Building a Case for Electric Vehicles
April 3, 2013, IEEE CE Society and CASPA, San Jose, CA—Frankie James from GM described her efforts in supporting EV adoption. The makers of electric vehicles (EV) are working to make EVs more user friendly and plan to use the EVs to meet the coming corporate gas mileage requirements.
The latest electric and hybrid vehicles are changing the landscape. Plug-in electrics need a plentiful charging infrastructure, and the lack of chargers causes driver range anxiety. The Volt HEV gets about 25-50 miles on its charge, then gets energy from a gas generator. The coming Spark will have a DC fast charge capability, as will the Cadillac ELR, due out in ’14.
EVs are categorized as; hybrid, with short range plus gas range extension; extended range, with up to 50 miles range then gas; and full EV, where the range can be anything from 100 to 300 miles. A full EV is a balance between charge time and range.
Sales for EVs and hybrid vehicles are increasing, but still a niche product. So far, after three years of tracking with On-Star, 2/3 of electric vehicle miles are with electricity. Total mileage is over 133 M electric miles. The average hybrid user goes about 900 miles between fill ups, so a 40 mile range is sufficient for most users.
The charging and other infrastructure are available in 120 and 240 VAC versions in all the EVs, and the industry has gone to a standard power connector, just like the standard gas fill line. The records show that most cars are at home 90 percent of the time, with the balance of time at rest and driving to some local destination. This behavior means that the charging infrastructure is already in place for most drivers.
Half of the users are connecting to their 120VAC power, causing a $0 setup and installation effort. The 240VAC installation can cost from $500 to $6,000 with the average being about $1,500 plus the charger hardware. One out of five users add a second meter for time-of-use rates, which adds $900 for the extra meter. In the US, 70 percent of houses have 240VAC service, so there is no local grid issues for a 3.3 KW (240 VAC ) feed. The Tesla is a challenge, as it charges at a 19.2 KW rate.
The auto makers are helping buyers with residential charger installation. They offer assistance with the permit process, installation through preferred vendors, meters, and all other facets of the work. The second effort is to address chargers in the workplace. Finally, the public infrastructure needs to be built up.
In addition, the auto maker and utilities are working with each other and other organizations to ready the grid for more EVs. EPRI and 50 utilities are working on EVs as temporary storage for the grid, as well as looking to upgrade the grid for the power delivery volumes anticipated. Some areas are looking at incentives to help overcome the barriers to greater adoption, such as $2500 credit for a second meter in Detroit.
The Federal government has a $7,500 tax credit for an EV purchase. States are pitching in with rebates and tax credits, as well as special privileges like HOV lane access, and free parking and charging stations. More incentives are coming this year. The Department of Energy has an app that identifies locations with charging stations. All levels of government are getting their infrastructure plug-in ready. GM has some corporate charging sites, and other companies are following.
The Department of Transportation has issued a grand challenge for a plug-in EV that is affordable and convenient. They realize that one barrier is perception and the infrastructure issues are dominant. The various groups are emphasizing an 10x increase in workplace charging facilities within 5 years to overcome the range anxiety issues.
The enablers for greater adoption are in place. The vehicles are on show floors, and more are coming. Charging at the home is a viable option, and soon multi-dwelling units will be able to offer charging. Public charging stations are starting to appear on the highways and byways in the US. The public needs more education and awareness on the benefits and counters to the adverse publicity associated with earlier EVs.
Now, the battery packs are given a 8-year warranty from GM. One interesting area is to find secondary uses for the battery packs to grow the lifecycle. The issue of touch controls and other user interfaces is a problem. The number of screens is a distraction issue, so maybe they should only be used when not looking. A touch point in the bezel may work. The supporting technologies and configurations may be a generational issue. Younger people are able to blind type on mobile devices, so this is an ergonomics and human interface issue.
Electrification is a major game-changer, however, the gas engine will be around for a long time. Improving EV economy and building infrastructure will help, but the auto makers will still work on gasoline engines. GM learned from the EV-1 that a new fuel type changes everything. The Volt is not dependent upon pubic charging stations, and the assumption is that such facilities don’t exist, at least in the short term.
New technologies for charging are always being developed, but the idea for inductive charging is difficult. You have high loss, and high inefficiency with poor alignment to the coils. This technology is ok for cell phones where you aren’t trying to get a lot of power into the device, but a car needs a lot of energy. This type of technology is a very big infrastructure change and is not part of GM’s strategy.
One area is in changing the user interface. Tactile feedback is one possibility. One could put everything into the center stack and make it the mission control area. The touch areas could be customized and made easy for the user. Touch is not for all functions, as gestures, and voice inputs are also possible. They are looking at the various technologies and deciding if they are applicable to use in the car. Haptics are under review to see if they will be useful in all driving conditions, like with gloves.
