IEEE Electrification Magazine - March 2017 - 74

TEchNOLOGY LEaDErS

Technology Leaders

(continued from page 80)

of AeroVironment. GM, along with
its subsidiary Hughes Aircraft, and
AeroVironment had previously collaborated on the Sunraycer, which
had convincingly won the inaugural
Solar Challenge Race across Australia about two years earlier. The 1990
announcement galvanized the
California Air Resources Board to
proceed with the zero-emission
vehicle (ZEV) mandate set of regulations for zero- and near-zeroemission cars.
GM productized the purposebuilt Impact into the EV1 electric car,
which delivered an approximately
70-mi range in the city. There were
competitive EVs offered by Ford, Toyota, and Honda that were offered for
sale in the United States from 1996
to 2003; however, they were ultimately not a commercial success
and primarily were sold to satisfy
the mandated California sales volumes of ZEV vehicles. Most observers and participants believe that the
lack of success of these first-era cars
was due to the absence of significant driving range, leaving the vehicle's utility compromised. For those
vehicles with longer ranges that
used nickel metal hydride-type batteries, the cost was quite prohibitive
and far off what would be necessary
for volume sales.

Don't
Count
On It

Figure 3. Era 2 Magic 8 Ball reply. (Image
courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.)

Much of the first-era ZEV-mandated volumes were satisfied with
little more than golf carts and boutique volumes of fuel cell cars.
Most EV technology and product
offerings were aimed at hybrid EVs
(HEVs) in this time period, most
significantly by Toyota and less so
by Ford and Honda. This work
served to continue the maturation
of EV-enabling technologies during
this time period.

Era 2: 2007-2012
In 2007, Nissan decided to make a big
bet on EVs (Figure 3). For years Nissan had been absent from HEVs, as
its principal Japanese competitors
had poured deep resources developing the technologies and were working on their third generation of HEV

products. At that time, Nissan also
lagged behind Ford and GM in HEV
products. Meanwhile, Nissan thought
that they saw an opportunity to leapfrog HEVs into EVs and become a
leader in EVs just as maturing lithium ion (Li-ion) energy battery technology could enable them. In 2007,
Nissan purchased 51% of NEC's Li-ion
battery company to form the Automotive Energy Supply Corporation
(AESC). Nissan also green-lighted the
Leaf EV (Figure 4) for production.
While not wholly purpose built, the
Leaf featured new body work and a
highly specialized vehicle structure
rationalized with high-volume EV
car expectations.
When the Leaf arrived for production in late 2010, it had an unsatisfying U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) range of 79 mi and limited battery durability. It was also met
with a significant competitive plug-in
HEV offering in the form of the Chevy
Volt, which has a very low EV range
but effectively unlimited vehicle
utility with its gasoline engine that
diminished the Leaf's customer
appeal. Several other EVs with similar
ranges were soon offered from Ford,
Volkswagen, Fiat, Honda, Toyota, and
Chevy. These were collectively known
as ZEV compliance cars and were
thus sold principally only at volumes
and in regions required by each manufacturer to comply with the ZEV
regulation. Outside of this purpose,
these were, and still are, at a driving
range and price point that is unappealing to a mass market and not a
positive business case for the original
equipment manufacturers (OEMs).

Era 3: 2012-Present

Figure 4. A 2011 Nissan Leaf. (Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.)

I E E E E l e c t r i f i cati o n M agaz ine / march 2017

Tesla had been producing the Roadster for several years. The Roadster
was, in many ways, the spiritual
descendant of the EV1. It was a twoseat, sports-oriented car powered by
an induction motor (IM) with very

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Electrification Magazine - March 2017