2015 may well be the year that the long-awaited fuel cell vehicle takes to the roads, but for the next twelve months at least, the battery electric vehicle (BEV) will continue to remain under the spotlight in the alternative powertrain market.
One question that has remained largely unanswered so far when it comes to BEVs, however, is whether they can be a truly clean, green mode of transport if the electricity used to power them comes from burning coal, gas or any other polluting source. Surely these vehicles should be powered by energy from renewable sources, such as tidal, wind or solar power, to have real eco-friendly credentials?
Solar-powered cars in themselves are nothing new, but until now they have been futuristic-looking concepts, following space age design cues with an aerodynamic pod shape and a roof made almost entirely of solar panels. They have been largely relegated to engineering projects run by specialist firms and dedicated enthusiasts – that is, until the International CES in January this year.
The Las Vegas event saw Ford unveiling the new C-MAX Solar Energi Concept, a hybrid car featuring a roof of solar panels, with the potential to replace the traditional plug-in charger.
“In recent years, we’ve seen advances in innovations and efficiency relative to solar,” said Mike Tinskey, Ford’s Global Director of Vehicle Electrification and Infrastructure. “When solar was invented in the 1950s, it was about 3% efficient. Today, these panels are 21% efficient in terms of sun-powered production. Each panel can do just over 100 watts, totalling 300 watts on top of the C-MAX. So, over the course of a day we can generate about one-eighth of the charge that a battery needs just through solar, unassisted.”
Internal data at Ford has suggested that the sun could power up to 75% of all trips made by an average driver in a solar hybrid vehicle. Fully charged, the OEM estimates the car to have the same total range as a conventional C-MAX Energi: 620 miles (998km), with up to 21 solely electric miles.
“I think there will be two use cases,” Tinskey said. “The first will be the workplace. You drive to work, park under a concentrator, go and do your job and when you come back you’ve topped up your car for free. The second use case is going to be in developing countries that don’t have a reliable grid, maybe not such a clean or renewable grid.”
The potential for heavily polluted countries trying to change their image – such as China – is huge. “Because so much coal is burned, an electrified car powered by the grid is worse than a gasoline powered car. So this completely takes it off the grid. Somebody can park it, recharge, and then still drive on electricity.”
For now, the car will be subject to more testing at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta: “We’ve seen a great level of interest in it, but this is our development car, so we’re going to do a couple of auto shows with it and then it’s going right back into development,” Tinskey explained.
Shining bright
While Ford’s innovation may take some time to reach the market – if indeed it ever does – power providers around the world have been working to make energy supplies greener. According to AFP reports, US analysts are expecting “phenomenal growth” for renewable solar power in the next twenty years, thanks to 60% market gains in 2012, and a further 30% growth in 2013.
Globally, different views on the best power sources are continuing to develop: a preliminary report of Spanish electricity systems conducted by Red Eléctrica de España, for example, showed that wind power contributed the most to annual electricity coverage (21.1%) in 2013, reaching the same level as nuclear for the first time (21%). Hydroelectric power also saw its share double compared to 2012 levels, reaching 14.4%. Meanwhile power contributions from coal-fired and combined power stations fell by 14.6% and 9.6% respectively.
China too has embarked on “the greatest push for renewable energy that the world has ever seen”. Furthermore, the BBC has reported, the country is now planning to achieve a capacity of 200GW in wind power alone by 2020.
However, despite the best attempts of OEMs, and energy providers leading the charge for green power, no one can completely control what electric is powering which vehicle. But that is not to say that automotive manufacturers cannot at least try to be as green as possible actually making the vehicle in the first place.
Take the BMW i3 for example: the carbon fibre reinforced plastic (CFRP) that makes up the frame of the car is the result of a highly sophisticated production chain which begins in Moses Lake, Washington, moving on to Leipzig in Germany, via Wackersdorf and Landshut. The US plant is powered by 100% hydroelectric power, while the entire electricity requirement at Leipzig is fulfilled using self-generated wind power.
Combine a green-manufactured car such as the i3 with a renewable power charging connection and, so far as energy is concerned anyway, the industry is well on its way to the first wholly carbon emissions neutral vehicle.
“There’s no question about that whatsoever,” Dennis Hayter, Vice President of Business Development at Intelligent Energy said. “As we increasingly move towards the use of renewables – wind, solar and the like – and have a much better understanding of waste to energy options, then you will see an increasing proportion of transport being met by those options.”
Regulating renewable
In Norway, electric vehicles have a strong foothold in the market thanks to the country’s hydroelectric infrastructure – a positive for green power. But other European markets are catering to different infrastructure and demand requirements: Germany, for example, is working to build up the number of hydrogen refuelling stations.
A market of carbon emission neutral vehicles would undoubtedly need some kind of government incentive or regulation to succeed, but for now attention is focused elsewhere, on the matter of actually creating the infrastructure that can support any power in the first place.
“Policy initiatives from the EU have so far often addressed the development of alternative fuels and/or alternatively fuelled vehicles and vessels, without considering the need for the build-up of an appropriate alternative fuel distribution infrastructure,” Barbara Bonvissuto, Deputy Head of the Sustainable Mobility and Automotive Unit, DG Enterprise and Industry, at the European Commission explained. “The efforts of member states and the EU to incentivise the development of alternative fuel infrastructure have been uncoordinated and insufficient, and the development of infrastructure for alternative fuels is very uneven among the different member states.”
So while governing bodies are still grappling with the old ‘chicken and egg’ problem of infrastructure and EV uptake, a new wave of green-keen companies are working on portable, renewable solutions.
Envision Solar International has developed the first fully mobile, autonomous and sustainable EV charging station. The EV ARC generates approximately 16kWh a day, which is stored in a battery internally, ready to charge an electric vehicle when needed.
“The EV ARC is ideal for any entity looking for rapid, hassle-free deployments of a charging infrastructure without all the challenges associated with conventional units,” said Desmond Wheatley, President and Chief Executive of Envision Solar. “The fact that the energy is clean and renewable, unlike 75% of America’s grid-supplied electricity, is important too. EV ARC makes EVs truly emissions free. It changes the deployment story and further advances us to a day when range anxiety is a thing of the past.”
Likewise, Tesla plans to add solar panel canopies to select supercharger units in “sunny locales” to allow drivers to recharge their cars with renewable power on the go.
While the future may look bright so far as solar power is concerned, the disparate weather systems across the world will mean that solar power in itself can never be a global solution. Indeed, Tesla’s restricted sunny locales attitude can be regarded as a wise move by the young OEM.
Although it may take some time for a fully green vehicle to reach the marketplace, any advancement in charging or manufacturing is certainly a step in the right direction.
