Hydrogen Fuel Cell Vehicles

[Gary]

You Won't Believe How Safe Toyota's Hydrogen Car Is

This is a video with this article that shows some detail of the H tank.

I am hoping the next commuter vehicle I buy is either Hydrogen or battery powered, and I am envious of the possible world those born in the last 10 years will live.

[RJDiogenes]

Oh, the humanity!

Those kids are going to grow up in a completely different world. Hollywood will have to completely rethink cop shows and action movies.

[Gary]

Ultra-strong graphene's weak spot could be key to fuel cells

LONDON (Reuters) - In a discovery that experts say could revolutionise fuel cell technology, scientists in Britain have found that graphene, the world's thinnest, strongest and most impermeable material, can allow protons to pass through it.

The researchers, led by the Nobel prize winner and discoverer of graphene Andre Geim of Manchester University, said their finding also raised the possibility that, in future, graphene membranes could be used to "sieve" hydrogen gas from the atmosphere to then generate electricity.

"We are very excited about this result because it opens a whole new area of promising applications for graphene in clean energy harvesting and hydrogen-based technologies," said Geim's co-researcher on the study, Marcelo Lozada-Hidalgo.

Graphene, the thinnest material on earth at just one atom thick, and 200 times stronger than steel, was first isolated in 2004 by Geim and fellow researchers, who were awarded a Nobel Prize in 2010 for their work.

It is renowned for being impermeable to all gases and liquids, giving it the potential for a range of uses such as corrosion-proof coatings, impermeable packaging and even super-thin condoms.

Knowing that graphene is impermeable to even the smallest of atoms, hydrogen, Geim's team decided to test whether protons, or hydrogen atoms stripped of their electrons, were also repelled. Their work was published in the journal Nature.

Against expectations, they found the protons could pass through the ultra-strong material fairly easily, especially at raised temperatures and if the graphene films were covered with nanoparticles such as platinum, which acted as a catalyst.

Geim and Lozada-Hidalgo, explaining their finding in a telephone briefing for reporters, said this meant graphene could in future be used in proton-conducting membranes, a crucial component of fuel cell technology.

Fuel cells, used in some modern cars, use oxygen and hydrogen as fuel and convert the input chemical energy into electricity. But a major problem is that the fuels leak across the existing proton membranes, "poisoning" the process and reducing the cells' efficiency -- something Geim said could be overcome using graphene.

The team also found that graphene membranes could be used to extract hydrogen from the atmosphere, suggesting the possibility of combining them with fuel cells to make mobile electric generators powered just by the tiny amounts of hydrogen in the air.

"Essentially, you pump your fuel from the atmosphere and get electricity out of it," Geim said. "Our (study) provides proof that this kind of device is possible."

Here's why hydrogen-fueled cars aren't little Hindenburgs

For all the volatility of a gas like hydrogen, which combusts with one-tenth the energy required for gasoline, hydrogen fuel cell vehicles are safer than cars with internal combustion engines, according to industry experts.

At last week's Los Angeles Auto Show, several major car companies, including Audi, Honda, Hyundai and Toyota, announced the release of, or updated plans to release, hydrogen fuel cell vehicles this year or within the next two years.

Toyota touted a four-passenger fuel cell vehicle (FCV) called the Mirai, which will begin shipping next month. Audi unveiled the A7 Sportback H-Tron Quattro, a modification of its four-door Quattro coupe that, instead of a traditional drive train, features an electric motor powered by a hydrogen fuel cell.

Meanwhile, Honda, which already leases its FCX Clarity hydrogen FCV in California, announced another concept vehicle that it plans to release in Japan in 2016. And Hyundai has been leasing its Tucson Fuel Cell since June and plans to produce 1,000 of the vehicles this year.

All of the cars are able to fully charge with hydrogen in three to five minutes, compared to the 20 minutes it takes for a Tesla all-electric vehicle (EV) to charge just half way.

A full charge in a Tesla provides up to 265 miles of travel. A Toyota RAV4 EV, gets only 125 miles on a full charge. Hydrogen FCVs, by comparison, can go 300 or more miles on a single charge.

But even though they fill up quickly and can run cars for long distances, hydrogen fuel cells are burdened with a somewhat unfortunate reputation, courtesy of Germany's infamous LZ 129 Hindenburg, the hydrogen-filled airship that exploded over Lakehurst, N.J. in 1937.
Hindenburg explosion U.S. Navy

This photo, taken during the initial explosion of the Hindenburg, shows the 804-ft. German zeppelin just before subsequent explosions sent it crashing to the ground at Lakehurst Naval Air Station in New Jersey on May 6, 1937.

Toyota spokeswoman Jana Hartline said hydrogen fuel cells have gotten a bad rap. The perception that they're dangerous is unwarranted, she argued.

"I think it's just our perception of hydrogen being extremely flammable and dangerous compared to what we're comfortable with in this day and age, which is gasoline," she said. "Gasoline is also an extremely flammable fuel, and one that does not escape like hydrogen."

The hydrogen fuel cell tanks in the Toyota Mirai are pressurized up to 10,000 psi, and hydrogen is 16 times lighter than air. So, if a tank were punctured or otherwise compromised, the hydrogen gas would instantaneously dissipate into the atmosphere, Hartline said.

John Kopasz, a scientist at the Argonne National Laboratory who performs research on hydrogen gas production, said that while there are inherent dangers with any combustible fuel, hydrogen fuel is safer than gasoline.

If a regular car's fuel tank is punctured, gasoline leaks out and pools beneath the vehicle, creating a ready source of fuel for a prolonged burn, Kopasz said.

In fact, in the case of the hydrogen-filled Hindenburg, most of the fire was fueled by diesel fuel for the airship's engines and a flammable lacquer coating on the outside of the dirigible.

Today's hydrogen fuel tanks are also made from highly durable carbon fiber whose strength is assessed not only in crash tests but also in trials in which bullets are fired at it.

Toyota reached back to its roots as a loom manufacturer in the early 20th century to create triple-layer hydrogen tanks made of woven carbon fiber.

The tanks, which are lined internally with plastic, underwent "extreme" crash and ballistics testing, Hartline said, noting that they were "shot with bullets that actually bounced off."

"They had to move to high-caliber armor-piercing rounds to pierce the tank, and even then it had to be shot in the exact same spot twice with an armor-piercing bullet," Hartline said.

The Mirai has other safeguards, including structural integrity to protect the tanks and electronic systems that are programmed to shut down any hydrogen lines in the car if a leak is detected. "So there are redundancies upon redundancies," Hartline said. "We're not going to put anything on the road that doesn't meet our safety, quality and durability standards."

Hydrogen is the simplest and most common molecule known to exist. And because of that, it is a part of almost every other substance, such as water and hydrocarbons. Hydrogen is also found in biomass, which includes all plants and animals.

There are several methods for creating hydrogen fuel, but the most common nowadays is via steam-methane reformation, a process by which high-temperature steam (1,000 degrees Celsius) creates a reaction with methane gas in the presence of a catalyst to produce hydrogen, carbon monoxide and a relatively small amount of carbon dioxide. The carbon dioxide and other impurities are then removed through a process called "pressure-swing adsorption," leaving essentially pure hydrogen. Steam reformation can also be used with ethanol, propane or even gasoline to produce hydrogen.

Steam-methane reformation is most commonly used by oil refineries, which then use the remaining hydrogen to remove impurities, such as sulfur, from petroleum and diesel fuels.

Hydrogen can also be produced through electrolysis, or using electricity and a catalyst to create a chemical reaction that separates the hydrogen molecules from oxygen. Solar power can also be used in combination with water and a catalyst (typically a metal) to generate hydrogen fuel by splitting hydrogen molecules from oxygen. Most often, the catalysts are expensive metals, such as platinum (iridium).

"Making hydrogen from natural gas can be done relatively inexpensively," Kopasz said. "Hydrogen made from water electrolysis is a process we've known about for a very long time, but they're still working to bring the cost of that process down. The main cost now is the electricity, but the catalysts are expensive too."

The biggest challenge to hydrogen production today is cost. While hydrogen molecules may be virtually everywhere, separating them from other compounds can be more expensive than refining gasoline. For example, a kilogram of hydrogen gas contains roughly the same energy as a gallon of gasoline, but it costs more than twice as much to produce, according to Kopasz.

A large part of the cost of hydrogen fuel, however, is the lack of existing infrastructure to produce it. That will change as government programs, such as H2USA, push for the development of more hydrogen fuel resources.

H2USA is a new public-private partnership to address the key challenges of hydrogen infrastructure. Its mission is to promote the introduction and widespread adoption of fuel cell electric vehicles across the U.S.

By 2020, the U.S. Department of Energy believes, the cost of hydrogen used in fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEV) will be competitive on a cost-per-mile basis with the fuels used in other types of vehicles, such as the gasoline in hybrid-electric vehicles.

But, the hydrogen fueling infrastructure is in its infancy. Refueling stations are few and far between. California is expected to build 28 stations by the end of 2016, bringing the state's total to 48 stations, according to Hartline. Toyota has partnered with FirstElement Fuel to build refueling stations in California and with hydrogen fuel provider Air Liquide to build a network of 12 stations throughout Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York and Rhode Island next year.

"The advantage of hydrogen fueling stations is that there's really a global standard that doesn't require specific tooling. Cars will be able to refuel anywhere, all the nozzles will be the same," said IHS analyst Devin Lindsay.

[RJDiogenes]

Nice. Graphene must be easy enough to create if they're planning to use it for everything from proton sieves to condoms. And that would make hydrogen more than competitive with gasoline.

[Gary]

GM to reveal Chevrolet Bolt, a 200-mile electric car for $30,000

In a surprise move, General Motors will reveal on Monday plans to build an electric car called the Chevrolet Bolt in two years — one that can travel 200 miles on a full charge, and cost roughly $30,000, a direct challenge to the plans of Elon Musk's Tesla Motors.

As first reported by The Wall Street Journal, GM will unveil the Bolt concept Monday at the Detroit auto show, with an eye towards starting production in 2017. As envisioned, the car would compete head-on with the forthcoming Tesla Model 3, which Musk has said would target similar specs and timing, and the Bolt would be sold nationwide — a significant expansion of GM's electric-car efforts. While the automaker will reveal a new version of the Chevy Volt plug-in hybrid on Monday as well, its only current pure electric car, the small Chevrolet Spark, is sold in California and Oregon only, and sales totaled all of 1,145 for 2014, according to HybridCars.com.

GM executives have said in the past that the company was working on a 200-mile EV, a standard that could overcome "range anxiety" among mainstream customers. While low gas prices have hurt sales of efficient vehicles overall, electric-car sales grew in 2014, thanks mostly to federal and state government incentives; sales of the Nissan Leaf rose by a third this year to 30,200 in the United States.

Meanwhile, Tesla has been forced to delay the launch of its new SUV, the Model X, until later this year, and has launched construction of a massive battery plant in Nevada that could in theory supply up to 500,000 vehicles a year. GM already owns a battery pack assembly plant in Michigan that builds parts for the Volt and other vehicles, and has a supply contract with South Korea's LG Chem from another Michigan plant for battery cells, a factory that has never run near capacity.

Yet other automakers, notably Toyota and Honda, have moved away from pure electric vehicles, saying the limits of battery technology simply won't be surmountable for cars in the near term. Both have turned toward hydrogen-powered fuel cell vehicles, with Toyota's Mirai revealed last year, and Honda set to show a new version of its FCX car on Monday as well.

Nissan will be upgrading the Leaf to a range of close to 200-miles. This means Chevrolet, Nissan, and Tesla will all have an ECV with ~200-mile range in the next couple of years. I will be purchasing either an electric or a FCV before 2020 and I can't wait!

[RJDiogenes]

At first I thought that was expensive. Then I remembered what year this is.

[Gary]

Want!!!




Congestion expected after Toyota green car orders soar

Toyota has been swamped by orders for its first mass market hydrogen fuel-cell car, the company said Thursday, with demand in the first month nearly four times higher than expected for the whole year.

The Japanese auto giant said it had received more than 1,500 orders for its "Mirai" sedan since its launch in mid-December. It had planned to sell 400 in Japan over 12 months.

Roughly 60 percent of those orders are from government offices and corporate fleets, with the remaining 40 percent from individual consumers, the company said in a statement.

Unexpectedly high demand for the environmentally friendly four-door car -- which has a 6.7 million yen ($56,900) price tag -- means early buyers might have a bit of a wait.

"Due to the large volume of orders received, Toyota forecasts a significantly longer time to delivery than originally expected," the statement said.

Fuel-cell cars are seen as the Holy Grail of green cars as they are powered by a chemical reaction between hydrogen and oxygen, which emits nothing more harmful than water from its exhaust.

But a limited driving range and lack of refuelling stations have hampered development of fuel-cells and their cousin, all-electric cars, which environmentalists say could play a vital role in cutting greenhouse gas emissions and slowing global warming.

The Mirai can travel about 650 kilometres (400 miles) without refuelling, some three times further than an electric car, and its tank can be filled in a few minutes like gasoline engine vehicles, according to Toyota.

The car will hit the US and some European countries, including Britain, Germany and Denmark, this year, Toyota has said.

It hopes to sell more than 3,000 units by the end of 2017 in the United States, and up to 100 annually in Europe.

Japanese automakers, including Toyota's rivals Honda and Nissan, have been leaders in the green car sector.

This week, Honda unveiled the newest version of its FCV fuel-cell car at the Detroit auto show, with the vehicle set to hit the market next year.

Toyota has announced it is making thousands of patents for fuel cell vehicles royalty-free in an effort to encourage other automakers into the new industry.

News of the rapid success of the Mirai -- which means "future" in Japanese -- comes a week after the Tokyo metropolitan government announced the athlete's village for the 2020 Olympics would be a futuristic "hydrogen town".

On Thursday, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said he wants all government departments to use fuel-cell cars, and pledged to cut red tape so it is easier to set up hydrogen re-fuelling stations.

[RJDiogenes]

That all sounds incredibly encouraging. We could be in for a quantum leap here. This is something that could change the world virtually overnight, in a number of ways.

Two things jumped out at me:

It hopes to sell more than 3,000 units by the end of 2017 in the United States, and up to 100 annually in Europe.

What's wrong with Europe?

Toyota has announced it is making thousands of patents for fuel cell vehicles royalty-free in an effort to encourage other automakers into the new industry.

Seriously? Are they really being this generous, or do they stand to profit more in some secondary fashion by this?

[Gary]

2017 Chevrolet Bolt is the electric car that wants to play

No longer a nail-biting, frustrating kind-of-a-sort-of-a car, GM has an electric that gets you where you’re going, and gets you back again.

GM brought forth an electric car with—finally—some decent range when it reintroduced the Bolt at the Detroit Auto Show. (Remember, the official first appearance happened at the Consumer Electronics Show on January 6.)

Not only does the Bolt offer around a 200-mile range on a full charge, it is being priced at around $30,000 (after the $7,500 government rebates).

This Bolt will take about 30 minutes to charge the battery to 80 percent capacity. By comparison, we charged a Volt plug-in hybrid battery for eleven hours a few years ago and we were able to drive only 37 miles on the battery alone. The Bolt's battery is flat, and extends front to back under the floor. Thanks to greatly improved chemistry, the powertrain delivers the desired levels of energy and power EV buyers want.

The advanced technology keeps the battery operating at its optimum temperature, which results in solid battery life performance. The Bolt EV battery will be covered by an 8-year/ 100,000 miles (whichever comes first) limited warranty. Regenerative braking also helps boost overall driving range.

Chevrolet’s first Electronic Precision Shift and park-by-wire system sends electronic signals to the Bolt EV’s drive unit to manage the feel and delivery of power and torque, based on drive mode selection and accelerator inputs.

Some clever design and engineering has gone into creating space for passengers, cargo, and storage. For example, thin and sculpted seats open up cabin space, creating an airy atmosphere for up to 5 people.

A 10.2-inch center touchscreen and an 8-inch instrument panel display float off the dashboard, helping give front occupants extra leg room. The touchscreen houses the Chevrolet MyLink system, which will be customizable and offer flip-board-style, page-turning type display operation. The navigation can design routes to maximize range and point out the locations of the nearest charging stations when needed.

Eventually, the Bolt EV will also be able to project an accurate driving range by factoring in such information as driving habits, time of day, topology, and weather. Many of the Bolt EV’s driver-focused technologies are supported by OnStar 4G LTE, which turns the Bolt EV into a Wi-Fi hotspot, giving owners easier access to apps and services.

Bolt owners will be able to remotely monitor or control things such as the car's charge status, remote start, cabin pre-conditioning, and dealer service scheduling. That data connection will be important also in the advancement of car-sharing services like Lyft and Uber, which are becoming more and more popular.

In the future, the Bolt will offer something called ‘gamification’ meaning owners will be able to “compete” by comparing driving styles to determine who is driving most efficiently.

The Bolt is intended to eliminate objections to an EV, such as limited range, weird exterior design, charging issues and the cost involved. It’s also GM’s first EV specific architecture since the EV1.

READ ABOUT THE BOLT'S DEBUT AT CES 2016 HERE.

“The Bolt is more than just a car,” said Mary Barra, G.M.'s chief executive. “It’s an upgradeable platform for new technologies. This isn’t some science project. It cracks the code of long range and affordable price.”

The Bolt goes into production by the end of 2016.

There is additional information on Chevy's website: 2017 All-Electric Bolt

Depending on how the first few years go, I may look into buying one. This is the perfect daily driver.

[Lupine]

If I had $30,000... I even like the color.

[RJDiogenes]

I like the regenerative braking. They should also put pedals on the passenger side-- make those passengers work for their ride!

I wonder if these cars must be charged at a station or if there are other options-- like being jumped by another car plugging into a home outlet with an extension cord. What happens if you run out of juice and have to call AAA? Do they have to tow you, or can they give you enough of a buzz to get you to a charging station?

[Gary]

The Electric Car Revolution Is Now Scheduled for 2022

The long-awaited, oft-delayed electric car revolution is now scheduled for 2022.

That’s according to a report from research firm Bloomberg New Energy Finance, which posits that in just six years, the biggest obstacle to the sale of EVs—they cost too much—will be obliterated and cars that run on electricity will cost less than those that run on dead dinosaurs.

“By 2022,” the report says, “the unsubsidized total cost of ownership of BEVs [battery electric vehicles] will fall below that of an internal combustion engine vehicle.” From there, the report projects a steadily increasing rate of adoption, reaching global sales of 41 million—25 percent of total market share—by 2040.

That’s a remarkable prediction given that today, EVs make up less than 1 percent of new car sales in the US. Government subsidies and mandates are largely responsible for what consumer interest and R&D investment we’ve seen so far. For the technology to go mainstream in the way Bloomberg predicts, the industry must address the biggest impediment to adoption: EVs simply cost too much. It’s a BFD that General Motors managed to develop a car, the Chevy Bolt, that will go 200 miles on a charge and cost $30,000. That’s just below the average price of a new car in the US, meaning there’s a lot of room for improvement.

Change is coming, according to the Bloomberg report. “We project that the cost of manufacturing electric vehicles will fall dramatically, and faster than most people realize,” says Salim Morsy, the author of the study.

The key to that trend, Morsy argues, is the battery pack that powers the car. The pack can account for about a third of the cost of the entire vehicle. Between 2010 and 2015, the average cost per kilowatt hour (kWh) dropped from $1,000 to $350—a 65 percent plunge. (Today’s EVs have packs ranging from 30 kWh in the new Nissan Leaf to 90 kWh in the Tesla Model X.)

Continuing that trend doesn’t rely on any big breakthroughs in battery tech. Instead, it’s based on moderate improvements in production processes and battery chemistry, economies of scale as manufacturing expands, and “aggressive pricing” by producers eager to sign contracts with major automakers. “We believe that between now and 2020, cost will continue to drop significantly,” Morsy says.

The rate of change will slow, sure, but prices could reach $200/kWh by 2022, and $120/kWh by 2030. Meanwhile, GM says it’s already paying just $145/kWh for the batteries powering the Bolt. Bloomberg can’t verify that figure, but the imminent arrival of cars like the Bolt and similarly affordable Tesla Model 3, Morsy says, is “a material testament to the fact that we’re rapidly approaching cost parity.” The fact that the auto industry is slowly moving toward a world in which people don’t own cars could limit total vehicle sales, Morsy believes, but shouldn’t impact the growing ratio of electric cars in the market.
A Few Words of Caution

There are some caveats here. First, longterm EV adoption projections rely on the reasonable assumption that by 2030, customers will have access to a well-developed and widespread charging infrastructure beyond the one they’ll use most often—the plug in the garage.

Second, Bloomberg’s study relies on the idea that government subsidies that are keeping the EV market alive and pushing automakers to invest in the technology, aren’t about to disappear. In the US, that’s a $7,500 federal tax credit for buying an EV, tax breaks on home chargers, and various state incentives, including access to carpool lanes on congested highways. European countries offer a mix of tax breaks and “bonus payments,” and China uses mandates to encourage the sale of electrics. The American support of electrics may soon come under attack, considering reports that the Koch brothers are planning a major lobbying effort to kill those subsidies in the US.

And third, the total cost of ownership comparison is based on the expectation that oil prices will sit between $50 and $70 per barrel, meaning today’s crazy low prices—about $32 a barrel—have to head north again. Of course, it’s inevitable that they will.

The biggest reason for concern, though, is that even if EVs match gas-powered cars in total cost of ownership, it might not be enough for a revolution. “Way too much is put on that,” says EV advocate Chelsea Sexton. The 2022 date sounds about right, she says, but if consumers are going to switch to EVs, popular thinking needs to change, because car buying isn’t a rational process. If it were, she says, “we’d all be driving white Honda Civics.”

To make that happen, dealers will have to actually work to sell electric cars, despite the lower cost of maintenance that takes away potential revenue. Automakers must market their electric offerings as vigorously as their gasoline-drinking vehicles. And they have to build enough of the things to meet the demand they could generate.

Tony Posawatz, the engineer who led the development of the Chevrolet Volt, briefly led Fisker Automotive, and is now an industry consultant, says there’s nothing too surprising in the report. The 2022 timeframe is “certainly within the realm of possibility,” he says, as long as charging infrastructure continues to roll out. “If that is not better developed, that could limit the 2022 knee in the curve.”

So why doesn’t the report call for a faster advance of electric cars, once they cost the same as the gas guzzlers we’ve been stuck with for a century? Because big infrastructural changes move slowly. Posawatz points out it took 50 years for half of American households to hook up to the electricity grid. Good things are happening with EVs, he says, but “it’s a long haul.”

Electric cars will steadily get cheaper and by 2022, they would a little more affordable than conventional gas-guzzling cars, claims a new report.

Electric cars are slowly but increasingly becoming an integral part of auto industry. With most of the automakers and many of the tech companies like Google seriously looking into automotive technology, all-electric cars are about to become truly affordable. While the actual outright ownership of electric cars could remain high, it won’t be prohibitive. More importantly, due to cleaner energy and dependable technology that offers reliable mileage, these vehicles will actually be cheaper than their gas-powered counterpart by 2022.

The key aspect that has been keeping the prices of all-electric vehicles out of the affordable realm, is the high-density electric batteries that power these ultra-silent machines. Batteries continue to remain the most expensive component in an electric car today. However, the scenario is about to change significantly feel industry experts. The steady improvement in technology and manufacturing practices, have had a positive impact on the cost of the batteries. With the prices steadily declining and capacity rising, the cost of the electric vehicles would soon be within the reach of the masses.



The battery accounts for about 20 percent of the entire vehicle, which needless to say is substantial. Interestingly, even Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) powertrains account for roughly 20 percent of the cost of those vehicles. Apart from the battery cost, it is the range that has been giving the potential buyers a lot of anxiety. Today’s drivers fear running out of charge when they’re out in the road, particularly if they’ve not planned their journey well enough, or are caught up someplace where they can’t find a place to charge their car, reported Uber Gizmo.

Fortunately, technology has allowed electric vehicles to comfortably have a range exceeding 200 miles. Today’s Lithium Polymer (LiPo) batteries are densely packed and when laid out in arrays, pack a powerful and dependable punch that can easily ferry a vehicle and its passengers for longer distances.

Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) analysts confidently predict that by 2022, the demand for the electric vehicles could outpace that for gasoline-powered cars, reported Seeking Alpha. Technically speaking, the cost of lithium-ion cells is falling a little faster, and the cost to manufacture traditional ICE powertrains has been increasing because of stricter efficiency and emission regulations.



If one incorporates the savings these electric vehicles offer, like lower maintenance and fuel costs, these two graphs have already collided. Experts feel, with the 200-mile range batteries becoming increasingly popular, the vehicles sporting an all-electric powertrain will be cheaper to the end consumer than the majority of ICE vehicles within five to seven years. These vehicles would be cleaner & more efficient than the gas-powered cars.

Large scale roll-out of electric vehicles (EVs) is seen as vital in both cutting the carbon emissions that drive climate change and in dealing with urban air pollution, which leads to many premature deaths every year, reported The Guardian. However, even after substantial subsidies and tax benefits, electric vehicles are currently beyond the reach of the common commuter. The adoption of these vehicles is so poor, there’s only one customer per 100, who is willing to invest in an electric vehicle. In other words, only 1 percent of new cars sold are electric.

Despite stricter norms, ICE cars will steadily decline in appeal. Then there’s the all importance consideration of gas prices. The analysts used U.S. government’s projected oil price of $50-$70 (£36-£50) a barrel in the 2020s. If the present prices continue to prevail, the adoption of the electric vehicles might be adversely affected since it would still be cheaper to burn fossil fuels, fear analysts.

[RJDiogenes]

It's far from unreasonable. Like anything else, from VCRs to home computers, once a certain critical threshold is reached, it becomes both affordable and desirable. In terms of charging stations, I wonder if it might be helped along by something like Uber (or even Uber itself), where private citizens offer their plugs up for a modest profit. Something for seniors to use to supplement their Social Security and to accelerate adoption.

[Gary]

I'm excited and, if I have to, will hold on to my Mazda for another few years until I can get an electric vehicle for a daily driver. I wasn't a convert until a few years ago and it's great the people are finally taking notice. A friend of mine says a co-worker owns a LEAF, and that gentleman and his wife almost get into a tussle as to who gets to drive it that day. They both love it and say it's a fantastic little car.

[Gary]

Chevy Bolt 200 Mile EV Battery Cooling and Gearbox Details