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Electric Vehicles
The current technology
by electricautokits.com
Vehicles which are powered solely by electricity have recently been gaining in popularity, and are now here to stay. Even though the basic technology required to convert a gasoline vehicle into an electric vehicle is reasonably straightforward, it is certainly possible to make any technology impossibly difficult. Our intention is to review the basics of electric vehicles, as a primer to help enable those who would enjoy taking on such a task.
Selecting and purchasing all the necessary components as well as formalizing a design can be a daunting task to someone who does not have the necessary experience in such engineering projects. However, kits are currently available which bring the building of one's first electric vehicle within reach to almost everyone.
We at electricautokits.com are committed to supporting the hobbyist in their endeavor to build their own electric vehicle. As a feature, at our website, we plan to offer regular articles which cover such topics as battery selection; the economics of Li Ion vs. Lead Acid, AC vs. DC motor and controller systems, and so on.
Since this is the first primer in our series it seems appropriate that we cover the benefits of electric vehicles on the pocket book in light of current gasoline prices. The first thing we need to know before doing this calculation is the efficiency of the vehicle. For gasoline powered vehicles, this is measured in “miles/gallon (mpg),” and for electric vehicles it is measured in Watt-hours per mile (W-hr/mi). There are many things that effect the efficiency including driving habits, vehicle weight, driving terrain, and so on. Electric vehicles range from approximately 250W-hr/mi for compact cars up to 400 or 500W-hr/mi for trucks, vans and other large vehicles. For this exercise we will use 250 W-hr/mi (or .250 kW-hr/mile) as the efficiency for our electric vehicle. Similarly, gasoline powered vehicles range from around 10 miles/gal for large vehicles up to 50 miles/gal for vehicles such as the Prius. In this ex cerise we will use 25 miles/gal. Gasoline is currently about $4.00/gallon here in California. The price of electricity is a little more difficult, since we are sold electricity on a tiered scale depending upon how much we use per month. Here in California though, the first tier is $.11/kW-hr so that is what we will use.
The cost per mile to operate a gasoline powered vehicle, only considering the cost of fuel is:
$4.00/gallon X 1 gallon/25 miles = $0.16/mile or 16 cents per mile.
The cost per mile to operate an electric vehicle, only considering to cost of electricity is:
$0.11/kW-hr X .250kW-hr/mile = $.0275/mile or 2.75 cents per mile.
According to this example it costs 5.8 times as much to fuel a gasoline powered vehicle as it does to fuel an electric vehicle. Of course this does not include other items such as oil necessary for gasoline vehicles, or if the person charging the electric vehicle uses a lot of electricity the cost per kW-hr could be more. However, this example is meant to illustrate the difference and you can generate your own numbers depending on your own situation.
August, 2008 | 
