POWER August 2011 - 77

ELECTRIC VEHICLES
Range anxiety remains a nontrivial concern.
In June this year, Greentech Media reported
that two participants in the Charged
2011 symposium on electric transportation,
held in Silicon Valley, ironically found themselves
stranded when driving home from the
event as a result of their Nissan Leafs running
out of charge. Other participants also shared
stories of running out of power " at inconvenient
times. " Though these drivers clearly are
supporters of EVs, their experiences point to
the need for charging infrastructure buildout
and more reliable range estimates.
Environmental Advantages
Even though EVs have no direct air emissions,
some opponents argue that if larger numbers
of EVs are used in the U.S. in the future, that
could lead to an increase in undesirable emissions
if the additional electricity were to be
generated by coal-fired power plants. Duvall
countered that " the criticism that electric vehicles
will increase air emissions is unfounded. "
He pointed out that in 2007, EPRI released
the results of a comprehensive study related
to this specific issue that the research group
did in partnership with the Natural Resources
Defense Council. The study showed that
there were no significant impacts on air quality
from increased power generation. In fact,
the switch to EVs created modest air quality
improvements everywhere, though particularly
in urban areas.
" When considering the entire energy cycle
(well-to-wheels), plug-in vehicles would reduce
greenhouse gas emissions (even when
comparing them to hybrids and considering
higher emitting fossils plants that are part of
the generation mix) by an amount approaching
half a billion tons by 2050, " he said. " This
includes the portion of the electricity for plugin
vehicles that would be coal-generated. "
Banskota also took the position that the
widespread use of PEVs would be beneficial
to the environment. " Even if powered by the
generation from a coal plant built in the last 30
years, electric vehicles have fewer emissions,
including carbon, than fossil fuel-powered
vehicles, " he said. " However, electric vehicles
are charged on a mixture of generation
fuels, so they are markedly cleaner. "
He pointed out that in Texas, for example,
the generation mixture includes zero-emission
wind and nuclear, as well as natural gas. West
Texas wind blows most strongly at night,
which is when most people are expected to
charge their EVs, thus maximizing the mix of
renewable power used in charging EVs.
In addition, most nonattainment areas
under the Clean Air Act criteria are in cities,
where the majority of the vehicles are.
In contrast, power generating plants are by
and large in rural areas, so at the very least
there is a dispersion of emissions when EVs
are used. Across the board, EVs are cleaner
than fossil-fueled vehicles and help promote
better air quality, according to Banskota.
Encouraging Consumers to Buy EVs
One of the main hurdles that PEV manufacturers
currently have is convincing customers to
buy EVs when they are still considered to be a
new technology. Recent EPRI consumer survey
research suggests that, based on today's circumstances,
between 10% and 15% of new car
purchasers show strong intentions in the next
five years of buying an EV, either a PHEV or
all-electric vehicle, Duvall said. However, he
warned that " there are important rigidities that
could lower the near-term level of adoption. "
" There is a gap between perceived and
actual electric vehicle characteristics and
ownership experience, " he said. " While most
respondents indicate that they were aware of
electric vehicles, there appears to be a considerable
gap between what they initially perceive
to be the EV ownership experience, and what
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