The Electric Car: The Power Of Electric Cars

“What we need to do is really improve energy efficiency standards, develop in full scale renewable and alternative energy and use the one resource we have in abundance, our creativity.” (Lois Capps) There are many ways we can utilize our abundance of creativity. Some have yet to be discovered, but some are being sought out today. One of these is the rise of the electric car. Despite a rough start competing with petroleum cars, electric cars will see a spark in popularity in the automotive market within the next few years with new models being developed and more charge stations being installed world wide. With more efficient ways of harvesting energy, the electric car will see more practical use and make its way into the lives of the average

Electric cars have dated as far back as 1880, with the first model being mass produced in the later 1880’s. At early stages of automobiles, there were no clear benefits from either type of engine. In fact, a majority of cars in use at the time were electric. Steam and combustion engines were less developed and not as popular. Before the 1900’s an electric car held the land speed record for motor vehicles. (Bellis, 2014) As roads were built and the range that vehicles would need to travel increased, the need for a longer lasting vehicle rose. This is why at the turn of the century the popularity of gasoline powered engines arose. Electric vehicles were still valued for their short term transportation (within cities) and relatively easy use, but they began to lose prevalence as developments into combustion rose. Production for electric cars peaked in 1912 (Bellis, 2014) and saw a drastic decline since

(Gilpin, 2014) According to Tesla, the efficiency of electric cars is three times that of the traditional gas engine as most energy is lost through the heating process.(Gilpin, 2014) There are two types of electric vehicles in production today, BEV’s and PHEV’s. BEV’s or Battery electric vehicles run solely on energy stored in a battery that is recharged at stations. These cars have an operating range of 60+ miles and take about 6-8 hours to recharge at a station.(Gilpin, 2014) Those who need to travel more than 60 miles in a day could face problems with this. Those that may need to travel much farther in a day would be wise to choose the PHEV’s or the plug-in hybrid electric vehicle. These vehicles run on both electricity and gasoline. They can run on electricity alone for up to 40 miles until it makes the switch to gasoline acting like a hybrid. This means that after they switch to their hybrid mode, they will use both electric and gasoline powered until they are charged again.(Gilpin, 2014) While in hybrid mode the PHEV’s can run up to 400+ miles before needing a recharge. (Gilpin, 2014) The relevance of electric cars is spiking. Especially in bigger cities that have air quality issues, the demand for transportation with limited emissions will be a huge