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Electric Vehicles Can Meet Drivers' Needs Enough To Replace 90 Percent of Vehicles Now On The Road (phys.org)

Posted by BeauHD on from the green-energy dept.

An anonymous reader writes from a report via Phys.Org: Researchers at MIT have just completed the most comprehensive study yet to address whether or not existing electric vehicles could bring about a meaningful reduction in the greenhouse-gas emissions that are causing global climate change. Yes, they can. The study was published today in the journal Nature Energy. Phys.Org reports: "'Roughly 90 percent of the personal vehicles on the road daily could be replaced by a low-cost electric vehicle available on the market today, even if the cars can only charge overnight,' Trancik says, 'which would more than meet near-term U.S. climate targets for personal vehicle travel.' Overall, when accounting for the emissions today from the power plants that provide the electricity, this would lead to an approximately 30 percent reduction in emissions from transportation. The team spent four years on the project, which included developing a way of integrating two huge datasets: one highly detailed set of second-by-second driving behavior based on GPS data, and another broader, more comprehensive set of national data based on travel surveys. Together, the two datasets encompass millions of trips made by drivers all around the country. By working out formulas to integrate the different sets of information and thereby track one-second-resolution drive cycles, the MIT researchers were able to demonstrate that the daily energy requirements of some 90 percent of personal cars on the road in the U.S. could be met by today's EVs, with their current ranges, at an overall cost to their owners -- including both purchase and operating costs -- that would be no greater than that of conventional internal-combustion vehicles."

8 of 990 comments (clear)

  1. Driving yes, but charging? by houstonbofh · · Score: 5, Insightful

    How about all the people that live in apartments with first come first serve parking? Or people that park in the street? Or way down the street? Overnight charging is not simple for everyone.

    1. Re:Driving yes, but charging? by TheMiddleRoad · · Score: 5, Interesting

      People don't have gas stations at home either. Building up infrastructure at home, work, and shopping centers can solve that issue. Every powered kiosk for street parking in urban areas can become a paid charging station. I know plenty of workplaces that offer charging during the day. As for people in dense urban areas like NYC, they largely don't have cars.

      We have two 240v charging stations in the garage, for our two super-cheap EVs (Chevy Spark EV and Fiat 500e). Our rooftop solar power production offsets approximately 100% of the power we use, including the cars and electric water heating. We have two other cars that rarely get used.

      Rock and roll.

    2. Re:Driving yes, but charging? by bferrell · · Score: 5, Insightful

      The entitled are desperate to keep people from thinking about not having a garage.

      Battery electrics basic assumption is that of entitlement... Everyone owns their dwelling and has access to a charger dedicate for their individual use. Just another way of saying "I got mine, so screw you"

      Silicon valley is already seeing "charger rage" incidents where access to shared chargers just isn't working.

    3. Re: Driving yes, but charging? by superdave80 · · Score: 5, Funny

      1. We can use my wife's car.

      Given that this is /., that isn't going to be an option for about 90% of the people here...

    4. Re:Driving yes, but charging? by tsotha · · Score: 5, Insightful

      People who don't have power where they park is a "fringe case"? That's daft.

    5. Re:Driving yes, but charging? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Electric cars _really don't_ have "just as much maintenance". Combustion engines are relatively high maintenance gear, they have a LOT of moving parts, which all wear out and need lubricant changes. An electric car drive train is much, much simpler, which means less to maintain. There are probably dozens of electric motors in your home, but you never think about "Man, when does the DVD player next need an oil change?" because they're low maintenance.

  2. Re:90% of trips != 90% of drivers by Kobun · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I routinely rent cars for the weekend for less than $30 per day. For that once-every-4-months trip where an electric wouldn't cut it, this seems like a viable solution.

  3. 90% of time not 90% of vehicles by Roger+W+Moore · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The oil industry and fossil car industries are desperate that people not realise how convenient it is to have a charger in your garage.

    For everyday around town use the home charger is fine. The problem is that it is not really 90% of vehicles that the electric car could replace but a single vehicle 90% of the time (which is still 90% of vehicles on the road at any one time). ~10% of the time we used our car for going on holiday or taking long road trips for other reasons. This, along with the incredibly high price, is what makes an electric car impractical for me. The high price will probably get fixed with time but to go on holiday with the family I need a car with a large range that can be refuelled quickly. While I would love to have an electric car with that capability for around the same price as a petrol driven one that is not something I see happening any time soon.