Perspectives

EVs not evolution but possible revolution in society's relationship with the car

Ken Sakamura (Mainichi)

The hot topic in the consumer electronics industry today is, of course, 3D televisions and the anticipation of increased demand among people ready to replace their current TV sets.

If the amount of high-quality content such as "Avatar" -- which I discussed last time -- increases, there is a good possibility that such televisions will become the norm.

The other day, I was watching a television program when a commentator on the show listed electric vehicles (EVs) along with 3D televisions as two of the three contemporary "sacred treasures." Televisions, washing machines and refrigerators were touted as Japan's "three modern sacred treasures" during the nation's period of rapid economic growth. Everybody worked hard to possess these three appliances, seen as symbols of the nation's wealth in the post-war era.

I doubt Japan will see a period of great enthusiasm like that again, but what was even more perplexing to me was the fact that electric cars made the list.

The commentator probably sees hybrid cars as an environmentally friendlier version of gasoline only cars, and by extension, EVs as even more ecologically sound than hybrids. Because hybrids -- with their gas-powered engines and motors -- seem like an intermediate form, quite a few people probably see the EVs in a similar manner as the TV commentator did. But electric vehicles are a completely different product, one that cannot be regarded as a new and improved version of legacy fuel-propelled cars.

3D televisions can be seen as an evolved version of existing televisions, with a special function that allows us to see pictures three-dimensionally. None of television's existing functions have retrogressed by adding the new function.

On the other hand, there is one clear retrogression of EVs from existing cars. And that is the long time it takes to recharge a vehicle.

With gas cars and hybrids, one can stop by a gas station and fill up if fuel levels run low. This usage pattern is possible because gasoline refueling, in other words "recharging," takes a mere two to three minutes.

Not so with EVs. A full charge takes about 10 hours, and even with special high-voltage quick charger equipment, it takes a few dozen minutes to recharge the battery by a modest 80 percent. Please recall a fully charged car runs for only about 100 kilometers. That's about 20 percent of the distance that a comparable ordinary car with a full tank of gas can cover.

Of course, there are not many ordinary drivers who would drive over 100 kilometers each day, but the problem is that when the battery runs out, you must wait for a few dozen minutes at the least even if there is a recharging facility nearby.

Many people will probably make it a rule to charge their cars overnight like they do their cell phones, since EVs, unlike gas-fueled cars, can be "refueled" using standard electrical outlets found in most residences. But, just like our cell phones sometimes run out of batteries while we're out, the same could happen with EVs.

The crucial point here is that one cannot operate an EV like one used to operate a gas-fueled car by simply stopping by a gas station to fill her up with very little loss in time. Users now need to ensure that their recharging schedule complements their activities and plans.

Some envision a recharging infrastructure in which low-priced recharging facilities would be set up in all parking lots so that people could charge their cars for the ride home while taking care of errands and other business. Further, some manufacturers are trying to develop EVs with exchangeable batteries.

However, even if car batteries become exchangeable they are extremely expensive, and extra batteries would take up space. The common thinking is that EV users would go to service companies that own and offer rental batteries and exchange their depleted batteries for charged ones. Such a scheme, however, would be highly inconvenient unless the automobile industry standardizes car batteries.

Thinking about EVs in this way leads us to the understanding that their wide adoption is not a simple matter of personal consumption, but an adoption of a transportation system that entails a change in society's infrastructure as a whole.

Moreover, if society is serious about adopting EVs as an environmentally friendly alternative in spite of the problems that will arise including the retrogression mentioned above, car batteries should be made as small as possible. Valuable rare metals are used in EV batteries, and plus, the lighter they are, the less energy cars will use to lug them around.

Batteries also take up a large proportion of the cost of EVs. If EV batteries are to become available in rental form only, why not just make EVs themselves available as rentals?

Such an EV rental system could be modeled after Velib, a bicycle rental program that has proven popular in Paris. There would be "stations" with several parked EVs everywhere. Users would check out a car using a smart card, drive the car to their destination, dropping off the car at a nearby EV station. On return they rent a car again at a nearby station. The payment would be usage-based.

The cars would always be hooked up to recharging equipment at these stations, and remaining electricity levels would constantly be monitored by a network so that stations would function as distributed power supply banks to minimize power generation loss within the smart grid. EVs are not a simple mode of transportation, but rather should be considered as part of the social infrastructure of a new era.

Just like cell phones are network terminals that provide the service of "communication," EVs can be considered as network terminals that offer the service of "transportation." We are approaching an era in which we need to abandon the idea of owning a car as a standalone vehicle. (By Ken Sakamura, professor of Applied Computer Science at the University of Tokyo)

Click here for the original Japanese story