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Green
Transportation: Electric Cars
by
Chuck Hall
 The
2006 documentary Who Killed the Electric Car? might have led
you to believe that totally electric cars no longer exist. Contrary
to popular opinion, electric vehicles (EVs) are alive and well! So
is an EV for you?
There are three basic categories for electric cars:
Production electric cars (factory-made and ready to drive);
conversions and kit electric cars (for the do-it-yourselfer), and
neighborhood electric cars (good only for short trips). In order to
determine which type is right for you, consider how you plan to use
it, whether or not you’re willing and able to sacrifice some
‘sweat equity’ to save money, and whether some other alternative
fuel vehicle might be a better choice for you.
While electric cars have no tailpipes and therefore no
vehicle emissions, they may still contribute to pollution if you buy
electricity from a power plant that burns a lot of coal or other
fossil fuels. Most electric vehicles are recharged by plugging into
your home power supply. If carbon sequestration eventually becomes a
reality, this will be less of a factor. And of course, if and when
more solar and wind power generators come online, the grid will get
cleaner.
In the average EV, you can travel about 25 miles on 5
kilowatt-hours of electric power. Based on today’s average utility
prices, that works out to approximately 1.5 cents per mile! If your
gasoline-powered car gets 25 miles per gallon at $3 per gallon, that
works out to 12 cents per mile. That means that electric cars cost
about 1/8 as much as gasoline-powered cars to operate! Many owners
of electric vehicles (EVs) use solar panels to recharge their
vehicles. In such a case they are literally driving for free (once
the solar panels are paid for) because their energy is coming
directly from the sun.
How about the range on EVs? The average commercially-produced
EV has a range of about 50-100 miles before needing to be recharged.
The majority of Americans drive less than 50 miles per day. For
those of us who don’t drive that much, an electric car may be a
clean, affordable alternative. If you drive more than 100 miles per
day, you may want to consider a hybrid or other alternative fuel
vehicle rather than an EV.
What about all those batteries? Are they a problem? Not
really. The batteries used in EVs are totally recyclable. In fact,
some municipalities have mandatory recycling laws for batteries from
EVs. Even before being recycled, the batteries from EVs can be used
as secondary storage for home solar or wind –powered stations.
Even if your area doesn’t require the recycling of batteries, you
can easily find a company that will recycle them on a volunteer
basis.
Is
an electric vehicle the right choice for you? You can learn more at:
http://evworld.com.
Chuck
Hall is a Sustainability Consultant and author. His latest book, Green
Circles: A Sustainable Journey from the Cradle to the Grave, is
now available at Booklocker.com.
You may contact Chuck by email at: chuck@cultureartist.org or visit
the Culture Artist Web site at www.cultureartist.org.
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