Not All Hybrids Are Created Equal
by Tim McGee, Helena, MT, USA on 09.26.06
Plug-in hybrid-electric vehicles may get you 100 miles per gallon, but where did those extra miles come from? What about the larger batteries needed? How does the return on investment change? A new study released last week by ACEEE (American Council for Energy Efficient Economy) compares your typical hybrid to one you can recharge at home. The study indicates that 'plug-in' hybrids may not offer the benefits a buyer expects. We highlight what you should consider before jumping to the plug-in option.
Bigger Batteries and the ROI
Size matters. The batteries needed for creating a plug-in version are heavier, larger, and cost more money. The study identified that the batteries needed for a plug-in are commercially and technologically viable for a 40 mile ride. The return on investment creeps up as the batteries get larger and the study indicated that beyond the 40 mile commute, not only is the technology not yet available, the cost would be prohibitive. Rich Clabaugh at The Christian Science Monitor has made a great pop-up image on the ROI:
But, optimists can point to the ever-increasing innovation in battery technology. Careful readers will note that if certain battery technologies (EEStor) come to market it could revolutionize the auto industry. Although a revolutionary product like that might just skip over hybrid technology altogether, a likely scenario may involve various test beds in hybrid design. In short, the large batteries needed are the Achilles heel of the plug in technology- if they become cheaper the car makes excellent economic sense, if they remain expensive then the price point simply doesn't compute. Although most will agree with me here that money isn't everything.
Central Energy Generation
Where is the energy generated? Plugging in your hybrid is like having someone else pee in the river for you. The energy is generated somewhere, and unless you know where and how that power is generated and transferred, it could be better or worse for the environment then just buying gas. The easiest solution here is to buy sustainable energy, or produce it yourself. Plugging in would lower your gas expense and your pollution. Also, even if it is not a sustainable energy source, having energy generation and pollution at one point makes it potentially easier to craft controls to limit and mitigate the associated costs. Thus, if you think energy generation will become cleaner in the near future, or if you have available clean energy, then the plug-in might just be the way to go. But remember to think about who is peeing in your neck of the woods.
Attributes of the Grid
Connecting your plug-in to the grid can have ancillary benefits. By creating a large contingent of garage plug-ins the local power utilities might make it possible for your car to act as a regulator to balance the energy load in your area. This could kick a few extra green backs into your pocket, the drawback is that it would be highly dependent on local power utilities willing to pay for this service. Also, by having such large batteries on hand when the grid goes down, you have some emergency juice. As severe weather tends to increase, the predictability of power has come into question and having some spare energy from your auto might come in handy. Lastly, we have reported before, new technology begets new technology, and creative solutions will likely abound for using and developing this new resource.
CO2 emissions
Speaking of changing climate, CO2 has received a lot of attention. Assuming you are an average American, if you use a plug in hybrid car with a 40 mile range, then you will emit about 15% less CO2 then a normal hybrid. If you live in an area where power generation is already low carbon (say...near a hydro-electric plant, wind, wave etc…) the CO2 emissions will be considerably lower. But if you live near one of the increasingly common coal fired power plants, you could actually be emitting more CO2.
In short, the technology has legs. As long as battery prices continue to drop, gasoline prices continue to rise, and CO2 is an issue, the plug-in vehicle has a bright future. It might not be a giant leap for vehicle kind, but it certainly is a step in the right direction. ::ACEEE via ::CSM
Plug-ins do show promise but I worry about the source of the electrical power if their use becomes wide spread. Some argue that it's "off peak" power but there is still a problem. Right now utilities can shut down parts of a plant duing the off peak time to maintain equipment. More demand, fewer chances to maintain equipment. So more breakdowns or you still need more plants. Guess what the cheapest fuel is...Yup the dirtest Coal.
I just heard on NPR that 18 new coal fired plants of the conventional type (not clean coal) are going to be built in Texas. There is much opposition by local govt. and residents but the state govt. is fast tracking the permits before the next election. Sad to think what it might do to the state of Texas and those downwind. Well you reap what you soe, ya vote in big business friendly, what environment, politicians (usually republicans) and that's what you get.
True, the source of electricity is probably going to be from a coal plant. You might be able to get wind power through your local utility, but lets face it, when wind isn't available you will be getting coal power.
However, evidence suggests using coal energy in an EV/plug-in hybrid is more efficient and less pollutive than a regular hybrid: “Although half the country uses coal-fired plants, EVs recharging from these facilities are predicted to produce less CO2 than ICE vehicles. According to the World Resources Institute, EVs recharging from coal-fired plants will reduce CO2 emissions in the country from 17 to 22 percent.”
“EVs recharging from fossil-fueled power plants such as coal and oil have unique efficiency advantages over ICE vehicles. As a system, EVs and power plants are twice as efficient as ICE vehicles and the system that refines gasoline (See Table 4). Although there are losses associated with generating electricity from fossil-based fuels, EVs are significantly more efficient in converting their energy into mechanical power.”
See: http://www.electroauto.com/info/pollmyth.shtml
Using coal power instead of gasoline also reduces dependency on foreign fuels.
Most analyses of payback on hybrid cars do not include RESALE VALUE - just a determine the difference in car purchase cost vs. operating savings. If you and calculate the payback period including resale values, hybrids come out much better.
hmmmmm looks cool
i think a car u can plug in a house is a good thing but then its not a good thing cuz it well make light bill
Coal powered electric plants do shutdown somewhat at night but they can't shutdown all the way so a good 90% of the coal they burn goes unused at night. This leaves a lot of room for plug-in hybrids charging at night. That they pollute nothing during the day and then use electricity produced anyway but previously not used at night gives us a net reduction in pollution. No pollution produced during the day and electricity that would have to be produced anyway at night. Not only is it easier to clean up a powerplant but it also produces its pollution way from the majority of lungs breathing its pollution, so it has less of an effect on morbidity of people. Coal used in powerplants is used very efficiently. The power to production ratio is much higher than the power production from an internal combustion engine. Plug in hybrids using the CalCars or EnergyCS method, that is using a kit and a parrallel hybrid is probably the most expensive way to make a plug-in hybrid. Making an EV with a gasoline generator to produce the long range power is far less expensive. An Electric Vehicle has far fewer moving parts. Battery technology does come down considerably with mass production. It has tends to have a PC like affect it goes up in capacity while comming down in price. Panasonic improved the NIMH battery that they use in the Prius by 60% terms of capacity and dropped the price by about that much too. They also improved their regenerative braking from 30% to 50%. If these improvements were put into the RAV4 EV it could get ranges of about 230 miles. With even better batteries such as those from A123, AltairNano or Electrovaya you would have even greater ranges maybe up to 300 miles per charge. AltairNano can be fully charge d in 6 minutes. Then there is EEStor UltraCaps, that can discharge and recharge really fast. To answer your question about what will happen with the regenerative braking, it can all be handled by a UltraCap subsystem and the batteries only used to range.
We just had a presentation in our small island in front of Seattle by Jeremy Smithson of Puget Sound Solar: he uses electricity produced by part of the solar panels installed on his house's roof (in Seattle) to charge his electric car batteries. Listen to his speech on www.voiceofbainbridge.org
I'm not sure what Mr. McGee's agenda is, but I don't think I agree with a lot of his calcs.
Just to begin with, I thought the Prius PHEV installed cost was going to be at around $10,000 - $12,000 by EDrive Systems (http://www.calcars.org/howtoget.html#diy). This of course is not counting if the manufacturers install it in the factory which would offset the cost of the existing factory batteries not needing to be used (unless I am not understanding something correctly)?
And where are these Annual fuel savings taken from? I get a savings for the hybrid at $1680 / year compared to a typical 25MPG car (at 12,000 miles/year). Not to mention my last car got 18MPG ($2333/year) and the average car today gets 20MPG. Considering the average work commute is about 15 miles one way, using electricity you could potentially fill your car up once every month or less (thats $420 + $72 [@ .60/gal] electrical cost, instead of $1680 [@ 50MPG]). In annual savings that is $1188/year for the PHEV and $840 for the typical Prius Hybrid.
I'm sure you could argue my numbers just as I have Tim's numbers, but the reality is that we don't really know, and besides... the point is the demand we are creating for the Prius is jump starting a whole industry of environmental energy efficient products and making us all rethink our transportation systems (public) and our dependencies.
Though truthfully... I'm sure if you are reading this on TreeHugger, then you probably already came to these conclusions on your own independent thinking minds. You don't need someone to tell you something is a good or a bad idea, there are clues given to you every day to help you pull this all together.
* all gas prices are factored at $3.5 which is where they are going to go back to after this little election mind game. Note: at time of writing comment, the prices were at $2.31/gal.
Edward- I have no mysterious agenda. A careful reader might notice that this particular post is concerning the publication of a report generated from ACEEE, all numbers are taken from that report. The numbers you argue upon on are not mine, but theirs.
my apologies, i should have said "what is the reports agenda?"
Maybe the cofusion on my part originated from the title of the article? Maybe a more appropriate title would have been "Report claims: Not All Hybrids Are Created Equal". It's not as factual, you know?