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Charging stations inevitable
Government should help fund the transition to cleaner, healthier electric cars
Monday, Nov. 23, 2009 | 2:05 a.m.
Carmakers are preparing to make the leap from gasoline- and hybrid-powered vehicles to those that run full time on electric batteries. The all-electric Ford Focus, for example, will be available in 2011. With this transition set to begin within just a few years, cities and towns are planning where to put the charging stations.
Because the range of EVs (electric vehicles) will be considerably less than what drivers today are used to, people will not buy them unless charging stations are easily accessible. Today’s gas stations won’t work for fueling electric cars because they are too small. It takes EVs a lot longer to recharge — a minimum of 30 minutes — than it takes to pump gas. The answer, then, is thousands of strategically located charging stations.
That is why five regions — within the states of Washington, Tennessee, California, Arizona and Oregon — were chosen to share $100 million for a pilot project under the stimulus bill. Each will use the money to build 2,500 charging stations, some for private garages and many for streets and places such as store parking lots.
It is also why charging stations in many other areas of the country are sprouting, and why a coalition of corporate heavyweights wants to speed the building of them with additional help from the federal government.
The coalition includes Pacific Gas and Electric Co., FedEx, NRG Energy and Nissan, which plans to have its EV, the Leaf, at dealerships by late next year. The Washington Post reported that the coalition is asking for $124 billion in government incentives over eight years to build charging stations throughout the country.
That is a heavy price tag, but some manner of government support should be available to help in this vital transition. The Energy Department says oil from the Middle East cost the U.S. $1.9 trillion from 2004 to 2008. And that doesn’t include costs associated with oil’s widespread health effects, or the costs of defending our access to foreign oil.
Government support for moving this transition along would pay off very quickly.
Discussion: 25 comments so far…
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"the coalition is asking for $124 billion in government incentives over eight years"
When will this stop
We do not even know that "all electric" car that can run 40-60 miles are the answer. Electric require 1000s of large central based nuclear, coal, and natural gas power plants.
The better answer may be hydrogen fuel cells which has far more potential and does not require more central power plants.
The government is broke now they should not be giving anyone handouts.
Assuming they did help they would undoubtedly choose the wrong technology. They would "invest" in some technology developed by a senator's brother in law which would not work. Remember MBTE, remember ethanol? Both massive failures financed by our stupid government ie. taxpayers.
OMG!!!!!
The libs will drive this country over the cliff quicker then we can blink our eyes.
What idiots!!!!!!!!!!
Will there be charging stations at the bottom of the cliff?
@"Future"
Your post is incorrect.
First, Pacific Northwest National Labs conducted a simulation back in 2005 - with the infrastructure (generation and transmission) from 2005, we can replace 43% of all light-duty vehicles with a Chevy-Volt like vehicle (40 miles electric range + gasoline range extender) across vehicle size classes (small car up to SUV). That number goes up to 73% if we don't restrict vehicle recharging to 6pm-6am. You can view the full report at http://www.ferc.gov/about/com-mem/wellin.... Remember that 43% is a huge number of cars - we only sell about 12M a year and there are about 250M cars on the road - a life cycle of about 20 years. The most optimistic projections say we wont hit 43% market penetration until about 2030, or 20 years from now.
Second, where do you think the hydrogen will come from? There are no hydrogen mines or hydrogen deposits. You have to make it, either through electrolysis, natural gas reformation, or through the use of biomass. Its going to require electricity to produce as well - and quite possibly more electricity than it would take to just charge your EV/E-REV in your garage or at work because they are less efficient from a "well-to-wheel" standpoint. You go from electricity to hydrogen back to electricity inside the fuel cell and you lose energy at each stage of the process - electrolysis is only about 50% efficient, and by 2015 (first FC commercial introduction) they will be 62-65% efficient, for a total efficiency of 32.5%, or slightly better than an internal combustion engine (25-28%).
Just good ol' right wing grandstanding - stand up and scream as loud as you can about something you're completely ignorant about and haven't done a lick of research on. Ignorance is a badge of honor, and education and critical thinking skills make you "elitest"!
I'm waiting for the Flintstone mobile to come out in 2011. Think I'll have a sticker with that keep trucking guy on the bumper.
I applaud both Ford & Nissan's efforts as the EV has great potential in a short range commuter role. But I don't believe government investment in "strategically located" parking lots & garages with charging stations is advisable (politicans aren't very good at making such determinations). We have private enterprise, responding to demand, to address that need. If they really want to facilitate people using EVs, I'd suggest a tax waiver (no sales tax when purchased new, no registration tax for at least five years). As more commuters buy them -- if they do -- they'll demand more flexibility in their use, driving market demand for charging stations which private enterprise can respond to.
But automakers will need to respond to longer range demands as well, perhaps with a regenerative/solar electric-flex fuel hybrid (imagine a Prius with a flex fuel engine, a plug for recharging, and a solar panel on the roof.) Push consumers in that direction, along with moving more cargo by rail, and we could make significant progress towards energy independence & reduced pollution.
Let's pretend there is no problem with continuing to trash the planet with our automobiles that gobble our resources. That way we can all drive our V8s in our mind.
That way we don't have to address the reality that we have screwed up paradise with our parking lot. In our ignorant selfish way we have commandeered the planet's and its star's resources for ourselves and played like children with toys.
Not addressing the transportation issue with any reflective reasoning is apparently what the intelligentsia of the lunatic right fringe is proposing. (future, nance, rock, bozo, etc.)
"strategically located" as decided by the government? Give me a break. At least we have the money to waste.
Fellow Idiots - the wave of the future is before us and we must envision it realistically. A charging station unit has to be a daily part of our life as we toil our neighborhoods for bread and sustenance as our money disappears before our very eyes to wars, oil and interest payments fo banks and of course - to ...... China? - Unbelivelabe. Will there ever be chicken in every pot? As oil will be drilled up in Alaska and down off the beautiful beaches of Florida, some of us can get in our new electric cars and head off into the twilight of our lives with the joy of knowing that perhaps the next eight years will be productive and rewarding rather than the last eight years of diversion, unproductiveness and backwardness and crimes. The set of new golf clubs fits nicely into the boot, the bottle of Napa Cab is still unopened and ready for the drinking, and if things keep getting better, peace, maybe, will be at hand. Oh, did I mention the beaches of Florida are being looked at for what it would take to clean up oil spills? Thank You.
"There are no hydrogen mines or hydrogen deposits.'
In Office of Science's basic research program, a major emphasis is placed on fundamental understanding of photoinduced water splitting that uses the energy of sunlight to separate water into hydrogen and oxygen by semiconductors or photocatalytic assemblies.
To enable more efficient, lower-cost fossil-based hydrogen production, fundamental research in catalysis, membranes, and gas separation are being emphasized.
Sunlight alone can also drive photolytic production of hydrogen from water, using advanced photoelectrochemical and photobiological processes.
Harry Reid continues to ignore hydrogen fuel cells that avoid pollution and transmission issues and are very local in nature.(http://www.energy.gov/energysources/hydrogen.htm)
I hope when you lefties are driving these toy cars that you get broadsided by a beer truck.
lefties by beer trucks...righties by the train, the quiet one that runs on ephemeral energy derived from a planetary location the proper distance from a nuclear power plant - 93M miles. So quiet is the train that when they're shouting how dumb the lefties all are, it sneaks up and lays 'em out flat, just the way the world is, right?
Does anyone know where the additional electricity will come from in order to recharge these batteries with wheels? As I understand it, it will make a large draw on the electric grid.
Maybe they should build more nuclear power plants first...
unless the car manufacturers drop the prices under $25000 no one will buy electric plug-ins.
More nuclear power plants is not the answer. Just advantage the one we got, use your head and poof! we got all we need.
A charging station needs room, right? The roof is grabbing rays, the sine wave inverter is dialing it to 110 for your car while you stroll, visit, sip a cup of mango juice or coffee and check your email or read the Sun.
Let's back up. All the energy came from our location, location, location. We didn't have air until the sun and earth made it. We didn't have petroleum, methane, coal, firewood or lunch until earth and sun joined up and said 'Let's do lunch!' It sat here awhile, we came along and gobbled like starving waifs.
Because of the acceptance of the notion of climate change, we recognize our debt to the atmosphere for our learning curve progress on the issue of environmental impact of our past cultural and societal tendencies to take the path of least resistance and kick the consequences down the road.
Time's up. We're here. If we can't do it with efficiency, we can't afford to do it anymore. Charging station/malls, solar trains, bicycles and walking paths make for economy, cultural connectivity, carbon reduction and a sustainable future.
Charging stations huh? Ok, riddle me this; I want to drive to Reno, to deliver some household goods to my friend, how long would it take to drive there based on recharging times? How many times would I have to stop?
airweare,"acceptance of the notion of climate change" by who? You and the Chaffer? Come on.
BTW, air, you entire post lacks one thing......wait for it........reality. The last paragraph is so full of garbage that by reading it I became a bio-fuel consumer.
Ironic huh?
yo getalife,
how far you are from reno will determine how long. That and how fast you go, how often you stop, etc. You'll have to weigh the profit you make on the bag of weed you deliver, or whatever domestic delights you deliver!
Oh, that thing about climate works if you believe your best and brightest, but it's just BS if you don't so only time will tell whether dumping tons of CO2 into the atmosphere will really cause us to look up and notice that a consequence may ensue from an action.
The future with a sustainability facet will make it. Disgusting isn't it, having to take responsibility for actions? Reality creeps in, huh bio-baby?
If there is not sufficient electricity in an area to provide power for these recharging stations, I guess that they can use a diesel or gasoline powered generator to produce the electricity.
Sounds like a plan to me...
The sunlight is an energy form that can be easily turned into electricity. If the roof is in these solar photovoltaic panels, they can charge your car while you dither at the mall.
Now I may not have finished college. Buuuuttt Dont we have 1000's of acres of land that cant be used for a pretty long time anyways?!?!?! The NEVADA TEST SITE? We could be building Nuclear, Solar, Wind and Geothermal plants on all the BLM land out there. I read somewhere that if we used just a fraction of the BLM land we could power the ENTIRE USA WITH solar power ALONE. Now the MAJOR or only problem to this would be the radiation on alot of the Land. But I just figured I would throw that Idea out there
I implore you, Mr. Sun to please suggest that these charging stations be left to the market...if so, they will be properly located, properly managed, and properly priced...if not, there will be chaos, inefficient operations, and all at a much higher cost...
We actually probably could go on "trashing the planet" indefinitely. We're almost at the point of being able to engineer our environment to offset the effects of carbon emissions. Ironically hard-core environmentalists are heavily opposed to such ideas. The reason: its likely they care more about social engineering than the environment.
The planet will be destroyed soon anyway so who gives a sh*t.
In about 500 million years...