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So, you think you would like to buy an electric car?  Maybe, you’ve seen lots of stories in the press about electric car technology being the way forward, or you want to reduce your environmental footprint, or perhaps you just want something a little different and think they look cool.  Across the world in recent years, major advances have been made with electric cars, however what does this mean for someone wanting to buy one, particularly if you are based in the UK.  What should a new electric car buyer consider?

At a basic level, buying an electric car is extremely similar to buying a standard petrol or diesel car.  The same basic isses apply and you want to think about:

What will you primarily be using the car for?  This impacts on everything. Do you need to carry lots of passengers or kit, think size, number of seats, storage space? How far and at what speeds do you regularly drive? Will you need to be able to park it near work? How will you charge it?

Electric Car Performance

The performance (speed, distance, charging time etc) of electric cars varies considerably.  In general, the better performing the car the more expensive they are e.g. the Tesla Roadster - great performance but a serious price tag too (you won’t get much change from £100,000 to buy one in the the UK!!).  However, manufacturers are beginning to offer a range of vehicles from the 2 seater city runabout, to larger 4 and 5 seater saloons and MPVs, up to small commercial vans.  You can buy a new small electric car in the UK for under £10,000.  For those interested in cars specifically available in the UK and how they compare you can find a great electric car comparision tool here.

Current electric vehicles aren’t really ideal for that weekday 100 mile motorway commute (not yet!).  Electric cars are really a city option.  This is partly due to limits on maximum speeds (most topping out at around 50mph) but also the related issue of battery charging. 

Infrastructure for Electric Cars

Most electric cars can only go some 50 miles on one charge.  Cities are also where the infrastructure to support electric cars is concentrated.  In the UK, we are talking London first and foremost although there are some limited options for free electric car charging elsewhere in the UK e.g. Manchester, Bristol etc.   In many places electric cars also qualify for free parking and are exempt from things like congestion charges.

Following on from this is also the issue of servicing and maintaining your electric car.  This is going to be easiest in the big city where you purchased your car.  Hopefully, however some of these infrastructure restrictions will be lifted sooner rather than later.

Buying an Electric Car

Once you have decided what you need your electric car for and how you plan to use it you then want to:

Decide what you can afford Read reviews, compare prices and shop around. Speak to dealers – there are a number of retailers now based in London who will be keen for your business. Remember it is also possible to buy second hand.

Electric cars are not cheap to buy however they are cheap to run.  A slightly cheaper option though would be a second hand electric car.  Although, the second hand car market is extremely small there are some cars out there.  Just remember to look for a full service history, a warranty if possible and check the battery age (try and get the seller to put in a new battery to help sweeten the deal!)
 
Lastly, it is worth noting that the electric car market is not like the conventional car market, changes are more rapid. New (and better) electric car models are coming out every year, it may be worth waiting 12-24 months to get the right electric car for you. 

Al Gore, Rick Wagoner, Tom Friedman, our President Elect, Barack Obama, and many more celebrities are all heavily favoring and supporting a wholesale changeover from fossil fuel driven cars to electrically powered automobiles.

Their faith is based on the Lithium Ion battery. These batteries are very expensive, are heavy, must be replaced after several years, and require hours for recharging. Lithium is not widely available in the US and must be imported.

Electric cars perform admirably. They do not emit greenhouse gases directly, can be designed to accelerate well, and are very quiet. Electric cars are considered by many as the secret weapon that will reduce our dependence on imported petroleum and will lessen our payments to oil producing countries.

In a good year, US citizens will buy roughly 15 million cars to replenish and grow the US inventory of nearly 250 million used cars. It may take anywhere from twelve to fifteen years to replace most of this inventory with new models. The Volt, the first electric car produced by General Motors, will likely be leased in small numbers initially to stay on top of performance and warranty issues. Optimistically, we can assume that GM and other car companies will sell more than 2.5 million electric cars during the next ten years. Replacing 250 million cars will take a few decades longer.

At the same time the US is looking at a population growth of another 100 million residents during the next fifty years. Under the most optimistic assumptions we can expect to eventually see 150 million electric cars and 150 million liquid fuel powered cars in use by 2050.

Passenger cars are responsible for only 45% of present liquid fuel consumption. Under the most favorable conditions and assumptions, electric cars may be able to save 25% of petroleum imports eventually. Liquid fuel consumption for other uses will certainly increase during this time. Optimistically, we may expect that electric cars can cut liquid fuel consumption by 20% in 2050.

This figure does not bode well for curing the oil import dependency of the US. It certainly will not reduce dollar exports. It is certain that petroleum prices will rise substantially in future years. Additionally, we will have to pay for imported raw materials for batteries from abroad.

All these figures lead to one overpowering conclusion; electric cars will never be able to free us from the yoke of petroleum imports or reduce our balance of payments significantly!

There a few technical complications, too. Electric cars must be recharged regularly with electric energy. Electric energy is produced presently with fossil and nuclear fuels. Solar power is not suited too well because most electric cars must be recharged during the night hours when the Sun is not shining. For the next ten to fifteen years only a limited number of nuclear plants can be installed. Wind power is an intermittent energy, which cannot yet be stored in quantities. Fossil fuel burning has to provide virtually all of the electric energy for recharging the new fleet of electric cars for years to come. Combining efficiencies of coal fired power plants, of electricity transmission, and of battery chargers results in an overall energy efficiency that is not better than the energy efficiency of modern combustion engine inventory. Therefore, electric cars will not lower greenhouse gas emissions! Only very efficient combustion engines can accomplish this feat!

If electric cars cannot save us from a coming energy crisis, what other choices do we have? The answer is sobering. Without the coming of a Deus ex Machina, there seems to be only one and only one rational solution. We must learn how to make renewable fuels from large-scale production of renewable biomass.

The Earth cannot support the use of large amounts of fossil fuels any longer. We will not be able to stop the use of petroleum in the near future. We must outlaw the use of fossil fuels soon to save the Earth from overheating.

Only two other energy sources exist, which can provide the large amounts of energy that modern economies depend on. Sunlight is inexhaustible and available in quantities we will never be able to consume. Several conversion technologies are available for converting sunlight into the two energy forms that our economies depend on; electricity and liquid transportation fuels.

The other large energy source is nuclear fuel. It is likely that nuclear fuels will last for more than one century. Other energy sources such as hydro power, marine power, and geothermal power are not available everywhere and are limited in capacity.

We are left with one conclusion. For the next century or two, we will have to depend heavily on converting sunshine into electricity and into liquid transportation fuels. Energy in the form of sunshine is not very concentrated. Fortunately, biomass has the unusual ability to use sunlight and create energy rich carbohydrates and a few hydrocarbons. More amazingly yet; biomass energy can be stored.

There are a few technical problems we must solve before biomass can become the savior technology. We must grow very large amounts of biomass, we must learn to convert carbohydrates into hydrocarbons, and we must agree to reserve arable lands for food production only. All remaining obstacles can be overcome with existing technologies. It will take about one long decade to develop workable and economically attractive solutions. To be successful we must support exploratory research on a large scale and we must organize and fund an independent Energy Supply Development Agency.

The dismal interference of US Congress in energy matters must be changed. Instead of demanding the ineffective manufacturing of electric cars and regulating fuel consumption of passenger cars, US Congress must change to a new, practicable, and effective energy policy. US Congress and the new administration must demand increased thermal efficiencies from all newly manufactured internal combustion engines and must initiate the fast track development of liquid fuels production from renewable biomass.