How much do you usually spend on gas
monthly? Do you spend couple hundreds dollars or more than that? In my case, my
average consumption for the gas is about 250 to 300 dollars per month. Well, if
you own hybrid cars, it might be less than that, but you are still putting your
money to run your cars. What if you have a choice not to spend any single penny
for your tank up, are you going to accept this opportunity?
Today I am going to
introduce about the electric car, which is not required to gas on running the
car. In definition, the electric car
is an automobile that
is propelled
by one or more electric
motors, using electrical energy stored in batteries
or another energy storage device. The electric motors give electric cars
instant torque; also create strong and smooth acceleration. Many scientists and
engineers have developed this electric motor technology since 1880s, and it is
still on the process. For the commercial purpose, California electric
automaker Tesla Motors
began development in 2004 on the Tesla Roadster, which was
first delivered to customers in 2008. In the 2011 State of the
Union address, U.S. President Barack Obama expressed an
ambitious goal of putting 1 million plug-in
electric vehicles on the roads in the U.S. by 2015. The objectives
include "reducing dependence on oil and ensuring that America leads in the
growing electric vehicle manufacturing industry”.
Not just for the cost
efficiency, there are much more benefit on using the electric cars. The main
benefit of the electric cars over conventional and internal
combustion engines of automobiles includes a significant reduction
of local air pollution.
Since they do not emit tailpipe
pollutants, in many cases, a large reduction in total greenhouse gas and other
emissions and less dependence on foreign oil, which in several countries is the
one of main benefit. On the other hand, widespread adoption of electric cars
faces several requirements and limitations. For example, the higher cost of electric
vehicles and the lack of recharging
infrastructure and range anxiety are the
problems.
However, this hundred percent electric powered engine car was recently published to
the market, just six years ago. It is same method as when PC came out with
unbelievable price back in the days, and now you compare the price of PC in
2014. I do not want encourage people to buy this expensive car right now, we
need to think about after 10 years and 30 years.
References
Shepardson, David
(2012-05-09). "Tesla to deliver first Model S electric by June". The
Detroit News. Retrieved 2012-05-15.
"Raising the Volt-Age: Is
Obama's Goal of 1 Million Electric Vehicles on U.S. Highways by 2015
Realistic?". Scientific American. 2011-02-18. Retrieved 2012-10-22.
"One Million Electric
Vehicles By 2015 - February 2011 Status Report". U.S. Department of
Energy. Retrieved 2012-10-22.
Sperling, Daniel; Gordon,
Deborah (2009). Two billion cars: driving toward sustainability. Oxford
University Press. pp. 22–26.
David D. Sandalow. ed. (2009).
Plug-In Electric Vehicles: What Role for Washington? (1st. ed.). The
Brookings Institution. pp. 1–6.
"Electro Automotive: FAQ
on Electric Car Efficiency & Pollution". Electroauto.com. Retrieved
2010-04-18.
Mitchell, William J.;
Borroni-Bird, Christopher; Burns, Lawrence D. (2010). Reinventing the
Automobile: Personal Urban Mobility for the 21st Century.
R. James Woolsey and Chelsea Sexton (2009). David B. Sandalow, ed. Chapter 1:
Geopolitical Implications of Plug-in Vehicles.
External
Link
eGallon Calculator: Compare
the costs of driving with electricity, U.S. Department of Energy
I hit a random button and got to the comment box!
답글삭제Jae,
I think your topic is very interesting. I feel so behind (and old) because I had no idea that a fully electronic operated car already came out 6 years ago. I have a few questions for you. One, if we all switched to electronic cars, how will we be able to generate enough electricity to power all those cars? You already raised a concern about not having enough recharging infrastructure. Do you think that eventually we will run into the same scarcity problem with electricity as we are currently with gas? (2) What about solar power? Are there any cars that run on mostly solar power? That's one unlimited resource we have.
Hey Thuy,
답글삭제Thanks for your comment first.
(1) I will definitely talk about the infrastructures on upcoming blog 2 since blog 1 is about simple introduction with big picture.
(2) Based on my knowledge, solar system has not been fully developed to run the car yet, also there are some problems with charging criteria because it really depends on weather.
Hmm. Interesting. Thanks for responding! I look forward to your next post.
삭제Hi Jae,
답글삭제I think it's true that electric cars are definitely going to replace gas powered cars in the future, and that they probably won’t make an impact anytime soon because of how expensive they are. What do you think the government will do about the loss in revenue from drivers switching to electric cars? Currently there is a tax that is added on to the price of gasoline that helps pay for road repairs. Also, I read in an article that the pollution saved from using electric cars is negated by the fact that coal powered plants are used to generate the electricity used by electric cars. Do you think it defeats the purpose of purchasing an electric car?
Jae-
답글삭제I love the idea of having an electric car that is more friendly to our environment. Like you said, I too, would like to save the money that goes toward fueling my car with gas each month. Although, the thought occurs to me, how much would I be spending for the increased amount of electricity used? You had also mentioned that the recharging infrastructure is not in place either. Once those are in place then how much time would it take to charge the car? Time is money as well as the cost of the electricity utilized. So are we really saving that money much in the long run?
Jae - I love electric cars. I drive a Prius, but I wish I had a Tesla! One of the criticisms of electric cars is that they may require more energy to create than do regular cars. Did you know that Tesla is countering this argument by building huge solar farms at it's huge battery factories? It goes a long way towards helping to silence the critics of electric vehicle technology. Great work on your article! I look forward to reading future posts!
답글삭제I definitely agree that in time, electric powered cars will be commonplace. It is understandable that they are expensive now because the technology is relatively new. Your comparison with computers was a very good one. Not only have they gotten cheaper over the years, but they have gotten exponentially more efficient, and I think that will definitely happen with electric powered cars.
답글삭제Have you seen this Oatmeal comic about the Tesla Model S (some adult language): http://theoatmeal.com/comics/tesla_model_s
답글삭제It was the first thing that really inspired me to look into getting an electric vehicle, but I think the comment you made in this blog post is correct: the technology is too new and the price is too high to make this really a commonplace vehicle. As far as the Model S goes, I hope that as my income goes up, the price of electric vehicles will go down and those two things will intersect eventually. Just as a sidenote though, filling up your car doesn't become completely free; you still have to pay for the electricity. Electricity is way less expensive than gasoline though, and with the price of oil steadily growing, I think your points still stand.