General Disclaimer:   (HV) (DC) injury or death hazard,   use at your own risk,   may void warranty.

Why Vehicles Need to use Electricity

From My wiki
Revision as of 00:42, 29 December 2012 by BruceThomas (talk | contribs) (set up page)
(diff) ← Older revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)
Jump to navigation Jump to search

Why Electric Cars are Needed > Peak oil > Climate change > Green power > Vehicle-to-grid > Vehicle-to-house

1. Peak oil. The world is at or near the time of peak oil production. Hydraulic fracturing (fracking) technology is allowing us to extract a bit more oil and natural gas from the ground, but this method of extraction is expensive and risks polluting our ground water.

2. Climate change. Burning gasoline and diesel as transportation fuels produces CO2, a greenhouse gas that is causing global climate change. Thus, even if we can squeeze a bit more oil from the ground it would be better for the health of the planet if we left the fossil fuel in the ground and fueled our economy from other energy sources.

3. Green power. At present most of our electricity is produced from burning coal which also releases CO2. We should transition to electric power generation from sustainable, renewable sources such as wind and solar. This will allow our electric cars to be fueled from clean green power sources in the future. The PHEV is a dual fuel vehicle that can be powered mostly by electricity, but can also be powered with biofuels whenever needed. Biofuel takes CO2 from the air when it is grown and releases CO2 back to the air when it is burned, so biofuel does not increase the CO2 greenhouse gas problem. The PHEV can use the existing electric infrastructure and the existing gasoline stations to transition to a clean green future when we power our vehicles with 90% electricity and 10% biofuels.

4. Vehicle-to-grid. Smart grid technology will enable electric cars to help stabilize the electrical grid, reducing the risk of blackouts and helping to improve the efficiency of electric power transmission lines. Power stored in PHEV batteries can be used to "level" the electric energy available when the sun is not shining and the wind is not blowing.

5. Vehicle-to-house. Wherever electricity prices are different at peak and non-peak times the PHEV battery can be charged using less expensive non-peak power and then used to reduce household consumption of expensive electricity at peak times. When the electric grid fails (e.g. due to natural disaster) then electric cars can be used temporarily to power our houses. This could also be used on a continuing basis to provide electricity in remote locations such as camping bases and military bases.

Why Electric Cars are Needed > Peak oil > Climate change > Green power > Vehicle-to-grid > Vehicle-to-house