you prefer to convert food to fuel?
Tom Jackson
Wed, 07/22/2009 2:58am
How much coal will we need to burn to keep the power plants racing to meet the demands of electric cars?