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Electric Vehicles and the End of Oil Addiction by Cory Donahue A

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Electric Vehicles and the End of Oil Addiction by Cory Donahue A The Evolution: Electric Vehicles and the End of Oil Addiction By Cory Donahue A PROJECT Submitted to Oregon State University University Honors College In Partial Fulfillment of The Requirements for the Degree of Honors Baccalaureate of Science in Mechanical Engineering Presented March 04, 2010 Commencement June 2010 AN ABSTRACT OF THE THESIS OF Cory Donahue for the degree of Honors Baccalaureate of Science in Mechanical Engineering presented on March 04, 2010. Title: The Evolution: Electric Vehicles and the End of Oil Addiction . Abstract Approved by Mentor: ______________________________ Robert Paasch The world is currently using an unsustainable system of meeting its transportation needs with oil. This system is taking a toll on the world environment and on global politics. The physical availability of oil is the system’s most immediate problem and will most likely bring about a transition away from oil dependency. As a solution, the world should replace oil with electricity by replacing cars that use gasoline with cars that use electricity from a battery. Other alternatives, namely ethanol and hydrogen, present a step down from petroleum in terms of sustainability. While electric cars present challenges that can be addressed, their improvements over gas cars justify a very optimistic outlook for the future of transportation. The transition to electric cars has started to occur and will accelerate in the immediate future. Key Words: Oil, Sustainability, Electric Cars Corresponding Email Address: [email protected] ©Copyright by Cory Donahue March 10, 2010 All Rights Reserved The Evolution: Electric Vehicles and the End of Oil Addiction By Cory Donahue A PROJECT Submitted to Oregon State University University Honors College In Partial Fulfillment of The Requirements for the Degree of Honors Baccalaureate of Science in Mechanical Engineering Presented March 04, 2010 Commencement June 2010 Acknowledgements Thank you, Professor Eric Hill, for getting me started and for being concerned when you thought I was trying to get out of working on the thesis. Thank you, Professor Michael Lerner. The advanced car battery class was very relevant to this project. The class paper conveniently made its way into this book. Thank you. Professor Robert Paasch. The space to work independently got me dreaming, and the deadlines got me writing. It was a perfect combination. Thank you, future Dr. David Jensen. You make the perfect “nicer cop” in the “good cop / nicer cop” routine. Thank you, mom, for offering to slap the agent that said I wouldn’t be able to get a book published. Table of Contents LIST OF FIGURES………………………………………………..………………………………………………………………………………ii LIST OF TABLES…………………………………………………..…………………………………………………………………………….iv CHAPTER 1: Introduction…………………………………..………………………………………………………………………………1 CHAPTER 2: America’s Oil Addiction………………………………………………………………………………………………13 CHAPTER 3: Alternative Fuels………………………………………………………………………………………………………….36 CHAPTER 4: Green Cars …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………49 CHAPTER 5: Electric Vehicles……………………………………………………………………………………………………………70 CHAPTER 6: EV Issues………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………81 Bibliography……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….……90 i List of Figures Figure 1 - Energy Flow Chart ...................................................................................................................... 10 Figure 2 - Sources of US Electricity ............................................................................................................. 11 Figure 3 - Average Global Surface Temperature ....................................................................................... 14 Figure 4 - Average Distributions of Sunlight ............................................................................................... 15 Figure 5 - Response to Radiation of Greenhouse Gases ............................................................................ 17 Figure 6 - Direct Measurements of Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide ............................................................. 19 Figure 7 - Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide, Larger View .............................................................................. 20 Figure 8 - Gallup Poll Showing American Skepticism Concerning Global Warming ............................... 21 Figure 9 – Milankovitch Cycles ................................................................................................................... 22 Figure 10 - Increasing Solar Activity ........................................................................................................... 23 Figure 11 - Global Climate Changes in Years A.D. ...................................................................................... 24 Figure 12 – Historical Sea Level Rise .......................................................................................................... 26 Figure 13 – Projections of Rising Sea Levels by the IPCC............................................................................ 27 Figure 14 - Florida's Coast Under Water .................................................................................................... 28 Figure 15 - Greenhouse Gas Flow Chart ..................................................................................................... 29 Figure 16 - Peak Domestic Oil ..................................................................................................................... 31 Figure 17 - Peak Discoveries ....................................................................................................................... 32 Figure 18 - ASPO Projection........................................................................................................................ 32 Figure 19 - Gasoline Prices Hitting New Peaks ........................................................................................... 34 Figure 20 - Fuel Cell Operation ................................................................................................................... 37 Figure 21 - US Ethanol Production ............................................................................................................. 40 Figure 22 – Midwest / US Corn Belt ........................................................................................................... 42 ii Figure 23 - Ethanol Not Competitive with Gasoline ................................................................................... 43 Figure 24 - Money Given to Farmers, in Billions ........................................................................................ 44 Figure 25 - Alcohol, the Great Money Guzzler ........................................................................................... 44 Figure 26 - Limited Benefits of Ethanol ...................................................................................................... 45 Figure 27 - Energy Balance of Corn Ethanol ............................................................................................... 46 Figure 28 - Marginal Ethanol Consumption ................................................................................................ 47 Figure 29 - If 100% of New Cars Were Conventional Hybrids .................................................................... 50 Figure 30 - Four Stroke Stages .................................................................................................................... 52 Figure 31 - The Otto Cycle .......................................................................................................................... 52 Figure 32 - Energy Efficiency Gains Spent on Power .................................................................................. 54 Figure 33 - US Market Composition Getting Heavier ................................................................................. 54 Figure 34 - Average Fleet Pollution ............................................................................................................ 55 Figure 35 - Exponential Growth of Hybrids ................................................................................................ 57 Figure 36 - Niche Markets for Hybrids ....................................................................................................... 58 Figure 37 - Average Selling Price According to Edmunds.com ................................................................... 61 Figure 38 - Oil Consumption to Zero .......................................................................................................... 71 Figure 39 - Torque Curve from Tesla Motors ............................................................................................. 72 Figure 40 - An Electric Coupe From 20 Years Ago ...................................................................................... 74 Figure 41 - The Tesla Roadster ................................................................................................................... 79 Figure 42 - Typical Daily Load ..................................................................................................................... 82 Figure 43 - Tesla Says the Tesla Roadster is Good ..................................................................................... 86 iii List of Tables Table 1 - Composition of Earth's Atmosphere ........................................................................................... 16 Table 2 - GWP of Selected Greenhouse Gases .........................................................................................
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