2. Electric Cars: The Future?
Electric cars 10 years ago would sound like a an impossible
dream, or at least high out of our reach. The reality is,
electric cars first came about over 90 years ago.
Image Source: instablogsimages.com
3. Overcoming Problems
In 1896, one of the main issues with using electric vehicles, was the lack of infrastructure to
recharge a vehicle. The Hartford Electric Light Company decided to use exchangeable
batteries, so a customer would simply buy a new battery which would be charged ready
for them. This can be seen in the 21st century, where cities like Tokyo offer a battery
swapping service to avoid waiting for charging.
Image Source: Made-In-China.com
1896
4. In 1897, Electric Cars were put into practise as a fleet of New
York Taxis, built by the Electric Carriage and Wagon
Company of Philadelphia.
Image Source: Wikipedia.org
1897
5. The 62 MPH speed barrier was broken by a Belgian named Camille Jenatzy on
April 29, 1899, in the car named“Le Jamais Contente” (The Never Satisfied)
Image Sources: Wikipedia.org
This was one of the first breakthroughs in electric car technology.
Breakthroughs1899
6. Acceptance
Originally, the idea of Electric Cars was hampered by the lack
of power infrastructure, by 1912 33,800 electric cars were
registered in the United States, This was the peak in
popularity for Electric Cars.
Image Source: Wikipedia.org
1912
7. Before the 1920’s, Electric Car Technology was in a constant
battle with petroleum powered vehicles, which were smelly,
noisy and vibrated heavily.
Image Source: Wikipedia.org
1920
8. Demise & Revival
Before the Mid-90’s, Petroleum powered cars won the battle, and Electric Cars
became an entity of the past and the future. It began at the end of the 90’s,
where At the 1990 Los Angeles Auto Show, General Motors President
announced that General Motors would build electric cars for sale to the public.
Now in the 21st century, electric cars are making a comeback, and are becoming
increasingly influential on our lives today.
The General Motors Concept
Image Source: Wikipedia.org
1990
9. Concepts
The Early 2000’s where when the Car Manufacturers
released various different weird concepts about what
electric cars should be.
Bamgoo, Made of Bamboo
Image Source: webecoist.com
Peugeot Moovie
Image Source: webecoist.com
These concepts are both unviable and impractical, but they kick-started the interest in electric vehicles again.
2000
10. Future
The future of electric cars is now established, various manufacturers including
General Motors, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Toyota and Chevrolet all have plans for
future electric cars, with the necessary technology in place.
Here are some examples of future/released electric cars which are to be a
reality, over 100 years after the first electric car produced.
???
11. Mitsubishi i MiEv
Concept Released in 2005
Launched in Japan 2009
Launching in the UK in January 2011
Charged from a standard 230v Socket
Top Speed is Limited to 80 mph
Range is 100 miles between charges
Japan Car of the Year
Image Source: electriccars2000.com
As you can see, the clever design means that the
running gear for the car doesn’t intrude into the
passenger space.
In my opinion this is the best electric car out at the current time, it has the longest
range, the highest speed and is the most practical.
12. Nissan Leaf
Concept Released in 2005
Launching in the UK in March 2011
Charged from a standard 230v Socket
Top Speed is Limited to 93 mph
Range is 100 miles between charges
This is a recent car to emerge into the ever-growing electric car market, which is
similar to the Mitsubishi I in terms of performance and battery life.
Image Source: Wikipedia.org
13. The REVA G-Wiz
Image Source: howstuffworks.com
Launched in India 2001
Launched in the UK 2003
Charged from a standard 230v Socket
Top Speed is Limited to 40 mph
Range is 40 miles between charges
A major issue with this design is the safety, it is not required a crash test
and has proved life-endangering in a low speed crash test.
Image Source: indianautosblog.com
14. Chevrolet Volt/Vauxhall Ampera
Image Source: wikipedia.org
Launching in the UK November2010
Charged from a standard 230v Socket
Top Speed is Limited to 100 mph
Range is 40 miles between charges
As you can see, this vehicle has a much more practical
size, though a low range which could be difficult to
make it appealing.
15. Controversy
There is some argument that electric cars are no more economical than a normal car, as they
are charged from the electrical grid, which is usually produced using non-
environmentally friendly power stations.
This has been proven could be resolved by building many hydro-electric plants, which use
flowing water to generate electricity, using solar power, or using wind farms to produce
the electricity.
If every house had a solar panel that could collect electricity during the day, they could then
use it to charge the car at night, it would also make running the car almost free, as tax is
free for electric cars aswell.
solar.calfinder.comecoinstitution.comhidden-technology.org
16. Compromise
A compromise in vehicle choice could be the Toyota Prius. This is a Hybrid
Vehicle, which has both a 1.8 petrol engine, and an electric motor which is
powered by a battery, which is in turn charged by plugging into the mains
power source. This could be seen as a vehicle type to bridge the gap between
petrol and electric, offering the best of both worlds.
17. Future
It is planned in the future that by 2013, the entire United States will be Electric
Car-Friendly, with charging outlets in every town and city to make driving
electric cars more convenient.
Image Source: Wikipedia.org
