Plugs Won’t Replace Pumps - At Least for Now
The idea of an ‘electric car’ has always evoked a particular image, one reminiscent of a 1960s ‘car of the future!’ spread in Popular Science. The phrase conjures a car parked next to a gas-pump charging station, with a plug sticking out of the side and a smiling Ward Cleaver-esque father waiting as it charged up.
That image is going to stay in the magazines, at least for now. Despite Toyota and GM looking into the technology, engineers at both firms are not eager to hop on the plug-in bandwagon. The concept of a plug-in hybrid is sound. The car is fully controlled by the electric motors, at all speeds, for a given range until the battery is depleted. Most drivers make many short trips around town, getting the worst fuel economy and discharging the most pollutants of any type of driving. A plug-in hybrid offsets this by supplying zero-emission travel for 40 miles or so.
It’s not a magic bullet by a long shot. Manufacturers have cited engineering difficulties – mostly centering on the battery. Current batteries used in standard hybrids are small and quick to charge and discharge. This battery, when used in a full plug-in hybrid, would last only a few miles at low speeds. To get the full distance and range of speed used in normal driving would require a much larger and heavier battery. Since the battery in Toyota’s model is only used at low speeds, the battery does not use its full charge cycle. Running the battery up to 100% charge and down to 0% charge leads to significantly decreased battery life: a concept familiar to those who use laptops and mobile phones.
The batteries will likely need to be replaced before the car does, and at great cost. Moreover, what happens to the used batteries? Recycling is expensive and often scarce in non-urban areas. Throwing them in a landfill is obviously not a solution. Where does the electricity come from? The individual vehicle isn’t burning petroleum to power itself, but the power plant may burn coal to create the electricity, or nuclear power that generates waste. (Note, of course, that the massive turbines in a power plant are more efficient than the woeful 35% efficiency of an internal combustion engine.) The plug-in hybrids are centralizing the problems, but not eliminating them.
The costs involved are another issue, although by economics of scale the cost may drop as production increases. The president of Hymotion, the maker of a kit to convert a Prius to plug-in, states that gas prices would have to rise to $5 per gallon to get a four-year payback for the added up-front cost paid by the buyer of a plug-in hybrid.
Not to say that it isn’t possible – with advances in battery technology, a plug-in hybrid revolution could be in the cards. For now, though, the industry’s attention is focused elsewhere.