Things have begun to change in the electric car segment, thanks to concerns about global warming, and also due to advancement in technologies. The first electric sports car, the Tesla Roadster, matching conventional cars bit by bit, has hit the market in the US and the UK, creating plenty of excitement even in these hours of distress
“The acceleration power is downright startling. When you set up on that pedal, hold on to your hat, because it could go flying.
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Braking down from high speeds is really quite smooth as well. The turning radius is tight and driving at normal speeds, well...it’s a car. It definitely gets you from point A to point B. It just does it in some serious style,” writes Stins, or, to use her real world name, Cristina, at greenhome.huddler.com.
She was not commenting on a new sports model from any of the auto majors GM, Honda, Toyota, or Ford. These were her views on a new electric ‘sports’ car, the Tesla Roadster, which has created quite a buzz. The first electric car model to be rolled out by Tesla, it reaches 0 to 60 mph in under four seconds, as company claims, and can go more than 200 miles on one charge. And, if your car needs a recharge, just plug it in like your mobile.
DARE readers will, however, recall that the Tesla is not the first electric car to hit the market. The Reva, an Indian avatar, created quite a stir when it first rolled out in 2001. It has continued to grow ever since, and now sells in 13 countries, including the UK. Th!nk City, bought over by Norwegian investors from Ford in 2003, has been produced on a commercial scale since 1999. With sales of over 10,000 units annually in Europe, the company (Think Global) claims to be the only mass producer of electric cars of any sort.
So, why is there such a buzz about the Roadster? What separates it from others is its resemblance to conventional cars. The Roadster matches conventional cars almost on all counts, a far departure from electric cars, which were treated at best as entry-level cars. The Reva, according to newspaper reports, is also working on a bigger model to enter the US market, and Think is working on the fifth generation of Th!nk City. Auto majors Toyota, GM, Honda, BMW, and Hyundai are all working on electric cars. (They are also aggressively working on hybrid-converted-electric cars, where the vehicles will run for a few miles on gasoline before switching over to batteries).
Electric Vs Conventional
Electric cars are technically different from conventional cars. They are far less mechanically complex as conventional cars. Tesla says on its website: “Sophisticated electronics and software take the place of the pounds and pounds of machinery required to introduce a spark and ignite the fuel that powers an internal combustion engine.
“The typical four-cylinder engine of a conventional car comprises over a hundred moving parts. By comparison, the motor of the Tesla Roadster has just one: the rotor. So there’s less weight to drive around and fewer parts that could break or wear down over time.”
With no internal combustion engine in place, electric cars don’t need lubricating oils, filters, coolants, clutches, spark plugs and wires, a PCV valve, oxygen sensors, a timing belt, a fan belt, a water pump and hoses, and a catalytic converter. Electric cars rely mainly on two components – battery and motor. A major component of research and development in developing electric cars actually goes in finding the right technologies for the battery. There is no single proven battery technology in use. Lithium-ion battery systems seem to be more popular, though different players do their own value additions to come up with their distinctive products.
According to Tesla, they have “combined available and proven lithium-ion battery technology with our own unique battery pack design to provide multiple layers of safety. It’s light, durable, recyclable, and is capable of delivering enough power to accelerate the Tesla Roadster from 0 to 60 mph in under four seconds.”
The battery stores enough energy for the vehicle to travel about 220 miles without recharging, something no other production electric vehicle in history can claim, the company says. Th!nk City, on the other hand, uses two kinds of lithium-ion-based and one sodium-based battery. The Reva uses lead acid batteries, though reports suggest the company is working on lithium-ion-based system batteries for its new model. The company claims that the motor used by its models is comparable to the engine in a conventional car. The Reva has a three-phase AC induction motor with a torque of 52 Newton meter at zero speed, and the motor can run at a high speed of 8000 rpm, the company says. Tesla also boasts of a powerful motor that is capable of giving ‘super acceleration’ to its cars.
A brief history of electric cars
Fascination with electric cars had begun way back in the 19th century itself, when the first electric car was invented in the 1830s. Innovations have been going on ever since, initially driven more by the passion of a few creative brains, but later more as necessity – mainly to reduce dependence on fossil fuels. This has become problematic for more than one reason. Firstly, cost of the fossil fuels has touched alarming levels, and secondly, there is global warming.
Auto majors have pitched in conservation activities, even though they always found more business sense in selling conventional cars. Things have, however, started changing of late. Some experts, and most of the auto players, find that cost incurred on developing engines meeting stringent environmental norms too high. They have started finding business sense in developing business cars.
It is worth noting in this context that Saudi Arabia, a major oil producing and exporting country, has always advocated in OPEC meetings to keep fuel prices within a threshold level. Higher prices have always led to bigger expenditures on researches finding alternatives to fossil fuels, Saudi maintains. It has always lived with the fear that developed countries might ultimately find alternatives to fossil fuels. And this would directly mean a death blow to the economies of the oil producers.
Prominent models
A number of electric cars have hit the market over the years, thanks to the efforts of a few creative individuals and companies. A majority of such players have faded away, but a few survived, some of which are doing well commercially. A number of new models are expected to be launched in near future. Let us have a look at some of these.
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