Electric cars

Past, Present and Future

Andy ByrdCommunication for Engineering Technology

Table of Contents

Abstract.......................................................................................................................................................2

Introduction.................................................................................................................................................3

History.........................................................................................................................................................4

Limitations.................................................................................................................................................10

Environmental Impact...............................................................................................................................12

Cost Analysis..............................................................................................................................................13

Conclusion.................................................................................................................................................15

References.................................................................................................................................................16

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Abstract

This report covers the history of electric cars, from the first recorded battery powered electric

motor carriages until today where you can buy a high-performance luxury sedan with a “ludicrous”

mode, enabling a 0-60 speed of 2.8 seconds. Also covered are some limitations auto makers are facing

with electric cars as well as the impact electric vehicles have on the environment.

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Introduction

The electric car is seen today as an eco-friendly alternative to internal combustion

engine cars. From afar electric cars are better than gas in every way, but when you dive in you

find out they are not as good as once thought. With dirty electricity generation, high costs and

low gas prices, electric cars may not be right for this world at this time.

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History

The two crucial parts to an electric car is the motor, which drives the wheels, and the

battery which supplies electricity to drive the motor. In 1800, Alessandro Volta, an Italian

physicist, developed the first battery by stacking alternating discs of zinc and silver (Figure 1)

(When was the Battery Invented?). Thirty-one years later, Michael Faraday and his British team

discovered how a copper disc could generate a flow of electricity while revolving in a strong

magnetic field. By later reversing this process, the electric motor was discovered (When was the

Battery Invented?).

Figure 1

(Tretkoff)

In the 1800s horse and buggies were the primary mode of transportation. Around 1835

innovators in Hungary, the Netherlands, and the United States created the first small-scale

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electric cars (Matulka). In the United States, a chemist named William Morrison developed the

first electric vehicle in 1890, which carried six passengers and had a top speed of fourteen miles

per hour (Matulka). At the turn of the century electric powered automobiles were at their

prime, with one third of vehicles on the road being electric. They were quiet, didn’t emit any

smelly pollutants, and were easy to drive because they didn’t require a hand-crank to start the

engine.

The electric car’s demise began with Henry Ford’s mass-produced 1908 Model T (Figure

2). Development of the electric starter in 1912 accelerated the dominance of the gas-powered

car and electric car sales plummeted. At this time a gas powered car cost only $650, compared

to an electric car costing $1,750 (Matulka).

Figure 2

(Ford Motor Company)

By the 1920’s the U.S. road network interconnecting cities enabled Americans to get out

and explore. This in-turn led to improvements in fuel storage necessary for longer range and a

vast network of filling stations which further eroded the popularity of electric cars. Discovery of

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crude oil in Texas made gas cheap and abundant with filling stations popping up across the

country. By 1935 electric cars had all but disappeared from the road.

Thirty years later, in the late 1960s and early 1970s, the electric car begins to makes a

comeback. When oil prices quadrupled due to the 1973 Arab Oil Embargo, the U.S. turned again

to electric cars (Oil Shock of 1973-74). With the public’s interest sparked, Congress passed the

Electric and Hybrid Vehicle Research, Development, and Demonstration Act of 1976, which

authorized the Department of Energy to support the research and development in electric and

hybrid automobiles (Matulka). Even after this, however, electric vehicles produced in the 1970s

still had two huge drawbacks: they had a top speed of 45 miles per hour and a measly range of

40 miles (Matulka). Over the next fifteen years, gas prices normalized and electric cars once

again saw a decline.

With passage of the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendment and the 1992 Energy Policy Act,

automakers began to modify their most popular models to include an electric powered option.

Thanks to this attention, new advances were made and electric vehicles could now compete on

performance with gasoline powered cars, however range was not much improved at this time,

with most cars only able to travel 60 miles on a single charge (Matulka). The most popular

electric automobile around this time was the General Motors EV1, introduced in 1996 (Figure

3). The EV1 had a groundbreaking range of 80 miles and a lightning fast zero to 50 miles per

hour rating of just seven seconds. Unfortunately, the EV1 was abandoned in 2001 because of

high production costs.

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Figure 3

(EV1 Electric Automobile)

Although the electric vehicle industry had its ups and downs, there have been two major

events that have re-sparked the public’s interest in the electric car. The first being the

introduction of the Toyota Prius hybrid in 2000. It was the world’s first mass-produced hybrid-

electric vehicle, and even today is the best-selling hybrid worldwide. The second recent major

event to boost the electric car’s figure was in 2006 when a small Silicon Valley startup company,

Tesla Motors, announced they would begin producing a convertible luxury electric sports car.

The Tesla Roadster (Figure 4) has a range of 245 miles using a lithium-ion battery pack, which

has recently been increased to 400 miles with a battery upgrade.

Figure 4

(Car and Driver)

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In 2010, Tesla Motors received a $465 million loan from the Department of Energy,

which was repaid nine years early, to establish a manufacturing facility for its new fully electric

Model S luxury sedan (Figure 5). The Model S can get up to 270 miles on a single charge, and

has been a massive (for electric) success, with over 78,000 global sales as of July 2015 (Hybrid

Cars). Tesla’s sales volume represents 20% of the electric vehicle industry (Shahan). Tesla has

also just released a fully electric SUV, the Model X (Figure 6), based on the Model S, and will be

releasing a much cheaper sedan in 2017 called the Model 3 (Figure 7).

Figure 5

(Model S)

Figure 6

(Model X)

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Figure 7

Tesla Model 3 concept render (Stumpf)

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Limitations

The greatest obstacle for electric cars is their range. This is caused by a lack of

advancement in battery technology. Lithium-ion batteries are the most advanced batteries

available today, but are expensive. Tesla is spending $5 billion in building in a battery

“Gigafactory” where they plan to streamline their battery making process. With the

Gigafactory, Tesla expects to reduce the per-kilowatt-hour cost of their lithium-ion batteries by

more than 30% by the end of 2017 after one year of production (Korosec).

Tesla is the only company currently selling a fully electric car with over a 100 mile range

(Cars). As a daily driver, a car with a range of 100 miles is plenty. However, if you wanted to

take your electric car on a road trip, you would face a severe limitation. You cannot just fill up

your battery at the gas station in 5 minutes. Tesla has developed a system to work around this

problem with their free-for-owners Supercharger network (Figure 8, Figure 9). The

supercharger can provide 170 miles of charge in 30 minutes, which is greater than the distance

between most supercharger stations. Tesla has been building them all over the U.S. and Europe

along main highways used for travel to provide owners the luxury of long distance travel in

their Tesla vehicle. But even this improvement limits travel to the main highway network. The

gasoline engine is supported by an infrastructure of 115,000 fueling stations in the U.S. (Ausick)

compared to Tesla’s 556 supercharger stations (Supercharger).

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Figure 8

Tesla Supercharger Network Map as of November 2015 (Supercharger).

Figure 9

Projected Network Map by December 2016 (Supercharger).

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Environmental Impact

Electric cars aren’t as environmentally friendly as automakers would have you think.

Digital Trends found that in the US where 45% of the electric grid is powered by coal, and closer

to 100% in some states such as Texas, Pennsylvania, and Ohio, an electric vehicle that relied

solely on coal power, would be responsible for 17% to 27% more pollution than a gas or diesel

powered car (Braun). Along with this, Digital Trends also found that initial production of the

vehicle and batteries make up nearly 40% of the total carbon footprint of the vehicle (Braun).

However, this large carbon footprint can be offset in areas where the car is powered by

electricity from environmentally friendly resources like nuclear, hydroelectric, or wind.

With the U.S. still primarily relying on coal, buyers may actually be hurting the

environment by using electric cars. However, nuclear power is on the rise, and with it, fossil fuel

dependency is dropping.

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Cost Analysis

Electric cars are cheaper per-driving-mile than the average gasoline car. A 2013 study by

Energy.gov found that gasoline powered cars cost about three times more per mile (in 2013)

than the average electric vehicle (Figure 10) (Leistikow). The chart below compares the average

miles-per-gallon (mpg) of a 2012 model car (28.2 mpg) to an “eGallon” which is calculated

based on how much electricity is used by the average electric car to drive the same 28.2 miles.

With gas prices much cheaper today, the US average cost for gas is $2.18, where an eGallon

costs $1.18 (Leistikow).

Figure 10

Cost to drive 28.2 miles on gas vs electricity (Leistikow).

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Although electric cars are cheaper to drive in comparison to gas powered cars, electric

can be more costly up front and down the line. A comparison performed by Daily Finance found

that a 2013 Ford Focus Electric would cost nearly $13,000 more than its gasoline counter-part

over an 8 year period (Table 1) (Loiseau). This comparison included a battery replacement for

the electric vehicle and a major engine repair on the gas powered vehicle.

Table 1

Ford Focus ST Ford Focus ElectricSale price $24,495 $39,995

Battery replacement N/A $13,500

Major engine repair(1/5 original sale price)

$4,899 N/A

8-year fuel costs(15,000 miles/year) $16,222 $5,067

Total costs $45,616 $58,562(Loiseau)

With a more expensive comparison, however, the electric vehicle came out ahead of its

gas powered opponent. When comparing a Tesla Model S against a Mercedes S Class, the Tesla

came out costing $23,000 less over 8 years, not including free charging at any of Tesla’s

supercharger stations (Table 2).

Table 2

Mercedes S Class Tesla Model SSale price $92,350 $87,400

Battery replacement N/A $12,000

Major engine repair(1/5 original sale price)

$18,470 N/A

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Mercedes S Class Tesla Model S8-year fuel costs(15,000 miles/year) $16,846 $5,262

Total costs $127,666 $104,662(Loiseau)

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Conclusion

Electric vehicle popularity is growing daily. Tesla Motors is without a doubt leading the

charge of electric vehicles into the future with their unparalleled range and supercharger

network. With Tesla recently opening their patents up to the public, we will hopefully soon see

other automakers releasing cars with competitive ranges and performance. However, when

compared to gas powered cars, they can cost more overall and do more damage to the

environment.

Until electricity generation is cleaner, electric car’s environmental benefit is limited.

However, when we start to get low on oil and coal, clean energy will be more prominent and

gas prices will sky-rocket. Until low oil supplies significantly inflate the cost of oil, the market for

electric vehicles will be limited. Technological revolutions in renewable energy and battery

storage may hasten the demise of the gasoline engine. When that happens, that will be when

the electric car gets its time to shine, but that time is still far away. While the future of the

electric car is ensued, accurately forecasting a time frame for its dominance is impossible.

Among the variables are government policies, public preferences, and the genius of invention.

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References

Ed. Jeff Cobb. 2 July 2015. 8 November 2015. <http://www.hybridcars.com/tesla-model-s-is-top-selling-plug-in-car-for-first-half-of-2015/>.

Ed. Csaba Csere. March 2008. 8 November 2015. <http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/2008-tesla-roadster-road-test>.

n.d. 8 November 2015. <https://corporate.ford.com/company/history.html>.

Ausick, Paul. Why Are There 115,000 (or 150,000) Gas Stations in America. 22 May 2014. 23 November 2015. <http://247wallst.com/economy/2014/05/22/why-are-there-115000-or-150000-gas-stations-in-america/>.

Braun, Peter. Don't look so smug: Your Tesla might be worse for the environment than a gas car. 14 November 2013. 20 November 2015. <http://www.digitaltrends.com/cars/hold-smugness-tesla-might-just-worse-environment-know/>.

Cars. n.d. 19 November 15. <http://www.plugincars.com/cars>.

EV1 Electric Automobile. 1996. 8 November 2015. <http://amhistory.si.edu/onthemove/collection/object_1303.html>.

Korosec, Kirsten. Meet Tesla's new weapon, a battery scientist. 17 June 2015. 22 November 2015. <Kirsten Korosec>.

Leistikow, Dan. The eGallon: How Much Cheaper Is It to Drive on Electricity? 10 June 2013. 22 November 2015. <http://energy.gov/articles/egallon-how-much-cheaper-it-drive-electricity>.

Loiseau, Justin. Pump vs Plug: Do You Really Save Money Driving an Electric Car? 24 June 2013. 22 November 2015. <http://www.dailyfinance.com/2013/06/24/gas-vs-electric-cars-cost-comparison/>.

Matulka, Rebecca. The History of the Electric Car. 15 September 2014. 6 November 2015. <http://energy.gov/articles/history-electric-car>.

Model S. n.d. 8 November 2015. <http://www.teslamotors.com/models>.

Model X. n.d. 8 November 2015. <https://www.teslamotors.com/modelx>.

Oil Shock of 1973-74. 22 November 2013. 23 November 2015. <a. carries generator current to the main bank of transformers>.

Shahan, Zach. Tesla Model S, Chevy Volt, & Nissan LEAF Take Gold, Silver, Bronze (US EV Sales Report). 5 November 2015. 23 November 2015. <http://evobsession.com/tesla-model-s-chevy-volt-nissan-leaf-take-gold-silver-bronze-us-ev-sales-report/>.

Stumpf, James. Tesla Model 3 Concept by Stumpf Studio. May 2015. 2015 November 23. <http://stumpfstudio.com/tesla-model-3-concept-by-stumpf-studio/>.

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Supercharger. n.d. 19 November 2015. <http://www.teslamotors.com/supercharger>.

Tretkoff, Ernie. This Month in Physics. Ed. Alan Chodos. n.d. American Physical Society. 5 November 2015. <http://www.aps.org/publications/apsnews/200603/history.cfm.html>.

When was the Battery Invented? n.d. Isidor Buchmann. 5 November 2015. <http://batteryuniversity.com/learn/article/when_was_the_battery_invented>.

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