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Vincenzo Marano, Center for Automotive Research

Posted on | May 5, 2010 | 2,864 views | Comments Off

Why is vehicle electrification important today?

Strong dependency on crude oil in most areas of modern transportation coupled with increased demand for electric power generation lead to a significant consumption of fossil fuel resources over many decades. Homes and cars represent the biggest personal impact on the increasing energy demand, global warming and air quality. As a consequence, research is quickly moving toward vehicle electrification to improve transportation and electricity sectors. Electricity is the only potential energy source for transportation that addresses the simultaneous need for fuel diversity, energy security, reductions in greenhouse gas emissions and improvements in air quality that is widely available and produced domestically.

How does vehicle electrification work?

In the framework of vehicle electrification, electric vehicles (EVs) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) seem the most promising solutions.

An EV is a vehicle in which the propulsion system converts electrical energy stored in a battery into mechanical energy to move the vehicle; an EV does not have a gasoline engine on board, thus requires a large (and expensive) battery to guarantee a still limited range (up to 100 miles). Higher cost, limited range and long recharging time (up to 20 hours, using a standard outlet, for 100 miles of driving) represent the main drawbacks.

A PHEV is a hybrid vehicle with ability to charge from the grid. The battery is discharged while driving and then recharged from the grid when the vehicle is parked. PHEVs represent the middle point between hybrid and electric cars, thus combining benefits of the two architectures. PHEVs can achieve very high fuel economy (60-100 mpg) while preserving full functionality of hybrids — long driving range (300-400 miles), easy refueling (gasoline or electricity), lower emissions, etc.

Further, PHEVs and EVs can reduce the mismatch between peak and off-peak load, thus improving the efficiency of the electric grid and ameliorate utility emissions.

What are the challenges of PHEVs and EVs?

A key driver in the development of PHEVs/EVs will be cost to the consumer. Unless policy directions change in a dramatic fashion in the next five to 10 years, it is difficult to imagine that the aggressive penetration of electric vehicles will take place without some aggressive tax incentive. Battery technology is one of the critical limitations today. To ensure a successful introduction of PHEVs/EVs, several pressing issues — cost, safety and reliability — must be addressed.

On the grid side, there will be no technical challenges for low market penetration with today’s infrastructure; however, highly clustered PHEV/EV users in the same neighborhood could cause stress on transmission and distribution systems locally. Longer term, with a higher market penetration, smart metering and charge control will be required to minimize the impact of electric transportation on the need for capacity beyond current demand growth projections.

Although electric vehicles can significantly reduce vehicle-produced emissions, increased emissions will be released from electrical power generation sites. Hence, it is important to look at the possible energy source scenarios to better understand the total impact of transportation emissions on global environmental change.

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