We Can Drive On Solar Power Now

Editor Comment: Mr. Korthof is a long-time, passionate and outspoken advocate for electric vehicles who has often staged one-man protests against car companies that include GM and Toyota. The views expressed here are his own; we offer them to help stimulate dialog and debate among our readers.

Electric can replace gas in cars; but not if GM and Chevron have their way

Our USA fleet mileage is about 20 miles per gallon ("mpg"). That includes hummers, SUTs, SUV, Prius, etc. The average miles driven per person per day is 30, using up about a gallon and a half of gasoline.

A gallon of gasoline contains the equivalent of about 35 kilo-Watt-hours ("kWh") of electric energy. A gallon of diesel contains the equivalent of about 40 kWh of electric energy. That's why it is often said that "diesel cars get better mpg than gasoline cars". It's because there's more energy in diesel than gasoline, it's a more energy-dense fuel. Also, diesel engines have a higher compression ratio, mechanics find them easy to work on, and they are generally better maintained than gasoline cars; but that's another story. Tune-ups will increase your mpg.

The conclusion is that the average USA gasoline car goes about 20 miles on the energy equivalent of 35 kWh, which is enough energy to keep a 1000 Watt hair dryer running for 35 hours (1000 x 35 = 35,000 Watt-hours which => 35 kWh).

Electric Drive Inherently Better
An electric car is much more efficient than a gasoline car. The reason is simple: there is basically only one moving part, the motor rotor, on an electric car, and it's going in the right direction -- same as the wheels.

A gas engine has pistons going in an up-and-down motion that has to be valve-regulated, with rings, wrist-pins, rods and lots of other moving parts, and transformed into rotary motion by the crankshaft, with the help of grease, oil, coolant, bearings, etc. There are muffler, EGR, catalytic converter, fuel and other systems that are just not needed on an Electric car.

A gas engine runs most efficiently at a constant power range -- usually about 3,000 Revolutions Per Minute ("RPM"). The gas engine is not suited for stopping and starting; for this reason, locomotives, long ago, were redesigned to use the diesel engine only for generating electric power, ALL traction power comes from the electric motor. The rationale behind this is also simple:

-- Stopping the vehicle requires either turning off the engine, or breaking the power train. Usually, this is done with a friction or hydraulic-fluid clutch, which loses energy and wears out.

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14 comments so far...

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09-Mar-2007 51154		Tony Maine Asks: "Why is it argued that a mechanical connection between an ICE and the wheels is more efficient than an electrical one?" Please see my recent article: http://www.evworld.com/article.cfm?storyid=1206 - Forbes B-Black Posted by: Forbes B-Black
19-Feb-2007 49308		Wow. This article is the whole ball of wax. I hope you're wrong about GM using the Volt as nothing but a PR stunt. I was thinking that GM has painted itself into a public-perception-corner and now MUST produce the Volt, but the opposite could also be true... that GM will use the 'failure' of the Volt as the final 'proof' that EVs are not marketable. Of course, that won't stop Tesla, Phoenix, Venture Vehicles and others from taking market share, but most people won't regard them as real car companies for at least 10 years. Maybe GM's claim that the batteries aren't ready yet and that the Volt won't be available until 2012 is to throw off the competition. As I polish my rose-colored glasses, I'll imagine that GM's secret plan is to roll out the Volt for the 2009 model year. La la la. Posted by: Buck Fush
19-Feb-2007 49319		It is unfortunate that Mr. Korthof and others continue to define the term "parallel hybrid" incorrectly. A parallel hybrid is one in which the electric motor and the internal combustion engine (ICE) both drive the same output shaft. This contrasts with a "series hybrid" in which the ICE acts only as a generator providing electric power to the motor and batteries. Both architectures can be used in plug-in hybrids. Indeed, the various plug in Prius projects currently underway use the Prius's parallel hybrid architecture to make wonderful PHEVs with substantial all-electric range. Generally speaking, the advantage of a parallel hybrid rests in the simple, efficient manner in which the ICE can provide power to the drive wheels. The disadvantage lies in added complexity required to de-couple the ICE from the drivetrain when the vehicle is in all-electric mode. The advantage of a series hybrid revolves around the fact that the ICE is "out of the picture" when the car is in all-electric mode. However, when the ICE is required, series hybrids loose efficiency points due to line-losses in the electrical system. Posted by: Forbes B-Black
22-Feb-2007 49664		According to the article, putting solar panels on the roof extends the life of the roof. That seems reasonable, but it's not that simple. Eventually, the roof will need to be replaced, even if there are solar panels on it. At that time, the solar panels would complicate replacing the roof. I'm not against solar panels, but the problem of repairing or replacing the roof should be taken into consideration when deciding whether to instal them. Perhaps there is a way to minimize the problem, but it should not be ignored. Posted by: Frank Eggers
19-Feb-2007 49342		Look at http://www.gmsurveys2.com/se.ashx It does not say 'When GM builds the Volt. . . .' but 'If GM builds the Chevrolet Volt'. Over 400,000 people responded they would 'consider' purchase. GM has been painted into a corner. They must produce the Volt or disappoint an awful lot of potential customers, even us solar charged electric vehicle owners. Why wait? NiMH works. Posted by: John Spradley
19-Feb-2007 49350		I will never again purchase a GM product after reading this and other articles in EVWORLD . I am always encouraging family and friends to visit this website and find out how to turn sheeple into people that care . I am designing an EV car and will complete it next year . My next EV design will be a 4WD pickup for work . I am always thinking about all the air pollution when driving on the freeway . It would be so healthy to breath fresh air when traveling . Posted by: John Hurt
22-Feb-2007 49691		This is the finest article on EVs that I have read, thus far. I would greatly appreciate Doug Korthof adding ultra-capacitors to this excellent article. We need the application of ultra-caps in EVs to complete this discussion. Then we will really have " the whloe ball of wax". Thanks to Doug Korthof. Posted by: Roger Karson
20-Feb-2007 49421		I've got my eyes on the Phoenix electric car (see http://www.phoenixmotorcars.com/) and perhaps they will obtain the rights to use the new hypercapacitor technology being developed by EEStor (see http://www.treehugger.com/files/2006/03/eestor_capacito_1.php) which is still in development and not many details have been released publically yet. I'm so fed up with the two-party government we have here in the USA which pretend to give us choices in the voting booth when in fact they are both in the same bed together. Unlike other countries, ours has done very little in the last three decades to free us from the grips of the Middle East terrorists' oil fields. Jimmy Carter tried to get the ball rolling back in the late 1970's but not much has happened since then. I didn't vote for Jimmy Carter and I'm ashamed to admit I voted for both Bushes. Next election I'll be more concerned about the candidates views on global warming and providing financial incentives to companies willing to do R&D and manufacture clean energy products and give consumers a REAL incentive to put photovoltaic systems in their homes - especially those of us that live in states like Georgia which have no state incentives. Posted by: David Massey
20-Feb-2007 49429		ICE drivetrains are NEITHER simple nor efficient. They can never be as simple or efficient as an electric drivetrain. Posted by: Wesley Leong
20-Feb-2007 49433		Hi D.M., I do agree and I don't want turn this into political discussion. But what is worse to live inside the falling superpower or as in my case in sub servant European country with always the majority of US interest lackeys in control (coalition government)? Posted by: David K.
20-Feb-2007 49436		A very interesting and profound article in many ways, but two major flaws: 1) the major mpg gain of "phony hybrids" does NOT result from regenerative braking, but from optimized ICE load adaption. Electric machines boost, or generate energy, in order to keep the ICE at optimum efficiency load. 2) A prius with 9kWh battery will not get 90mpg, no significantly higher mpg at all, unless plugged in overnight. Reason for that: see 1. Even the 0.4kWh of a Prius is large enough to handle continued acceleration / deceleration cycles properly, since the regenerated amount of energy to decelerate a Prius from 60mph to zero is only 0.2kWh, and its drawn out again when accelerating, etc. etc. No problem at all, except when driving down from high hills, the battery capacity is just too small. btw: I love all kinds of EV's and (plug-in) hybrids :) Posted by: gumby man
20-Feb-2007 49439		Wesley Leong writes: "ICE drivetrains are NEITHER simple nor efficient. They can never be as simple or efficient as an electric drivetrain." True, but since a hybrid (plug-in or otherwise), by definition, contains an ICE, we must consider how to use that ICE most efficiently. By coupling the ICE directly to the drive shaft, a parallel hybrid transfers ICE power directly to the wheels (through the tranny). A series hybrid does not couple the ICE directly to the drive shaft, so in order to get ICE power to the batteries/motor, one must suffer line losses in the electrical system for every kWh generated. As I mentioned, the series hybrid does benefit from the mechanical simplicity of the drivetrain - no messy coupling of the ICE and the motor to the same output shaft. And, the designer does not have to worry about how to decouple the ICE from the drivetrain (to avoid compression braking from the ICE) when the ICE is not in use. So, there are certainly benefits to the series architecture as well. Generally speaking, if a vehicle is using the ICE for most of the time, it is likely that it will be more efficient with a parallel hybrid design. If the vehicle is in electric-only mode most of the time, it will likely be better to use a series hybrid design. In any case, it is important that people stop mis-defining the terms "parallel" and "series" when refering to hybrid drivetrain architectures. Posted by: Forbes B-Black
21-Feb-2007 49547		Why is it argued that a mechanical connection between an ICE and the wheels is more efficient than an electrical one? I greatly doubt it. You have a torque converter, 4 bearings at least and two gear trains in the transmission, then three more bearings and a differential. I have been told that you do well to get 70% of the engine output to the wheels even in a manual transmission. You will do better than that with a series hybrid, even allowing battery inefficiencies. Also, the increased complexity of the parallel hybrid may play an important role in the much higher depreciation one is now seeing on Prius vs for example Camry - off www.automotive.com, 46% over 5 years against 32%. Posted by: Tony Maine
21-Feb-2007 49486		Not Fair! When I read EV stories like this... I want one! Unfortunately, in Iowa, no one sells an EV or a PHEV. I've had to content myself with driving a diesel running on BioDiesel. It is as close as I can come to the wonderfulness of oil-free driving. I still have to blend in petroleum diesel fuel in the winter (which I hate), but at least in the warmer months I can travel on 100% BioDiesel and my fuel money goes to support people in the U.S. Posted by: Marc Franke

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