Don’t be fooled by EV myths

The recent rollout of electric cars, in response to rising gas prices, has led to a lot of uncertainty among potential consumers.

Until drivers actually get their hands on the steering wheels of electric vehicles and get familiar with them over time, the public will have questions and perhaps false assumptions about EVs.

I'd like to address some common concerns about range limitations, recharging times and performance as they relate to electric vehicles.

Q: Are electric cars limited to 75 to 100 miles in range before needing to be recharged?

A: The best storage battery technology available today is still not as good as refined gasoline. It will take many years for battery technology to catch up to the energy capacity of compressed fossil fuels, if ever.

Across the political spectrum, most conservative and liberal pundits agree that there is a need to reduce the U.S. dependence on foreign oil imports for economic, geopolitical, homeland security and environmental reasons.

Electric cars, both hybrid and pure electric configurations, are the most popular transportation solution at this time on all sides of the political spectrum because of their flexibility.

Electricity can be produced from a number of sources and electric motors easily combine with smaller gasoline engines into hybrid drive trains that can exceed the range and performance of gasoline-only vehicles with larger engines.

The Tesla Motors Roadster has an electric battery range of 220 miles between charges, but most Tesla owners recharge their battery packs every 160 miles or so. Tesla Motors will be introducing the Model S sedan in 2012 with comparable range.

The Ford Fusion hybrid was named the 2010 Motor Trend Car of the Year because it can deliver a gas tank range of 700 miles with an efficiency rating of 41 miles per gallon for city driving and 34 mpg for highway driving.

Ford also recently announced that it will upscale its Fusion hybrid technology platform for the 2011 Lincoln MKZ hybrid luxury sedan and price it at the same cost as the gasoline-only version of the 2011 model, about $35,000. This will be the first time that consumers will not have to pay extra for the additional electric motor and control electronics in a hybrid system.

The Chevrolet Volt also demonstrates an electric car platform with flexible hybrid technology that uses backup power generation to extend its electric-only range. The lithium-ion battery pack in the Volt can be recharged through a generator during operation, using a small engine that is fueled by gasoline, biodiesel, ethanol, compressed natural gas, hydrogen or propane.

The next generation electric car may also be powered by a hydrogen fuel cell stack built on a platform such as the Chevy Equinox that was successfully tested during GM's Project Driveway or the Honda FCX Clarity that is still being tested in Southern California.

Q: Doesn't an electric car require at least eight hours of recharging time each time the batteries are depleted?

A: This is still an issue for the newest breed of pure electric cars that are entering the U.S. economy. However, "fast charge" technology does exist and the international Society of Automotive Engineers should approve new standards for fast-charge infrastructure toward the end of 2011.

Japan is already testing this technology on taxi services that can recharge a fleet of vehicles in 25 minutes using recharging equipment and mating connectors developed by the Tokyo Electric Power Co.

This complementary hardware, interface connectors and communications protocol is known as the TEPCO standard. Public charging stations providing industrial scale DC power can be installed like gasoline pumps to provide fast-charge capability directly to the electric car batteries in less than half an hour.

The Nissan Leaf and Mitsubishi i-MiEV already have TEPCO connectors installed on their recharging ports as standard equipment in addition to the slower SAE J1772 standard charging systems that use 110 volts AC or 220 VAC to recharge each car's battery pack in about eight hours. The Leaf and i-MiEV will go on sale later this year.

Better Place, a nonprofit organization led by Shai Agassi, has also partnered with Nissan-Renault to introduce innovative, automated battery pack swapping stations in both Israel and Japan. These robotic stations are like a drive-through car wash where a system of automated conveyors can replace the entire battery pack of an electric car within just three minutes, faster than a gasoline tank can be filled at a service station pump.

Q: Aren't electric cars just giant golf carts that are slow and limited to speeds under 45 miles per hour?

A: Inexperienced consumers have the impression that electric cars are slow to accelerate and can't be driven at highway speeds. In fact the opposite is true.

Instantly available torque from an electric motor can enable electric cars to launch from a standing stop and accelerate faster than an internal combustion engine coupled with a mechanical drive train system. The Tesla Motors Roadster makes a driver feel like he or she is being "shot from a slingshot" when the sports car accelerates from zero to 60 mph in less than four seconds.

Similar high-performance torque is available from any full-size electric car motor. Electric cars can be hot rodded just like conventional gasoline-powered cars.

The National Electric Drag Racing Association, an affiliate of the National Hot Rod Association, has a gregarious membership of "ampheads" who are doing amazing things with electric car conversions in their home garages, regularly recording 100 mile per hour time slips in quarter-mile races at their local speedways.

Stan Hanel has worked in the electronics industry for more than 30 years and is a long-time member of the Electric Auto Association and the Las Vegas Electric Vehicle Association. Hanel writes and edits for EAA's "Current Events" and LVEVA's "Watts Happening" newsletters. Contact him at stanhanel@aol.com.