By James A. Gibbs

The current Administration has firmly voted in favor of replacing America’s fleet of gasoline and diesel powered automobiles with all-electrics or hybrids.  Through speeches and legislation, the public is being encouraged to “buy electrics next time”. The Department of Energy’s forecast is that by 2020 there will be 100 million electric or hybrid cars in use, fully 40% of the U.S. registered vehicles.  Boone Pickens’ suggested option of converting existing trucks and buses to run on compressed natural gas (CNG), and building new vehicles to utilize this low-emission alternative, has gained little attention or traction in Washington.

The  marketing script for electric cars is appealing:  zero emissions, no more trips to the gas station, and government rebates and incentives to help lower the cost as drivers convert from gas-guzzling consumers to green-minded, electric-buzzing cruisers. However, before the public trades in their Ford pickups and Lexus sedans, they’ll need to learn patience and tolerance for inconvenience and higher costs.

Most of us are aware of the major disadvantages of electric cars or hybrids:

  • Charging woes:  Electric powered vehicles require charging stations, and for people to travel long distances there needs to be a network of such stations located strategically.  Also, recharging of batteries often takes about 3 hours, which nowhere matches efficiency of a gas refuel.
  • Traveling distance (Range):  The cars can travel only about 100 miles on average on a single charge.  However, evolving technologies will likely extend their ranges in future years.
  • Lack of power:  In general, electric cars are still behind gas powered vehicles in their ability to accelerate and climb quickly.
  • Overloaded batteries:  At the heart of electric automobiles are the car’s batteries.  With other car accessories such as radios, air conditioners, headlights and such in use, batteries drain quickly.
  • They are expensive:  Batteries that power these cars are a costly issue.  Consider that the promising and long-lasting lithium-ion batteries cost about $10,000 each, they make these cars expensive.  And if the batteries last only about 4 years, they could add to the maintenance costs.
  • They cause pollution:  While battery power has been regarded as basically clean, there are toxic elements within batteries which could spew toxic fumes.  Further, as is mentioned below, battery power may not be as eco-friendly as generally believed.  Also, because the car’s engines are powered by electricity, fossil fuels generate almost all of the energy.  This means that electric cars are simply exchanging pollution from tail pipes for pollution at another location, with the attendant loss of power via transmission lines from generating plants to recharging stations.
  • They are heavy:  Batteries make vehicles heavy.  A battery pack of an average electric car can weigh up to 1,000 pounds.  This is a disadvantage because weight puts load on batteries and they drain out faster.

Recently, other issues are emerging, further weakening the case for electrics:

A recent British study has determined that electric cars produce higher emission than gasoline-fueled cars.  The British study, which is the first analysis of the full lifetime emission of electric cars covering manufacturing, driving and disposal, undermines the case for tackling climate change by the rapid introduction of electric cars.  The study, commissioned by the Low Carbon Vehicle Partnership, which is jointly funded by the British government and the car industry, found that a mid-size electric car would produce 23.1 tons of CO2 over its lifetime, compared with 24 tons for a similar gasoline car.  Emissions from manufacturing electric cars result by utilization of materials such as lithium, copper and refined silicon, which require much energy to be processed.  Once the emissions from producing a replacement battery are factored in, the total CO2 from producing an electric car rises to 12.6 tons, compared with 5.6 tons for a gasoline powered car.

And will sufficient battery components be available anyway?  Several rare earth elements, including lanthanum, neodymium and dysprosium are used in products from high-capacity batteries to hybrid-electric vehicles.  China controls between 95 and 100 percent of the global market in these and other critical elements, and the United States is increasingly reliant on China as a supplier.  Will China always be willing to sell us as much of the rare earth elements as we need? Will we eventually have to buy all our batteries from China?

Utilities will need to upgrade equipment and services if a significant number of drivers choose to recharge their vehicles at homes and garages.  An important question is whether customers will opt to use their household current (120-volt) to charge their electric cars overnight, or will the homeowners be willing to ante up the roughly $2,000 to install a 240-volt line that will cut the recharging time to fewer hours.  In either case, the vehicle will be the largest discretionary load on the home, and utility bills will increase.

Another concern for utilities is that of local area overloads on transformers.  Transformers step down high-voltage power for residential electricity use.  Typically, in neighborhoods, one transformer serves three to six homes.  If there is overuse, it can lead to power outages.  In the case of needing to upgrade transformers to handle electric vehicle charging, who pays?  Likely, surcharges will be added to the monthly bill.

No doubt, in future months we’ll see an increasing number of television ads for electrics, and more electric and hybrid vehicles on our streets and roads. The question for each of us will be, “Do we really want one?”