Nearly 28 percent of the energy consumption within the United States originates from the transportation industry. Personal Vehicles consume more than 60 percent of the energy used for transportation (Source). Due to the rising prices of oil in the US, many Americans have been cautious on their oil consumption. Many people have even resorted to buying smaller, more fuel-efficient vehicles. The Government even offers extra Tax incentives to consumers who purchase efficient vehicles, and even higher Tax incentives to consumers who purchase Electric Vehicles, also known as EV’s. Electric Vehicles are not a new concept; they have been around since the 1830’s. In fact, in the late 1890’s Electric Vehicles …show more content…
However the vehicle must rely on these batteries to store the energy the car needs to operate. The energy stored in a battery is measured by kilowatt-hours (kWh). The more kWh’s stored, the further the car can go on one charge. Recently Battery packs for Electric Vehicles, loaded with lithium-ion cells, now cost around $496 a kilowatt-hour, a 60 percent drop from 2010. Figure 1 shows the price drop of a battery by kWh for an Electric Vehicle from 2010 - 2015. This price is projected to plunge to $175 per kWh within the next five years …show more content…
Unlike the Hybrid, an Electric Vehicle does not provide two different types of propulsion motors or engines. An Electric Vehicle only has an electric motor that it uses to propel itself. Figure 4 shows all the parts of a 100 percent Electric Vehicle and where they are usually placed coinciding with the major drivetrain compoments. Figure 4 also shows how certain luxury items of traditional vehicles have had to be converted to run from electric power instead of the traditional pully systems.
Figure 4.
Performance of Electric Vehicles can be comparable to that of traditional vehicles. The Tesla Roadster, an all Electric Hi-Performance Vehicle, can reach 0-60 in 3.7 seconds. The “gas” mileage of an electric vehicle depends on which vehicle you purchase. The average length of time between charges in an Electric Vehicle is 70-100 miles, depending on the accessories you have running or the amount of time it takes to get to the destination. The Tesla Roadster has a maximum range of 400 miles depending on conditions. Chart 1 below shows the relationship between road conditions and range in miles for the Tesla