Cars, trucks and other vehicles are slowly but surely being reborn into a new greener lifestyle. While only a small percentage of vehicles on the road are currently in this new class of vehicles, the number is growing every day and is expected to increase rapidly over the upcoming decade and beyond. There are currently three main classes of electric vehicles: hybrids, plug-in hybrids and full electric vehicles. So what are the differences and what technology will win in the end?
The first and most common class of green vehicle on the road today is the standard hybrid electric vehicle or HEV. The standard hybrid electric vehicle has an electric motor and rechargeable batteries added to the conventional gas engine. Hybrid vehicles in general obtain significantly better gas mileage than their gas-only counterparts, however they still rely significantly on their gas engine to operate. There are multiple formats of hybrid vehicles, with the parallel hybrid and the series hybrid being the two most common.
- In the parallel hybrid vehicle, both the gasoline engine and the electric motor turn the transmission to drive the vehicle. When slowing down, the electric engine works as a generator, using the power generated by slowing the vehicle down to charge the battery.
- In the series hybrid, the gasoline engine powers the electric motor by way of a generator and the electric motor turns the transmission. So the gasoline engine never directly powers the vehicle. As with the parallel, the generator uses slowing down the vehicle to charge the batteries.
The next class of electric vehicle is the plug-in hybrid electric vehicle, or PHEV. The plug-in hybrid is very similar in design to the standard hybrid vehicle, however it has the ability to plug-in to standard household current to charge the batteries. It also provides the ability to run almost entirely on electric power for shorter ranges. So for shorter trips, the PHEV can use little or no gasoline.
The last class of electric vehicle is the full electric vehicle. Electric vehicles do not even have a gasoline engine. They operate entirely on electrical power and are recharged through standard household current. They use batteries which power an electric motor, which drives the vehicle.
So what are the pros and cons of the main classes of green vehicles? The standard hybrid vehicles are currently more expensive than standard gas engine vehicles, though the costs are coming down year by year. There are potential cost for battery replacement, though long term auto warranties and improving technology is lessening these concerns. The standard hybrid vehicles have significantly better gas mileage than gasoline vehicles, are less expensive per mile driven and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Plug-in hybrid vehicles are very new to the market with most vehicles due to roll out in 2009. So availability is currently an issue. PHEVs will have more batteries installed than HEVs, which drives up the costs of the vehicles, making them more expensive than HEVs. However plug-in hybrid vehicles are able to operate for limited distances on electric power only, producing better gas mileage, lowering per-mile costs and greehouse gas emissions conmpares to HEVs. PHEVs also need to be plugged into household current to charge the batteries, so they need to be located close to a power source. While electricity generation also produces greenhouse gasses, they are far lower than gasoline emissions. In addition, electricity can be generated from alternative energy sources such as wind, solar and geothermal power, dramatically reducing the impact on the environment.
Full electric vehicles are also "new" to the market, as they were crushed during their last emergence during the early 2000's. They have only recently become part of the major auto manufacturers' plans, so their current availability is limited. However over the next few years, full electric vehicles are expected to become a major part of the green vehicle market. The advantages of the full electric vehicles are straightforward. Electric vehicles have zero tailpipe emissions and have extremely low per-mile costs for operation. Yet at this time the technology limits the range of the vehicles to the 100 mile range (though there are exceptions). They also must be recharged at a power source, which takes hours of charging time. Also, while they use zero gas, electric vehicles do use electricity and electricity (as noted above) has its own emissions issues. Yet with the likely growth in the use of alternative energy sources, these emissions can be minimized and are far lower than those of traditional gas powered vehicles.
So what technology will win in the end? It is likely that over the next few years, standard hybrid vehicles will take the lion's share of the green vehicle market. HEVs are in greater supply than the others, they do not require plugging-in and they do not have distance limitations. Just look at the incredible popularity of the Toyota Prius to see what the market will be like for HEVs in the next few years.
However, as battery technology improves and battery costs come down, look for PHEVs to begin taking market share. PHEVs will provide even greater MPG than HEVs and they will continue to get stronger as they electric-only range increases due to technological advances. So after a few years of dominance by HEVs, expect the PHEVs to overtake them in percentage of sales.
Looking 10 years from now, it can be expected that technology will have reached the point where full electric vehicles will have the range capabilities of the HEV and PHEV vehicles. Once this occurs, expect another shift in demand to the full electric vehicle. When range increases and costs come down, the allure of electric vehicles will increase dramatically.
As the US and the rest of the world attempt to move away from dependance on oil as a power source, expect green vehicles to flourish. As more awareness is brought to the forefront on pollution and global warming, expect alternative enegry sources such as solar, wind and geothermal to increase dramatically. When alternative energy technology and green vehicle technology merge, the world will find a major solution to some of the most pressing problems the world has ever faced. The movement has already begun and it will be exciting to watch as humanity works to correct the errors of our past.
-BeeHawk-
The best selling hybrid car is back for more in 2009. While the 2010 Toyota Prius has already been shown at the Detroit Auto Show, the current model for most of the year will be the 2009 model. There have been only minor changes from the 2008 Prius, with some larger changes expected in the 2010 Prius.
re expected to be in the newer 2010 model.
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