A comic artist's views on electric cars.
The following is simply my thought about electric cars, pros and cons and some thoughts about design and what else I have gathered from my research. The Katharsisdrill digressive and amateurish kind of popular science.
It is a bit strange that I recently have put so much effort into understanding electric cars. I never had a driver's license, I never owned a car. As some of you know I have always just had a bicycle, which here in Copenhagen is the fastest and cheapest way of getting around (I'm a poor artists and every penny saved has been a penny I didn't have to earn from a day-job).
But I have read a lot about electric cars lately. One reason is that I am pretty sure we need to stop using fossil fuels, I do not claim to know what exactly will happen if we don't, but changing the composition of the atmosphere to pre-mammal levels just doesn't sounds safe... and I prefer cold weather to warm.
Another reason, and the most important is that I have introduced an electric car in my comic about Phill from GCHQ and as I am a obsessive researcher I have looked into the subject.
The fuel
What is the biggest problem with electric cars? The electric motor has been around for more than a hundred years and it is far superior to other kinds of motors. So the problem is the portable energy source. Simply put the electric car has the best motor, and a lousy energy supply, while a gasoline motor is a lousy inefficient engine, but has the best energy supply. Gasolin has a high energy density and it is easy to handle. It is also good for starting fires.
So how is science doing finding new battery types that can substitute the Ion-Lithium battery that is your best bet right now. Not very good actually. There is not much investment as nobody dares go into research that is not ready to capitalize. So as usual the market does not drive basic research, state financed universities are.
A lot of the potential of different battery types is already known, as it is basic chemistry we are dealing with, and the metal-air batteries are what draws attention. One of these, the aluminum-air battery, can almost compete with fossil fuels on energy density, it is potentially far cheaper than lithium-ion batteries as it does not depend on rare metals. Unlike metal-ion batteries, the metal-air batteries reacts directly with oxygen from the air saving a lot of weight and space.
But there are problems. The process causes corrosion of the anode, the aluminium simply disappears, and this short life of the battery works badly with the car-owner's demand for a rechargeable battery.
There are start-up, like this Israeli startup that envisions a future on Alu-Air, but many, many things have to be solved and many mistakes have to be made before that specific holy grail of technology is found (if ever).
The electric motor
The beauty of an electric car is really the simplicity. Instead of trying to make a camp-fire into a moving vehicle which takes one hell of a complicated engine, it is simple: Electric motor, Batteries, and maybe a compressor for braking.
Here's a guy who rebuild old cars into electric ones:
As is mentioned these cars are also much quieter, and the torc of the electric engine makes a a gearbox unnecessary. Then there's efficiancy. A gasoline motor uses at best 30% of the energy put into it on moving the vehicle forward, an electric engine uses 80%.
Design
So the electric car is already there, it uses lithium-ion batteries that are made in Asia with energy from coal-plants and that uses rare metals. They need a heating system to prolong the life of the batteries, and they still take a lot of energy to move around, and if that energy is made in a coal plant they are not completely clean. The particle and CO2 pollution has just been moved somewhere else. But in spite of these criticisms they do pollute a lot less all in all (the German car industry put out some reports last year, but they have been debunked). So what do they look like?
They look like a normal car. Heavy, ugly, taking up space in the cities and motorways. For all the simplicity and saved space they are mostly just the same old junk.
I think people should use bicycles in towns and cities. Bikes are healthier, uses less space, are easy to build and repair etc. But if I should decide what the electric car should look like in the future I would prefer it to be lightweight, compact, simple. So I'm one of those purists that do not appreciate noise and shiny lacquer? Yes, I am when it comes to transport, not when it comes to food, art and lap dance. Here are a two project I think are cool.
The Aptera is no more. You can read here how it all went to pieces, but it is one spiffy looking vehicle, three wheeled and as aerodynamic as is at all possible. Now the original creators seem to try to revive the project.
Danish e-bike manufacterors Biomega have made this prototype based on their experience with creating e-bicycles. It weighs only 950 kg (a low weight when you have to fit in the heavy ion-lithium batteries) it is made of carbon fiber reinforced plastic to hold the weight down, it has four electric motors of 82 horsepower and a top speed of 130 km / h. The range of a charge is up to 160 kilometers - not much but enough to traverse a large city. As of now it is only a concept, but it recently did win a design contest in Berlin.
I will try to write posts for the STEM community as often as I can come up with something to write about. I kind of sympathize with the idea of these sub-steem communities as I think specialisation will increase the quality of the posts.
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When I saw the 'Aptera'.. I instantly thought...
'You have 15 seconds to comply...'
The eighties where a GOLDEN AGE of cinema (I use BOOSTER caps lock for emphasis).
ED-209 is just cult!
Indeed! I always liked the wacky and provocative films of Paul Verhoeven.
And here's Ray Leno driving it (there's also a very old electric car in the clip.)
Electric cars do have very bright future and certain issues (dumped batteries, new technologies in batteries production) related to these electric Cars addressed once they become very prevelent in Global market. Even after so much for marketing and wide spread innovation in electric cars, you still don't see them very often, specially in developing countries. It's very important to create electric car culture for people to giveup their fossil fuel vehicle addictions. It will take some time, but I believe the future is not far away.
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It just need to be fashionable. Places where you have electricity the fuel is much cheaper and people will use that as an incentive, but of course in countries that have a faulty grid we will see gasoline cars. I am mainly concerned about getting cars away in the rich countries. They are by far the biggest polluters.
Electric cars have to play a big role in future personal transport. Burning oil is not sustainable. Those who say electric cars run on oil or gas tends to ignore that refining motor fuel uses a lot of energy.
I would really like my next car to be electric, but I am not driving a lot these days. I live in a small town with a limited bus service. I can get a train to work, but doing the weekly shop or visiting family are not viable by bike or public transport.
@demotruk was posting about how little he had spent on electricity for his Leaf this year. That hot me looking at used models. New ones at around £30k are hard to justify for how much we drive and most models seem to cost about that. Used is something to consider.
Batteries have been improving, but may be hitting limits without radical new technology. Small cars like the Renault Twizzy may serve the needs of people who mostly do short city journeys. Not everyone needs a big car, but I guess the battery size and weight make smaller cars less viable.
I'm keeping an eye on developments so let us know any cool news you hear about.
If the Danish Government means business (and I am sure they can't overlook that seven out of ten Danish voters support the goal of reducing CO2 emissions by 70% already in 2030), the whole experiment will be happening here in the coming years. I understand that you are looking around for the right solution - the thing that has to be done will be a complete upheaval of our societies, and none of us really know what will be demanded of us.
I am sure a lot of clean energy tech news will fill the Danish papers the next many years (it already does actually), so I'll try to report as soon as I see something about the topic.
A bicycle is greener and more economical than an electric car, but it doesn't fulfill the same propose for everyone. If you're young, single and live in a good city for it, a bicycle can fulfill most of your transport needs, and you can use public transport and taxis for when they can't.
As you get older, have more responsibilities or if you live in an rural area, it's no longer feasible to just have a bike. The purpose of an electric car vs the alternatives such as public transport and bicycles/walking is to be flexible and to save time (which gets more valuable and scarce as your responsibilities increase).
BTW most electric cars sold in Europe and America are built in Europe and America, not in Asia. They are not generally powered by coal - most European countries and American states have a mix of energy sources and are almost universally cleaner than the petrol alternatives.
Thanks a lot for the comment! In rural areas I agree it is not always practical to bike, and as more and more small communities close down in the countryside all over the world it can be downright impossible to manage daily life on a bike. 20 km back and forth to do the shopping would be a bit tiresome.
Of course not every life situation is convenient with a bike. The problem is not age or family life though, but transport culture and infrastructure. In cities where you have a biking culture like here in Copenhagen you see many old people and children on bikes. If you are fit you can bike as long as you can drive a car, and cycling make you fit. I also know very busy business leaders who bike 5-10 km each day each way to their job using it as their daily workout. If you have to go new places over long distances every day, like a salesman or craftman, a car is the best means of transport. But commuters are stuck in traffic every day in many medium to large cities.
As stated above I live in Copenhagen which together with the large Dutch cities are special in having very good bicycle infrastructure including the ability to bring the bikes on trains and subway. I know full well that you can't just do the same in other places. If your city does not support bicycling and have lousy public transport you will also need a car obviously. Some places biking is simply dangerous.
The cars are built in the West, but most of the batteries are made in Singapore and China. There has been quite a few reports about it (among them the ones made by the German car-industry). The latest calculations made here in Denmark shows that the EV is still superior to gasolin vehicles by many leagues when it comes to polluting.
I wish things were as rosey as you painted for electric vehicles.
However, the truth is that the environmental impact of a brand new Tesla is far more than a 1965 Cadillac which has been spewing smoke for half a century.
Further, with our poor (and heavy) batteries the electric vehicle is only as efficient as any other gas burning vehicle. We are just exchanging the burning of gasoline where and when the power is required to burning coal, oil, radiative materials beforehand.
Now, the electric motor is FAR SUPERIOR to a ICE engine in producing a controlled/controllable vehicle. All railroad companies have switched to Diesel/Electric. Yes, all of those trains are moved by electric motors. Because you can apply the correct amount of torque exactly when you need to. It is by far, a better car mover.
The biggest hidden gotcha with electric cars is their competition, gasoline, is a waste product from cracking oil. So, if we don't put into cars, it has to be burnt off.
And the one that politicians aren't telling you is that the push for electric cars is to control the people. Want to go to work? Well, if you failed to pay any of your taxes, your car doesn't go. The govern-cement knows when and where you plugged your car in. And they can veto your charging intent.
I don't think I paint e-vehicles rosy at all, and it is not true that the electric car is worse than the gas driven car. If you have clean electricity from for example windmills the e-car is cleaner. You are right about the batteries being completely inadequate, and we simply don't know if a better battery will emerge.
Truth be told I think rails is the best and most comfortable way of travelling, and with low friction and overhead power lines it does solve all of the above problems. That is the way I travel.
As for surveillance it is true that many electricity services are monitored - at least in England. I had a hard time, and as a result the poor heroes of my comic had a hard time finding ways to recharge their rebuilt veteran car without being tracked by the intelligence services. On the other hand - they are tracking credit cards and cellphones too so when you buy that gas you better use cash :)
I was speaking about the mining of lithium.
Has to be done in countries like Afghanistan because it is so toxic.
Just that makes it more polluting then gasoline ICE.
Now, something we should do is go back to working on gasoline turbines. They are way more efficient than ICEs, the problem was the gearing. turbines can't handle various RPMs and varying torque loads that is needed to directly drive wheels. But they can power a gen-set.
Further, we could use a Tesla Turbine, making it buildable by any guy in his garage with a lathe.
Couple that with new super-capacitors, and we will see real improvements in automotives.
However, we are about to see people changing from going to a job, to living in tight groups called families, and will pretty much just stop driving.
That and the single rail automated shipping train/containers that go to each community.
Lithium mining is a bitch for sure, and the bad conscience of all EV owners I have talked to. Chile and Congo is also suffering from it. Would be great if the beer cans could be made into batteries instead.
Maybe the future will be clans connected by trains, who knows.
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Yeah I can’t wait until electric cars take over the market. Like with everything new issues will arise, but I think many oil-related problems (both environmental and political) will be forced to wither away.
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Yes, it will be very interesting to see what happens.
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Actually a very promising alternative to electric vehicles is cars that run on ammonia (nh3) with a few modification a diesel-car can run on it, the rest-product of burning nh3 is nitrogen and water. and the energy density is higher than gasoline. the main problem is the production ammonia is one of the largest productions in the world(for e.g. fertilisers ) but the process is dependent on fossil fuel(Haber -Bosch process) - however recently, teams of researchers at DTU in the copenhagen region, managed to make ammonia using processes similar to what happens in plants without the use of fossil fuel. Currently they are working on scaling up the production and since there is already a market for ammonia there is commercial interest in the project. one of the nice things about this is that it can then also be used as a means to store surplus energy from windmills or solar power, thus eliminating the problem with fluctuations in the amount of energy available. I really think anyone interested in renewable energy sources should look into this. here is a short paper on the subject (unfortunately only in danish, but i believe an autotranslator could give a fair result) https://ing.dk/artikel/pilotanlaeg-skal-teste-produktion-groen-ammoniak-213941
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