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posted by Fnord666 on Saturday June 24 2017, @10:02AM   Printer-friendly
from the shocking dept.

Electric and hybrid electric vehicles are in the fast lane to wider adoption, according to a new study by University of Michigan researchers.

The researchers analyzed the present status of electric vehicles in the U.S., their life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions, and progress toward lifting barriers to broader acceptance. The study is a literature and technical review that synthesizes and analyzes recent findings from many sources.

"We feel that within the next decade, electric vehicles are positioned to be more suitable for most drivers to use on a daily basis," said Brandon Schoettle, project manager at the U-M Transportation Research Institute. "That's due to recent improvements such as longer driving ranges, faster recharging times and lower vehicle prices."

[...] Schoettle and colleague Michael Sivak, a research professor at UMTRI, found that sales of plug-in electric vehicles in the U.S. have increased by more than 700 percent since 2011.

[...] Other key findings include:

  • Availability: The number of individual electric vehicle models that consumers can choose from has increased rapidly, nearly doubling from 13 in model year 2016 to 23 in 2017. Recent price trends make plug-in hybrid vehicles more affordable and more similar in price to the average internal combustion engine vehicle.
  • Charging infrastructure: The number of public charging stations has grown rapidly since 2010, with approximately 16,000 now available across the U.S., supplying approximately 35,000 individual connections (for comparison, there are roughly 112,000 gas stations).
  • Driving range: The driving distance between charges of battery electric vehicles continues to improve. The range of all electric vehicles has increased to an average of 110 miles. Several studies the researchers cite estimate that a range of 120 miles can cover 99 percent of household vehicle trips.
  • Fuel prices Compared to gasoline, electricity prices have been low and stable over the past decade or more, and they're projected to remain that way over the next several decades.

Getting Americans to give up their cars for public transportation may be a tough sell, but if the study is right getting them to switch to electric cars won't be.


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  • (Score: 5, Insightful) by choose another one on Saturday June 24 2017, @11:51AM (1 child)

    by choose another one (515) Subscriber Badge on Saturday June 24 2017, @11:51AM (#530530)

    I don't think people don't know how many miles they do. I regularly do over 120 miles in a day (sometimes several times a week), and I don't even live in America.

    What the "researchers" don't seem to realize is that an EV that does even 99% of the trips an IC car can do is therefore not a replacement for an IC car.

    I have a 7 seater, probably most trips it has one or two people in it, so why have it? Why not have a two seater? Because when it has 5 6 or 7 people in it, a two seater cannot do the job.

    Maybe 10 times a year I fill that 7 seater up with the whole family and do 3,4,500 miles in a trip (and the same for the return), so maybe that is 1% of total trips (could be), but an EV cannot, currently, do that job. I could run an EV instead and rent a 7-seater for the long trips when I needed it - trouble is that would cost more per year in rental than the car does to own, not just the fuel costs, the whole cost - tax insurance repairs etc. An EV that does 99% of your trips is just not economic if the 1% of trips are long and expensive that to do any other way would cost as much as an IC car that could do 100% of the job.

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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 24 2017, @12:33PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 24 2017, @12:33PM (#530539)

    You are correct, sir!

    And if you live in the boondocks, the electric car is a non-starter: distances are too long and there are no charging stations.

    I feel as if so many urban people just have no clue that so many people do not live like them.