Electric vehicle An electric vehicle (EV), also referred to as an electric drive vehicle, uses one or more electric motors or traction motors for propulsion. An electric vehicle may be pow- ered through a collector system by electricity from off- vehicle sources, or may be self-contained with a battery or generator to convert fuel to electricity.[1] EVs include road and rail vehicles, surface and underwater vessels, electric aircraft and electric spacecraft. EVs first came into existence in the mid-19th century, when electricity was among the preferred methods for motor vehicle propulsion, providing a level of comfort An EV and an antique car on display at a 1912 auto show and ease of operation that could not be achieved by the gasoline cars of the time. The internal combustion en- gine (ICE) has been the dominant propulsion method for Around the same period, early experimental electrical motor vehicles for almost 100 years, but electric power cars were moving on rails, too. American blacksmith and has remained commonplace in other vehicle types, such inventor Thomas Davenport built a toy electric locomo- as trains and smaller vehicles of all types. tive, powered by a primitive electric motor, in 1835. In 1838, a Scotsman named Robert Davidson built an elec- tric locomotive that attained a speed of four miles per 1 History hour (6 km/h). In England a patent was granted in 1840 for the use of rails as conductors of electric current, and Main article: History of the electric vehicle similar American patents were issued to Lilley and Colten Electric motive power started in 1827, when Slovak- in 1847.[3] Between 1832 and 1839 (the exact year is uncertain), Robert Anderson of Scotland invented the first crude electric carriage, powered by non-rechargeable primary cells.[4] By the 20th century, electric cars and rail transport were commonplace, with commercial electric automo- biles having the majority of the market. Over time their general-purpose commercial use reduced to specialist roles, as platform trucks, forklift trucks, ambulances,[5] tow tractors and urban delivery vehicles, such as the iconic British milk float; for most of the 20th century, the UK was the world’s largest user of electric road vehicles.[6] Electrified trains were used for coal transport, as the mo- tors did not use precious oxygen in the mines. Switzer- Edison and a 1914 Detroit Electric model 47 (courtesy of the land’s lack of natural fossil resources forced the rapid National Museum of American History) electrification of their rail network. One of the earliest Hungarian priest Ányos Jedlik built the first crude but vi- rechargeable batteries - the nickel-iron battery - was fa- able electric motor, provided with stator, rotor and com- vored by Edison for use in electric cars. mutator, and the year after he used it to power a tiny EVs were among the earliest automobiles, and before the car.[2] A few years later, in 1835, professor Sibrandus preeminence of light, powerful internal combustion en- Stratingh of University of Groningen, the Netherlands, gines, electric automobiles held many vehicle land speed built a small scale electric car and a Robert Anderson of and distance records in the early 1900s. They were Scotland is reported to have made a crude electric car- produced by Baker Electric, Columbia Electric, Detroit riage sometime between the years of 1832 and 1839. Electric, and others, and at one point in history out-sold 1 2 1 HISTORY gasoline-powered vehicles. In fact, in 1900, 28 percent of the cars on the road in the USA were electric. EVs were so popular that even President Woodrow Wilson and his secret service agents toured Washington DC in their Mil- burn Electrics, which covered 60–70 miles per charge.[7] A number of developments contributed to decline of electric cars.[8] Improved road infrastructure required a greater range than that offered by electric cars, and the discovery of large reserves of petroleum in Texas, Ok- lahoma, and California led to the wide availability of affordable gasoline, making gas-powered cars cheaper to operate over long distances.[9] Also gasoline-powered cars became ever easier to operate thanks to the invention General Motors EV1 electric car of the electric starter by Charles Kettering in 1912,[10] which eliminated the need of a hand crank for starting a gasoline engine, and the noise emitted by ICE cars be- and consumers, and each of their roles in limiting the de- came more bearable thanks to the use of the muffler, ployment and adoption of this technology. which Hiram Percy Maxim had invented in 1897. As Ford released a number of their Ford Ecostar delivery roads were improved outside urban areas electric vehi- vans into the market. Honda, Nissan and Toyota also re- cle range could not compete with the ICE. Finally, the possessed and crushed most of their EVs, which, like the initiation of mass production of gasoline-powered vehi- GM EV1s, had been available only by closed-end lease. cles by Henry Ford in 1913 reduced significantly the cost After public protests, Toyota sold 200 of its RAV EVs to [11] of gasoline cars as compared to electric cars. eager buyers; they later sold at over their original forty- In the 1930s, National City Lines, which was a partner- thousand-dollar price. This lesson did not go unlearned; ship of General Motors, Firestone, and Standard Oil of BMW of Canada sold off a number of Mini EV’s when California purchased many electric tram networks across their Canadian testing ended. the country to dismantle them and replace them with GM The production of the Citroën Berlingo Electrique buses. The partnership was convicted of conspiring to stopped in September 2005. monopolize the sale of equipment and supplies to their subsidiary companies, but were acquitted of conspiring to monopolize the provision of transportation services. 1.2 Reintroduction During the last few decades, environmental impact of the 1.1 Experimentation petroleum-based transportation infrastructure, along with the peak oil, has led to renewed interest in an electric In January 1990, General Motors’ President introduced transportation infrastructure.[12] EVs differ from fossil its EV concept two-seater, the “Impact”, at the Los An- fuel-powered vehicles in that the electricity they consume geles Auto Show. That September, the California Air Re- can be generated from a wide range of sources, including sources Board mandated major-automaker sales of EVs, fossil fuels, nuclear power, and renewable sources such in phases starting in 1998. From 1996 to 1998 GM pro- as tidal power, solar power, and wind power or any com- duced 1117 EV1s, 800 of which were made available bination of those. The carbon footprint and other emis- through three-year leases. sions of electric vehicles varies depending on the fuel and Chrysler, Ford, GM, Honda, Nissan and Toyota also pro- technology used for electricity generation. The electricity duced limited numbers of EVs for California drivers. may then be stored on board the vehicle using a battery, In 2003, upon the expiration of GM’s EV1 leases, GM flywheel, or supercapacitors. Vehicles making use of en- crushed them. The crushing has variously been attributed gines working on the principle of combustion can usually to 1) the auto industry’s successful federal court challenge only derive their energy from a single or a few sources, to California’s zero-emissions vehicle mandate, 2) a fed- usually non-renewable fossil fuels. A key advantage of eral regulation requiring GM to produce and maintain hybrid or plug-in electric vehicles is regenerative brak- spare parts for the few thousands EV1s and 3) the success ing due to their capability to recover energy normally lost of the oil and auto industries’ media campaign to reduce during braking as electricity is stored in the on-board bat- public acceptance of EVs. tery. A movie made on the subject in 2005-2006 was ti- As of September 2014, series production highway- tled Who Killed the Electric Car? and released theatri- capable all-electric cars available in some countries for cally by Sony Pictures Classics in 2006. The film ex- retail customers include the Mitsubishi i MiEV, Chery plores the roles of automobile manufacturers, oil indus- QQ3 EV, JAC J3 EV, Nissan Leaf, Smart ED, BYD try, the U.S. government, batteries, hydrogen vehicles, e6, Bolloré Bluecar, Renault Fluence Z.E., Ford Focus 2.1 Connection to generator plants 3 The world’s two best selling all-electric cars of all-time are the Nissan Leaf (left), with 195,000 global sales by October A passenger train, taking power through a third rail with 2015,[13] and the Tesla Model S (right), with over 90,000 units by October 2015.[14] return through the traction rails Electric, Tesla Model S, Honda Fit EV, RAV4 EV sec- ond generation, Renault Zoe, Roewe E50, Mahindra e2o, Chevrolet Spark EV, Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG Electric Drive, Fiat 500, Volkswagen e-Up!, BMW i3, Kia Soul EV, Volkswagen e-Golf, Mercedes-Benz B-Class Elec- tric Drive and Venucia e30. The Leaf, with 195,000 units sold worldwide by October 2015, is the world’s top- selling highway-capable all-electric car in history.[13][15] The Tesla Model S is the world’s second best selling all- An electric locomotive at Brig, Switzerland electric car of all time, with global deliveries of over 90,000 by October 2015.[14] As of May 2015, more than 500,000 highway-capable all- electric passenger cars and light utility vehicles have been sold worldwide since 2008, out of total global sales of about 850,000 light-duty plug-in electric vehicles.[16][17]