electric vehicle news

A lot is being written these days about the electric cars and the future of automotive industry vis a vis green technology. In the midst of all the excitement and jubiliation, we have already seen companies investing generous amounts of money in research and development in the electric car market space.

Manufacturers like Nissan are bidding big time on electric cars like Leaf to become a leader in the green market space. The UK Government has also given a push through Department of Transport for the development and deployment of electric vehicles. And, Nissan’s Leaf has had a very successful pre sales buzz across the US States that it intends to target this year.

Electric cars are truly the future of modern automotive industry. The question, however, is how distant is that future? From all the data that is available and the level of development that has taken place for electric cars as of now, it does appear that electric cars will get initial boost from certain niche markets, specifically in the US and parts of Europe. The underlying fact for this is that there are certain States that have already set aside budgets to deploy charging stations across towns and cities to facilitate charging of electric cars through the public infrastructure.

But, electric technology still has a lot to cover before we can consider it an able replacement of the organic fuel industry. There are in fact 3 major challenges that will decide the type and pace of growth in the electric technology. And some of the major deterrents to growth of electric technology are:

a)Cost – One of the biggest challenges for the electric car market space is the cost of the finished product. The cost is definitely higher, and makes an electric car beyond the reach of common folks like you and me. What this means is that there will be some time before the electric car technology is able to integrate higher capacity batteries that could be produced at mass levels. This will help in reducing the costs by somewhat. And for the sake of analysis, we are overlooking any possible subsidies that the Government could provide because subsidies are outside the market dynamics. Hence a subsidized product will not be a true indicator of overall market statistics.

b)Lack of support infrastructure – This is by far the biggest challenge to growth of electric cars. Think of the number of pump stations that are located within 5 miles of your home. Now, think of the number of charging stations that are located within 5 miles of your home. You can understand the extent of gulf between the 2 infrastructures. If we were to make an intelligent guess, this gap can be reduced over a period of next 50 years. You may counter me by talking about home based charging kits. Yes, these should work to a certain extent. However, a bustling, tangible public charging infrastructure is a must for easy adoption of electric cars Now, until we reach that comfortable stage, we are actually not looking into a situation whereby each person has an electric car or vehicle for personal or business use. It is simply not practical to have a car that cannot be sustained with good public infrastructure.

c)Lack of Uniform Policy – Another impediment is the lack of a clear cut universally defined and ratified policy for use and growth of electric cars and technology. The US Congressmen cannot make electric technology a hit without having a similar policy in China, Europe, India, Brazil and other bigger countries. Each Government is required to demonstrate political will and a resolve to ensure that their countries become suitable markets for growth and adoption of electric fuel technology. And getting multiple countries from multiple regions to agree on a universal policy has not worked so well. You can see the failure of Copenhagen Climate Summit as a case in point for failed policy making.

Primarily, these impediments are the ones that could deprive electric fuel technology of a rightful place in the future. Unless of course, all Governments and automotive companies resort to philanthropy and work towards making electric fuel the most acceptable fuel for new generations.

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Hot of the market, this brand of hybrid car is on the tip of everyone’s tongue. Prius stands for prize in most people’s book when they think about hybrid cars. And that’s not just because a Toyota Prius looks pretty. In terms of hybrid cars, the Toyota Prius has tons to offer car consumers. And it’s not as if potential hybrid car buyers don’t know that. News of the Toyota Prius is everywhere in the media.

Why? Well first of all, the Toyota Prius is a great kind of hybrid car. The model I speak of is Toyota’s petrol and electric hybrid model. It’s sharp, stunning, and is a best seller among hybrid cars. This car is so good that it was voted car of the year in Europe for the year 2005. Furthermore, in the United States, the Toyota Prius got an award that was very comparable to the car of the year award given in Europe.

But the Toyota Prius hybrid car isn’t selling off the lots because it is the fastest car around. Some Toyota Prius’s have some pretty high profile owners. Among them are Leonardo Dicaprio, Harrison Ford, and Susan Sarandon. With these people driving this particular hybrid car, off course it’s selling like a hotcake. And the stars are doing a world of good for the sales of hybrid cars in general.

But while the success of the Toyota Prius is good for Toyota, it isn’t so good for its competitors who have yet to manufacture a hybrid car. Now Nissan, GM and other popular car manufacturers are trying to quickly get their act together and come up with their version of the hybrid car.

Some of these other manufacturers just did not believe that people would put their faith in the hybrid car as a solution to the constant fluctuation of oil prices. But the number of sales for the Toyota Prius hybrid car has certainly caused a change of tune for competing car manufacturers. So soon you might here of a best-selling Nissan hybrid or GM hybrid. And Toyota Prius buyers shouldn’t get too comfortable with their car because before they know it, something else will come out that they would like to have.

But as far as Toyota goes, claims have been made that in the near future, all Toyota engines will come with hybrid options. And Toyota also believes that it’s only a matter of time before all cars are hybrid cars or at least have hybrid engine options.

Next year, Toyota should be making Prius’s in China, and there, sales are also expected to boom. Toyota doesn’t want to leave anyone behind. Soon it may expand its manufacturing plants to locations in places like California. Surely, there are plenty of movie stars there who can be persuaded to buy this hybrid car.

The Toyota Prius is certainly making a name for hybrid cars, and hopefully the buck won’t stop with the Prius. Toyota probably has some other models of hybrids cars that are fast making there way to having top sales as well.

Many people are now getting frustrated with their usual gas-guzzling conventional car because of the constant increase in fuel prices and are they are actively looking for alternative modes of travel. Some people are now leaving their cars in the garage, preferring to car-pool, cycle or even walk to work to conserve fuel. More are turning to public transportation at the subways, bus stations braving even the worst of weather, simply to save on the ever-increasing fuel costs. However, there are some who simply need their car due to job nature or family obligations.

The Price: The biggest disadvantage of hybrid cars is definitely the price! For instance, the 2008 Toyota Camry costs about $19,000, while the hybrid version costs almost $25,000. That is approximately a $6,000 difference, which is a lot of money. Another example is the 2008 Honda Civic with a base price of $15,000, while the Civic Hybrid is costs $7,000 more. On average, the hybrid version of a car costs between $2,000 and $4,000 more than the non- hybrid version.

You don’t have to plug in a hybrid car to charge its battery. Hybrid cars use something called regernative braking to create kinetic energy and charge the battery while you drive. Regenerative braking is used on hybrid gas/electric automobiles to recoup some of the energy lost during stopping. This energy is saved in a storage battery and used later to power the motor whenever the car is in electric mode. Furthermore, some hybrid cars make use of their own combustion engine to create electricity. This is done by using a spinning electrical generator. The spinning does one of two things. It can either recharge the battery or in a more direct way, it can give power to an electric motor. This motor is what then drives the vehicle.

The Battery: As mentioned above, the batteries in hybrid cars can kill theoretically. There are some other issues with the battery. Hybrid car manufacturers include warranties to cover the batteries for 80,000-100,000 miles. The carmakers also say the car’s battery will last forever. But what if something unforeseen happens and the car’s batteries are not under warranty anymore? Unfortunately batteries cost a fortune! The other problem with the batteries is that it needs to be recharged at least every second week. So, if you go to vacation you might need to find a “car-sitter” to take care of your car. Some hybrid car owners also report problems with the battery in cold weather.

Performance: No offense, but most hybrid cars are slow! They have slower acceleration and a lower top-speed than conventional counterparts. If you are in need for speed, hybrid cars won’t satisfy your needs! Hybrid cars will make you drive slow, which is actually not a bad thing!

Despite all these drawbacks, hybrid cars are the way to! Car manufacturers are working to eliminate these disadvantages. I am pretty sure hybrid cars in the near future will be lighter, safer and provide better performance!

An electric car is a vehicle which uses electrical motors and motor controllers to power itself, instead of internal combustion engines that more typical petrol/diesel-powered cars use. Electric cars need to be re-charged roughly ever 150-250 miles, however this is their maximum life. They can be re-charged at home (using special devices) or at electric-car charging stations which are being deployed across the country (San Jose, Calif was the first to test the stations). Whilst their popularity has varied over time, they have recently (since about the mid 1990s) started gaining in popularity again. In April 2009, the United Kingdom Government announced plans to provide a subsidy of up to 5,000 to people who buy electric or hybrid cars.

Not only were gas run cars tedious to start, they emitted a lot of smoke and were very noisy, as either the mufflers used were not good or there were no mufflers at all. Believe it or not , at one point of time electric cars were so popular that there were about 50,000 electric cars running on the streets of United States.

When going slowly, such as around town, these hybrid electric vehicles actually run solely on the electricity in their batteries, making for far more fuel efficiency and reduced emissions.

However, in addition to hybrids, there are true “electric cars” – the Battery Electric Vehicle (BEV). These vehicles also work on electricity but, in this case, the sole power source is electric batteries. There is no other engine.

As with any electrical system, electric cars have numerous circuit breakers, fuses, mains contractors etc. Due to the aforementioned safety layers, it is perfectly safe to use electric cars in the rain. Remember that an electrical car is, on average, heavier than standard cars. This does mean that there will be a slightly adjustment needed when handling the vehicle (for example, just as it would if you put heavy items in the boot/trunk of a standard car). Power steering and power brakes are recommended features to look out for when purchasing an electric car.

Charging of the batteries can either be done all night or some cars need to be plugged into a standard electric wall.There are some which need a large electric outlet, something like what is used for an electric stove or electric clothes dryer. These are the various ways electricity is stored in the cars.

Currently electric cars are seen as quite different, and aren’t very popular (albeit they are growing in popularity). However this hasn’t always been the case. In the early 20th century (1900-1920), electric cars were more popular than standard gasoline-powered cars. However their popularity rapidly diminished from the 1920s to the 1980s, as oil (and so petrol/diesel) prices become relatively cheap. However since the 1980s, oil has started becoming relatively more expensive again, and eco-friendly attitudes have risen. As such electric car popularity is rising again. In an LA car show in 1990, the President of General Motors unveiled the “Impact” electric car – this was a forerunner to the hallmark EV1 electric car.

In addition, replacing the battery packs for an electric vehicle is much more expensive than buying a new battery for your gasoline-driven car. On the other hand fuels costs are extremely low as it costs much less to run a car on electricity than gasoline. Electric cars often average the equivalent of 20 miles per gallon and cost about 3 cents a mile to run. Not only that, but you won’t be spending money on tuneups, oil changes, new mufflers, and the like when you use an environmentally-friendly electric-powered vehicle.