electric vehicle infrastructure

8/8/2019 Electric Vehicle Infrastructure

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Tis report is a critical examination o the eorts being put orth by governments and private corporations toprepare the United States or widespread usage o electric vehicles (EVs). While the technology to run auto-mobiles on electrons rather than ossil uels has existed or decades, there has been a recent resurgence in the

EV industry, due to hey ederal incentives and the impending rollout o several new all-electric vehicles romseveral automobile manuacturers. Although a consumers options or the purchase o a new electric vehicle aregoing to exponentially increase, there are still many steps to be taken in terms o electric power inrastructure andthe recharging process, beore EVs can truly become a protable and substantial share o the global automobilemarket. Te report will begin with a recent history o electric vehicles and brie overview o some o the latestmodels about to arrive in American showrooms. Next will be a technical breakdown o the battery recharge

process, ollowed by analysis o how energy utilities are going to meet demand, with a ocus upon the leading e-orts o Portland, Oregon and the west coast as a whole. Te second hal o the report will discuss the lingeringenvironmental consequences that still accompany a shi rom ossil uels to grid power, ollowed by a compari-son between the EV inrastructure goals that have been set orth by China and the United States. Te goal o

the report is to assess current implementation eorts and give a comprehensive overview o how the widespreadrollout o electric vehicles will be acilitated by corporations and governments in the next decade and beyond.

by Michael James Casey, December 9, 2010

Troughout most o the 20th century, automobilemanuacturing represented the backbone o theU.S. economy, with locally made cars powered bylocally-produced oil. But by the start o the 21stcentury, the once sturdy U.S. auto industry had beensupplanted by oreign made cars running on oreign-sourced oil, to keep up with the climbing American

demand. Te market or producing and powering vehicles has shied overseas so much that today,every time an American purchases a new car, theyare exporting $15,000 in capital to oreign econo-mies that provide the oil and parts to run that car 10.

Electric vehicles as a viable alternative to traditionalcars did not truly enter the mainstream consciousness

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Background

until the major oil crises o the early 1970s, whichmade clear or the rst time that the developing world

was rapidly depleting the planets crude oil stock.Te shock o sudden uel shortages awakened acomplacent auto industry to the need or improvingengine eciency while also developing alternative

propulsion technologies. Aer the crisis passed and

the country re-entered an era o cheap and seem-ingly abundant oil, this early spark o progress wasstifed by the publics demands or increasingly largeand consumptive personal vehicles, epitomized bythe SUV craze that gripped automobile makersor the better part o the past two decades. In thethree plus decades since C.A.F.E. standards wererst mandated at 18 MPG, that rate has only risen to

Electric Vehicle Inrastructure


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ongoing development o hybrid vehicles by agrowing list o manuacturers has spurred newdesign innovations in battery technology,

gradually reducing weight and increasing powerstorage capabilities and driving range9, steadilyimproving the appeal o all-electric vehicles as

viable transportation options or American drivers.

Te New EVs

Aer years o well-publicized research and promotion, a number o major automobile

makers are poised to rollout new electric vehiclesor the 2011 model year. Between next year and2014, the infux o EVs into the marketplace willaccelerate rom a trickle to a deluge, as over thirtycarmakers have announced plans to introducenew electric, hybrid, and plug-in hybrid modelsin the coming years11. Te earliest o these modelsare the Chevrolet Volt and Nissan Lea, with the

35 MPG, while according to the census bureau thereare 117,000 gas stations operating in the UnitedStates, or one gas station or every 2,500 people6.

Tere was a well-documented push to bring all-elec-tric vehicles into the mainstream in the 1990s, withGeneral Motors developing and test-leasing theirEV1 model to buyers in select markets in the Ameri-can southwest beginning in 1996. Aer producingnearly 1,200 o the vehicles, in early 2002 GM beganrecalling the vehicles rom lessees and systematicallydestroying them. Te ollowing year, GMs CEORick Wagoner ocially cancelled the EV1 program,citing doubts that the company could sell enough othe cars to make it a protable long term investment.

It is remarkable to consider that in less than a de-

cade since abandoning their electric vehicle pro-gram, GM is now heavily reinvested in developingEVs or its automobile portolio. Tis abrupt turn-around is due to a number o actors. In the aer-math o the nancial collapse o late 2008, assistancein the orm o a government bailout o GM andChrysler ollowed the near-collapse o both compa-nies in 2009. Forcing out Rick Wagoner, the Obamaadministration was explicit in their stipulationthat nancial assistance was contingent upon GMre-tooling their manuacturing process or small-

er, more ecient models while simultaneouslyexploring new propulsion options or their vehicles.

In the years since GM lost out on the earliest stages othe electric vehicle era with termination o the EV1,oyota has taken up the slack with its wildly popu-lar Prius model. Instead o a purely electric vehicle,the Prius utilizes both a battery pack and traditionalgasoline engine, a compromise that allows drivers toexploit the eciency advantages o electric propul-

sion with an unlimited driving range. Aer a decadeo production, oyota Motor corporation has soldover two million Priuses worldwide5, and while thisonly represents a small portion o the 1 billion strongglobal vehicle feet, the success o the electric-gas hy-brid rom oyota has orced GM and other car com-

panies to develop their own electric vehicle modelsin order to compete. Just in the past ew years, the

Te systemic destruction o GMs rst electric ehicle project

Te hybrid-electric 2011 Cherolet Volt


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ormer being a range extender EV (battery toppedby a gas-powered generator) and the latter being a

purely battery driven vehicle5. Te Volt is aimed atthe driver with a disposable income (prices start at$40,000) who is wary o being stranded roadside

with a dead battery, oering 40 initial miles o all-electric driving until the small gas engine kicks into extend range up to hundreds o miles1. Te Lea,

which costs signicantly less ($25,280 aer a ed-eral tax credit), is an all-electric vehicle with a statedrange o 100 miles, aimed at the earliest technol-ogy adopters who have the capacity to charge their

vehicle overnight in their own garages. o increasethe Lea s viability and chances or long-term suc-cess, Nissan is banking on the widespread imple-mentation o electric vehicle inrastructure alongAmerican roads in the near uture. Te company

is condent enough in its prospects that it has al-ready retooled its manuacturing plant in Smyrna,ennessee to make up to 150,000 Leas annually1.

In addition to these new models rom the majorautomobile players, there are growing number oelectric vehicle startups making notable inroads intothe EV industry. Coda Automotive is a Caliornia-based company that is developing an all-electric

sedan with a range o 120 miles, powered by Chinesebatteries and American electronics and assembled inOakland, the company plans to put 14,000 Codason the road starting next year with prices startingat $37,00010. Smith Electric Vehicles is a KansasCity-based subsidiary o the UK automotive com-

pany. Tey developed a line o all-electric mediumduty trucks or delivery feets that run on electric

Te 100% electric 2011 Nissan Lea

power trains made by Enova Systems o or-rance, CA, to be initially sold to major deliverycompanies like UPS and FedEx9. Compared to thedirectional whims o individual vehicle owners, theset routes that are driven by delivery trucks makerange anxiety less o an issue or delivery companies.Over the next ew years, EVs are sure to take hold othe automobile market in a signicant way, but willbe most concentrated in urban locations and with-in local delivery feets11. Electric vehicles will notappear on a majority o American roads until thereis a recharging network with enough reach to acili-tate travel not only within but between major cities.

Charging Infrastructure

Running more and more vehicles on electrons instead

o ossil uel will require both a substantial invest-ment in power distribution inrastructure and signi-icant public education eorts. Tere are three powerlevels o recharging stations that have been identiedby electricity providers. Level I is a standard 120-voltelectric outlet, which can be ound in the garage omany homes and will ully recharge an EV battery in14 hours. Level II is a 240-volt/32 amp AC system

with a specialized plug and socket (similar to the onesused or rerigerators), which will ully charge a bat-tery in 4 to 8 hours but require substantial electricity

service upgrades or homeowners. Level III is a 500-volt/125 amp system that will charge a battery in just30 minutes, but require three phase electric circuits(similar to the ones ound in the rooop HVACsystems o high rises) and in the case o service sta-tions with multiple recharge points, will require anelectricity capacity on the order o megawatts11.

Widespread usage o electric vehicles will presentthe U.S. economy with a variety o downstream

business oppurtunities. Te recharging o EVs willrepresent a huge increase in the peak load demandon electric power utilities, and will be dependent ontechnology or charging providers to communicate

with power plants or load shedding and suddenincreases in demand. Utilities and large electricalequipment manuacturers are realizing the potentialo the Electric Vehicle Service Equipment (EVSE)


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industry, with some already providing chargingequipment or a user base that barely exists yet11.

General Electric plans to introduce their WattStationcharging system to the market in 2011, to be aimed atEV drivers but also businesses and governments that

want to provide their customers and constituentswith automobile charging options outside the home.Tere are many economic benets to be shared in theemerging EVSE industry, with electrical wholesalers

predicting that or every dollar spent on a new charg-ing station, y cents worth o parts will be requiredto hook it up to the power grid11. I current estimateso 600,000 charging stations in North America by2015 hold true, the implementation o EV recharging

inrastructure represents a market o $3-6 billionor the power industry over the next our years11.Existing research shows that drivers mostly reuel inclose proximity to home or work, which is why automanuacturers suggest that initial inrastructureinvestments ocus on personal charging inrastruc-

ture12

. Getting EV technology o the ground amongindividual consumers will largely rely on mundane butcrucial policy details, like the issuance o speedy con-struction and electric work permits to bring recharg-stations to private homes and work settings2.Te auto industry is also reaching out to pow-er companies and major retailers to help in theimplementation o a public charging networks.

Te GE Wattstation

Carmakers know that they need to improve lowtemperature battery perormance and speed uprecharge times in order ease range anxiety amongconsumers and ensure the protability o their newEV models, which is why they are encouraging theinstallation o charge stations in supermarkets,

parking garages, and along city streets in the com-ing years9. Te worlds largest retail company Wal-mart has said it is in discussions with auto manu-acturers to install charging stations at some o itsover 8,500 locations, in addition to selling uturemodels o electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles11.

Between dierent regions o North America, thereare large disparities in the capacity or public re-charging o EVs. Much o it is ocused on the westcoast, with the state o Oregon currently leading

the nation in ownership o hybrid and all-electricvehicles1. Portland Gas & Electric, which serves acity that is already well-known or its comprehen-sive environmental improvement strategies, beganinstalling last summer the rst o over 2,500 charg-ing stations in homes and businesses throughoutthe city. Recharge stations o all levels are beinginstalled, with ast charge Level III points plannedin strategic locations and along high-trac tran-sit corridors9. PG&E has ambitious predictions orthe spread o EVs in the United States, orecasting a30% share or EVs in total US car sales by 2020 ia reliable recharging inrastructure is established9.

A public Leel II charging station in Portland, Oregon


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San Diego and southern Caliornia at large are also preparing or widespread EV adoption, with util-ity company SoCal edison utilizing the ZIP codeso new electric vehicle owners in their plans orupgrading transormers and other componentso an aging electricity inrastructure2. In anticipa-

tion o being one o the our host cities to receivethe rst shipments o Nissan Leas, San Diego hasinstalled the nations largest collection o LevelII public use chargers, with a total o 1,440 opera-tional charging points in place as o summer 20101.

Environmental Impacts

Although an all-electric vehicles does not directlyemit CO2 or other harmul pollutants into theatmosphere, reliance on grid electricity or propul-

sion only shis the negative environmental impactsto new sources that are mostly out o sight and there-ore out o mind. While EV owners are chargingtheir new clean vehicles overnight in their garages,coal and gas-red electrical generation plants are

working overtime burning petro-chemicals to trans-orm into electricity and keep up with the new o-

peak demands6. As David Grainger o the CanadianNational Post puts it, electric cars are dangerous be-cause, like alcohol-based uels, the man behind thecurtain is making us eel like his magic is real whenin act it is all just an illusion. Choking umes arerelentless, we are just moving them down the road7.

In addition to operational energy consumption, themanuacture o electric vehicle batteries also posesignicant environmental consequences. A lithiumion battery is composed o materials that are minedin Canada, rened in China, packaged in Japan, andsent back to North America or a couple decades ousage until they die, at which point the end users

have to dispose o them7

. Faced with the prospecto discarded EV batteries and their toxic materialspiling up in landlls, scientists and automakers alikeare exploring the potential use o old batteries as stat-ic storage reservoirs or renewable energy sources,and GM has explicitly petitioned the U.S. Congressto incentivize the development o these second liecycle options or electric vehicle batteries12. Tis

planning or the long term viability o electric vehiclecomponents highlights the act that the most sustain-able consumer products are the ones designed andbuilt rom the outset or durability, fexibility, andadaptation to dierent uses and second lie cycles.

In spite o the environmental costs that accompany electrically propelled cars, when consideredover the long term these vehicles are still drasticallycleaner than traditional ossil uel models. Whereas atypical car is directly dependent upon crude oil,

with its implicit environmental impacts rom rene-ment and distribution, through the electric grid anelectric vehicle can draw power rom any source that

powers the utility - be it coal, nuclear, hydroelectric, wind, or solar. Te sad act about shiing vehicleenergy sources rom ossil uel to electricity is that

it is more practical to scrub the exhaust o a coal-red plant than to rely on individual vehicle ownersto maintain the quality o their emissions systems11.

Implementation Strategies: China

Te planets most populous nation has seenexplosive growth in the ranks o its middle classes overthe past ew decades. Due to the enormous energydemands o over 1.3 billion people, China has beenring up new power plants and importing oil at an

astonishing rate, with gas prices at over $4 per gallon,a steep rate in a country with a median annual incomeo $2,80011. For these reasons o necessity, the govern-ment has declared that by 2020, 5 million electric cars

will be on Chinese roads, up rom practically nonetoday. Te banking rm HSBC estimates that thiscould represent as much 35% o the global electric

vehicle market. Beijing has already pledged $17 bil-lion to cities or installing charging inrastructure15,hoping to have acilities operational in the countrys

three largest cities by 201113

. Te government has alsoprovided $15 billion to the countrys leading automo-tive battery companies to jump start electric vehicleindustries in 20 pilot cities10, in addition to discount-ing EV purchases or consumers or up to $8,80015.

With substantial monetary incentives and atotalitarian government reach, China is hoping tobeat the United States at the electric vehicle game


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and claim a greater share o the new battery and vehicle manuacturing markets. But considering

the automobiles long history o importance tothe American economy and liestyle, it is doubt-ul that the U.S. will remain complacent in theace o this competitive challenge rom overseas.

United States

Te ederal government plays a crucial role in und-ing and encouraging the spread o electric vehiclesand their charging networks throughout the nation.Under the leadership o President Obama, the Amer-

ican Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) hasallotted $2.8 billion in grants to dozens o compa-nies that are engaged in research and development oelectric car technologies. Tis unding is in additionto the nearly $6 billion loaned to Ford Motor Com-

pany or expanding their EV operations5.In anticipa-tion o the new all-electric vehicles being rolled outby Nissan, the Department o Energy has investedover $100 million to assist the our starter markets(Portland, San Diego, Phoenix, and Nashville) with

their charging inrastructure1

. Te DOE has also giv-en $39 million to Chicago-based truck manuacturerNavistar to start making all-electric delivery vehicles.Te company made 400 electric delivery trucks in2010, and expects to manuacture over 1000 annu-ally in just a ew years time9. Besides unding, theederal government has an additional regulatory

Te S18, an all-electric ehicle fom Chinese automaker Chery

role in electric vehicle implementation. As chargingstations with powerul currents become more com-monplace throughout the country, new regulationsor saety and interoperability o systems will needto keep pace with emerging charging technologies.

Municipal and state governments have also beenacilitating the development o electric vehicle in-rastructure, particularly along the west coast oNorth America. Planners in the pacic northwestenvision a corridor o charging stations along Inter-state 5, which links Portland and Vancouver, twocities with substantial electric car inrastructure al-ready in place. In July 2009, Vancouvers city coun-cil began requiring developers to include EV charg-ing inrastructure in at least 20% o the parkingstalls or new multi-amily residential projects1. As

more electric cars begin rolling on Oregons roads,that state has ound that the biggest hurdles to elec-tric inrastructure implementation is the process o

providing permits to home and business owners, inaddition to implementing new building codes thatspeed up the approval process. It is important thatlocal governments speed up their issuance o elec-tricity upgrade permits in order to accommodate theearly electric vehicle adapters who need to chargetheir cars at home2. Te Clinton Climate Initia-tive, established by the ormer president in 2006, hasannounced plans to work with 14 o the worlds larg-est cities, including Chicago and Houston, to installelectric vehicle inrastructure. Houston also hopes toencourage EV usage by shortening the time or issuinghome charging permits to just 48 hours, while otherlocalities consider other non-nancial incentivesincluding preerred parking in government-run lotsand H.O.V. lane access or single user electric vehicles2.

Electric vehicle adaptation is also being increas-

ingly backed by the private sector. During thissummers catastrophic oil spill in the Gul o Mexico,many Americans saw the unortunate risks that nowaccompany petroleum extraction in the age odwindling reserves. Tis disaster only helped to in-crease consumer interest in electric vehicle technolo-gies, and Wall Street was soon to notice. wo major


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investment rms, Morgan Stanley and Lazard, havegiven $700 million in capital to the battery servicecompany Better Place8. Tis company hopes todevelop a network o battery replacement stations

where drivers can stop and have their depleted bat-teries swapped out or ully charged ones in minutes.

o make the replacement process as streamlined aspossible, Better Place is working with several dierentEV companies on standardizing their battery designs9.

Te batteries that will propel electric vehicles arealso one o their biggest impediments to widespreadimplementation. Te price premium or advancedtechnology is the main reason why the Chevy

Volts base price is upwards o $40,000, but econo-mists predict that the costs o batteries will steadilydecline in the near uture as the technology

becomes more commonplace. Te typical cost o abattery pack in 2009 was between $700-$1500 perkWh (a typical metal hydride battery pack requires26 kWh), but could potentially drop below $500as soon as 201513. Regardless o cost, it is likely thatmore o the electric cars sold to Americans in theuture will also be built here, or the simple act thatit is too expensive to ship the heavy batteries overthe oceans15. With a strong vehicle manuacturingbase already in place in the Midwest and emergingEV industries in Caliornia, the U.S. government isheavily unding electric vehicle implementation withthree overall goals: 1) reviving the nations depressedmanuacturing base with new jobs in emergingindustries, 2) reducing dependence on oreign sourc-es o oil, 3) reducing the countrys overall transporta-tion emissions and contributions to global warming.

President Obama checking out a Chey Volt and electric Ford Focus with Michigan governor Jennier Granholm

Conclusion

Beginning next year and continuing intothe oreseeable uture, the U.S. automobileindustry will be introducing a whole new genera-tion o electric vehicles to the nations roads. Tis

report has demonstrated how private andpublic charging inrastructure is the most crucialrequirement or the success o these new propul-sion technologies. Government agencies at alllevels are providing nancial and policy incen-tives to accelerate the installation o electricitycharging points in parking garages and along

public roads, to supplant the home chargingstations that most EV drivers will be installingin their own garages. While these eorts willmotivate consumer demand or electric vehicles

to a certain extent, the most eective way toinduce a permanent switch rom ossil uel toelectric vehicles would be an increased gasolinetax. Although Europe has successully stimulatedits own electric vehicle markets with $7 per gallongas10, the current political climate in the UnitedStates makes a gasoline tax passage very unlikely,and President Obama has not indicated any sup-

port or such a measure. Aside rom a drasticjump in oil and gas prices, the best way to acili-tate the extensive adoption o electric vehiclesby American drivers is to build a comprehensiveand reliable roadside charging networkto power them.


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1. Allen Best, Charging Ahead: Could this year be the beginning o something new?, Planning: Journal o the

American Planning Association. May/June 2010. 10-14. Accessed December 4, 2010.

2. Derek Sands, Charging stations, other inrastructure said key to boosting electric vehicles,Platts Inside En-ergy - Inside Energy with Federal Lands. July 26, 2010. 12. Accessed December 4, 2010.

3. yler Hamilton, oronto eager to get electric cars on the road; City must rst resolve inrastructure issues,Te oronto Star. March 23, 2009. News section, A09. Accessed December 4, 2010.

4. Hiriko abuchi, oyota watches and waits on all-electric cars, Te International Herald ribune. August 29,2009. 14. Accessed December 4, 2010.

5. Eric Reguly, Electrical engineering; Teres only one thing that separates electric cars rom the Edsel: a wholelot o tax dollars, Te Globe and Mail, November 26, 2010. Business Magazine report. 18. Accessed December4, 2010.

6. Michael Horn, Roadmap to the electric car economy, Te Futurist, March-April 2010. 41- 45. Accessed De-cember 4, 2010.

7. (I) David Grainger, Electric Vehicles are not a good solution, National Post(Te Financial Post). November12, 2010. oronto edition, Driving section, D11. Accessed December 4, 2010.

8. Amity Shales, Who revived the electric car?; Tink BP, whose disaster will loom or a generation. Consumersmay be ready now.Newsday, June 25, 2010. Opinion section, A39. Accessed December 4, 2010.

9. Sean Kilcarr, Te re-charge o electric vehicles: Heavy doses o ederal unding and incentives are reviving theonce dim prospects or all-electric vehicles,American City and County. October 2009. 38 - 41. Accessed Decem-ber 4, 2010.

10. Tomas L. Friedman, Teir Moon Shot And Ours, Te New York imes, September 26, 2010. Editorial, op-ed section. 12. Accessed December 4, 2010.

11. Doug Chandler, Race o the Chargers, Electrical Wholesaling. September 2010. 19 - 21. Accessed Decem-

ber 4, 2010.

12. Alan I. aub, Light Duty Electric Vehicles (paper presented as testimony to Committee on Senate Appro-priations Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development, Washington D.C., February 23, 2010). AccessedDecember 4, 2010.

13. Russell Hensley, Stean Knuper, Dickon Pinner, Electriying cars: how three industries will evolve,McKin-sey Quarterly . 2009, Issue 3. 87 - 95. Accessed December 4, 2010.

References


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14. Rick Newman, A Stuttering Start or Electric Cars, U.S. News & World Report. Vol. 147, Issue 10, April 2010.47 - 49. Accessed November 6, 2010.

15. Brian Dumaine, China Charges into Electric Cars,Fortune. November 1, 2010. Vol. 162, Issue 7. 138 - 148.Accessed December 4, 2010.

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Page 2, bottom:http://www.hybridcarblog.com/2009/06/chevy-volt-greatest-auto-marketing-coup.html

Page 3:http://www.egmcartech.com/2010/12/04/video-2011-nissan-lea-production-process-outlined-in-5-min-vid-eo/

Page 4, le:http://www.popgive.com/2010/07/ge-wattstation-charger-or-electric.html

Page 4, right:http://www.foriansolarproducts.com/

Page 6:http://www.uturecar.co.za/category/10/electric/

Page 7:http://www.treehugger.com/les/2010/07/obama-checks-out-chevy-volt-and-ord-ocus-electric-cars.php

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