Electrification of Transportation
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Many of the EVs that are sold in the USA are sold in other countries as
well. And, of course, the automobile industry is global and many manufacturing operations extend across more than one country. There is significant
variation in EV sales across different parts of the world, as well as across
different parts of the USA. California has the strongest EV market within the
USA, largely driven by the state’s incentives to encourage EV ownership as a
way to help improve air quality. Air quality is similarly one of the reasons for
EV purchase incentives in China. Happily, these incentives, driven primarily
by immediate air pollution concerns, also have the longer- term impact of
helping to reduce greenhouse gas emissions more generally.
4.2.1 Advantages Associated with Electric Vehicles
It’s one thing to manufacture electric vehicles, but they then need to be
bought by people as their choice of transportation. As with any choice, there
are advantages and disadvantages to each option. By many accounts, the
current situation is somewhere around equivalence; BEVs and gas vehicles
are different but are about equally appealing. The future, however, belongs
to BEVs. Consider that internal combustion vehicle technology has been
refined for over a hundred years, so any current advances are relatively
small improvements. BEVs, though, are at an earlier stage and are rapidly
improving along multiple dimensions.
So what are the major differences between a BEV and an ICE? Whereas an
ICE has a number of complex engine systems (e.g. cooling system, ignition
system, transmission, and exhaust system), a BEV has a large battery (or,
more often now, a bank of batteries). One of the major costs of electric vehicles
is the cost of the batteries. Battery costs are presently about $200/ kWh, with
the expectation that these prices will continue to decline and become less
than $70/ kWh by 2025. As battery costs decline, the EV market will become
ever more attractive. Brase (2019) found that vehicle choices (electric versus
gas vehicles) at the population level were strongly correlated with economic
considerations.
The energy conversion efficiency is much better for EVs than for ICEs. The
efficiency estimate is that 59– 62% of the electrical energy supplied to an EV is
converted to power at the wheels. For comparison, the efficiency estimate for
a gasoline- powered car is 17– 21% (EPA, 2018). This energy conversion efficiency, however, is not an immediately perceived benefit for the individual
EV owner. Of more interest to a vehicle owner is their experienced cost, and
the most informative estimate of that is the total cost of ownership – not only
the purchase cost, but also fuel, insurance, maintenance, and other costs.
The total cost of ownership (TCO) for various vehicles has been investigated
in a number of studies (Mitropoulos et al., 2017; Palmer et al., 2018). The
lowest TCO when cars of different types are compared (ICEs, hybrid vehicles
(HEVs), PHEVs and BEVs) turns out to vary across geographical location
and the specific vehicles that are compared. The BEV had the lowest TCO in
41
41
Many of the EVs that are sold in the USA are sold in other countries as
well. And, of course, the automobile industry is global and many manufacturing operations extend across more than one country. There is significant
variation in EV sales across different parts of the world, as well as across
different parts of the USA. California has the strongest EV market within the
USA, largely driven by the state’s incentives to encourage EV ownership as a
way to help improve air quality. Air quality is similarly one of the reasons for
EV purchase incentives in China. Happily, these incentives, driven primarily
by immediate air pollution concerns, also have the longer- term impact of
helping to reduce greenhouse gas emissions more generally.
4.2.1 Advantages Associated with Electric Vehicles
It’s one thing to manufacture electric vehicles, but they then need to be
bought by people as their choice of transportation. As with any choice, there
are advantages and disadvantages to each option. By many accounts, the
current situation is somewhere around equivalence; BEVs and gas vehicles
are different but are about equally appealing. The future, however, belongs
to BEVs. Consider that internal combustion vehicle technology has been
refined for over a hundred years, so any current advances are relatively
small improvements. BEVs, though, are at an earlier stage and are rapidly
improving along multiple dimensions.
So what are the major differences between a BEV and an ICE? Whereas an
ICE has a number of complex engine systems (e.g. cooling system, ignition
system, transmission, and exhaust system), a BEV has a large battery (or,
more often now, a bank of batteries). One of the major costs of electric vehicles
is the cost of the batteries. Battery costs are presently about $200/ kWh, with
the expectation that these prices will continue to decline and become less
than $70/ kWh by 2025. As battery costs decline, the EV market will become
ever more attractive. Brase (2019) found that vehicle choices (electric versus
gas vehicles) at the population level were strongly correlated with economic
considerations.
The energy conversion efficiency is much better for EVs than for ICEs. The
efficiency estimate is that 59– 62% of the electrical energy supplied to an EV is
converted to power at the wheels. For comparison, the efficiency estimate for
a gasoline- powered car is 17– 21% (EPA, 2018). This energy conversion efficiency, however, is not an immediately perceived benefit for the individual
EV owner. Of more interest to a vehicle owner is their experienced cost, and
the most informative estimate of that is the total cost of ownership – not only
the purchase cost, but also fuel, insurance, maintenance, and other costs.
The total cost of ownership (TCO) for various vehicles has been investigated
in a number of studies (Mitropoulos et al., 2017; Palmer et al., 2018). The
lowest TCO when cars of different types are compared (ICEs, hybrid vehicles
(HEVs), PHEVs and BEVs) turns out to vary across geographical location
and the specific vehicles that are compared. The BEV had the lowest TCO in