Science Centres: Energy

Who resuscitated the electric vehicle?

Thomas Edison with 1914 Detroit Electric Model 47 (top), a new Ford Edge HySeries hybrid (middle), and a car of the not-too-distant future? (Photos: Electric Vehicle World, USA)

A key element of the New Zealand Energy Strategy is to ‘de-carbonise’ the economy. One way to achieve this is for the widespread uptake of electric vehicles, and the Strategy’s aim is for 60% of the vehicle fleet to be electric by 2040.

EnergyScape – asking the right questions

Competitive electric vehicle technology is on the horizon but how could mainstream uptake of electric vehicles be achieved? And what electricity system would be required to support such a significant uptake in electric vehicles? These are the types of questions that the NIWA/CRL Energy ‘EnergyScape’ framework planning tool is being developed to answer. Other aspects that must be addressed include social issues like ‘what types of cars will people be prepared to drive in the future?’, and ‘what distances will people want to travel by  car?’

What advances have already been made?

There have been significant advances in electric vehicle technology over the last decade – many of the drivetrain systems (the components from the electric motor to the drivingwheels, including the control systems) have been tried and tested in mainstream hybrid vehicles such as those marketed by Toyota and Honda. Promised advances in battery technology, fuel cells, and general vehicle technology, can only improve upon this. The weight associated with batteries and limited range of electric vehicles will become a thing of the past. We have come a long way from yesteryear’s perception of an ‘electric vehicle economy’ built on the use of golf carts.

Who will have the power?

But providing rapid recharging to avoid loss of current refuelling convenience has many technical implications. So does anotherconcept under consideration: that of the batteries of electric vehicles becoming an integral component of our national electricity system. The average energy economy of electric vehicles, and hence the load on the network, could vary significantly depending on people’s choices.

Another option is to use on-board fuel cells instead of batteries to power electric vehicles. Fuel cells can be run on hydrogen or liquid fuels and can be refuelled, eliminating the need for batteries and recharging. The technology is still expensive but a number of companies and countries are working to produce significant numbers of fuel cell electric vehicles and therefuelling infrastructure.

The future seems far from clear! However, the implications of the different choices facing the drivers of the future can be identified through use of EnergyScape, and the results of our research will be highlighted in future newsletters.