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Five-minute car charging

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A long-standing complaint about electric cars is the amount of time it takes to charge their batteries.  A decade ago, this was a serious shortcoming.  Even at the fastest chargers available at the time, it could take hours to refill the electric fuel tank.  Combined with the limited range earlier electric cars had, this made long-distance road trips in an electric car something only for the adventurous.

Nowadays, electric cars can go much further on a charge – 300 miles and more – and the fastest public chargers can add 200 miles in 20 minutes.  With this kind of performance, electric cars are eminently practical for the great majority of drivers and the great majority of road trips.  But for some people, it just isn’t good enough.  They want to be able to charge up a car as fast as they can fill up a tank of gas.

That capability is about to be available in China.  Two Chinese companies announced technology breakthroughs that will allow electric cars to add 250 miles of range in five minutes.  China is the world’s largest user and producer of electric cars, and the country has invested heavily in charging technology, especially in the infrastructure enhancements required for high-speed charging.

When will this capability be available in the United States?  It isn’t clear.  The Trump Administration has been aggressively rolling back policies that support the EV industry.  The regulatory changes that would permit higher-power charging stations are unlikely to happen any time soon.

Electric cars are already very practical for most people, but if one wants them to be able to please everyone, one may have to go to China.

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Why Can’t the U.S. Build 5-Minute E.V. Chargers?

Photo, posted April 17, 2023, courtesy of FirstEnergy via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Super drivers and electric cars

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The average American driver travels about 13,400 miles a year. The top 10% of drivers average about 40,200 miles a year and account for 35% of the nation’s gasoline use from private light-duty vehicles, meaning cars, SUVs, pickup trucks, vans, and minivans.  Those 21 million Americans alone burn more gasoline than is burned each year in Brazil, Canada, and Russia combined.

These super drivers often live in rural areas and small towns, drive an average of 116 miles each weekday, and typically own vehicles that are larger and less fuel efficient.  Many have long commutes to work because they were pushed out of cities by rising housing prices.  Some are tradespeople who travel from site to site all day in their jobs. 

Given the disproportionate amount of gasoline usage by this small segment of the population, the key to cutting vehicle emissions by adopting electric vehicles may rest with super drivers.  And so far, not many of them have made the transition.

A report by the environmental nonprofit group Coltura contends that getting super drivers to switch to electric cars would lead to a much faster reduction in emissions.

The range of most recent electric cars is sufficient for most super drivers.  The obstacles remaining include availability of convenient charging stations, but that is changing.  Finding the right vehicle might also be a problem, but electric pickup trucks and large SUVs are entering the market. 

The transition to electric vehicles is important for society, and the most active drivers need to take part in it.

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Are You a Super Driver? Some States Want to Help You Go Electric.

Photo, posted January 9, 2025, courtesy of Phillip Pessar via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Electric trains are healthier

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The majority of commuter trains in the U.S. are powered by diesel fuel.  This is despite the fact that electric trains are quieter, more reliable, and produce fewer greenhouse gases than diesel locomotives.  A new study has found that electric trains are healthier for passengers as well.

Caltrain carries millions of passengers a year along a 47-mile route between San Francisco and San Jose.  It is the busiest commuter rail system in the western U.S.  Over a six-week period beginning in August 2024, Caltrain retired all 29 of its diesel locomotives and replaced them with electric trains.

As the process began, an environmental engineering and environmental health professor at UC Berkeley noticed the rapid change in the air aboard the trains and decided to study its potential health impacts.  With the support of Caltrain, he installed black carbon detectors aboard the trains and tracked the improvements in air quality as old diesel locomotives were being replaced by new electric trains.

Statistical analysis of the reduction in black carbon exposure achieved by the change predicted a reduction in excess cancer deaths by 51 per million people for passengers and 330 per million people for train conductors.  EPA policy states that any exposure that increases the average individual’s cancer risk by more than one per million is considered unacceptable.

In the context of the whole U.S. where millions of people commute by rail every day, the study predicts that hundreds of cases of cancer could be prevented each year.  California has long-term plans to electrify most of its rail systems.  The study indicates that the process shouldn’t be carried over the next 25 years but rather be sped up.

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Electric trains are quieter, more reliable than diesel. New study finds they’re healthier, too.

Photo, posted September 4, 2024, courtesy of J. Kehoe via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Grid reliability and grid-edge resources

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A new study by MIT researchers looked at the potential for grid-edge resources to enhance the ability of the electric grid to respond to unforeseen power outages.  Grid-edge resources are devices found close to consumers rather than located near central power plants, substations, or transmission lines.  These include residential solar panels, storage batteries, electric vehicles, heat pumps, smart thermostats and smart water heaters.

These grid-edge devices can independently generate, store, or tune their consumption of power and increasingly, they are online internet-of-things devices.  The MIT study outlined a blueprint for how such devices could reinforce the power grid through a local electricity market.  Owners of grid-edge devices could subscribe to such a market and essentially loan out their device as part of a microgrid or local network as on-call energy resources.

Electric vehicles could provide power rather than consuming it when necessary.  Storage batteries could do the same.  Devices like smart dishwashers and thermostats would reduce their power demands when necessary.

In the event that the main power grid is compromised, an algorithm would determine which grid-edge devices were available and trustworthy and would either use them to pump power into the grid or reduce the power they are drawing from it in order to help mitigate the power failure. 

The MIT researchers illustrated this grid resilience strategy through a number of grid attack scenarios including failures from cyber-attacks and natural disasters.   Their analysis showed that various networks of grid-edge devices are capable of defeating various types of grid failures.

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Rooftop panels, EV chargers, and smart thermostats could chip in to boost power grid resilience

Photo, posted October 10, 2019, courtesy of Noya Fields via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Battery life in electric cars

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Most of us have lots of experience with the batteries in phones, computers, and other gadgets.  Batteries don’t last forever, and we sometimes have to replace them.  It’s a fact of life.   These days, it’s becoming more common to drive electric cars and the fundamental principle is the same.  However, the battery pack in an EV is the most expensive part of the car, so its reliability and lifespan is a greater concern.

EV batteries generally have generous warranties.  In the US, EV batteries are required by federal law to be covered for at least 8 years or 100,000 miles, whichever comes first.  So, the financial exposure from the battery pack is reasonably limited.  Even so, EV owners would like to know that their car’s battery pack is likely to last a long time.

Battery life is generally determined by laboratory tests involving repeated charge-discharge cycles over a relatively short period of time, as opposed to those cycles being spaced out over years.

A new study by Stanford University looked at battery performance under conditions much more like what would be experienced in the real world.  Cars experience frequent acceleration, braking that charges the batteries a bit, lots of stops, periods of rest, and so forth.  Nothing like just charging and discharging repeatedly.

The study found that today’s EV batteries may last up to 40% longer than expected.  Real-world stop-and-go driving benefits batteries more than standard test conditions.

The cost of EV batteries continues to get lower all the time and it is likely to be quite a long time before one is likely to need a new battery assuming one even keeps the car long enough.

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Existing EV batteries may last up to 40% longer than expected

Photo, posted August 27, 2021, courtesy of Ron Frazier via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Faster electric vehicle charging

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One concern that people have in replacing gas-powered vehicles with electric vehicles is the time it takes to charge them.  Charging an EV at home from an ordinary 110V electrical outlet is a slow process; installing a 220V outlet speeds things up considerably but it still can take all night to fully charge a car.  The driving range of electric cars has increased over the years so that now there are many cars that can go 300 miles or more on a charge. For most people, so-called range anxiety is mostly gone.  But on long road trips, charging time can be a real issue.

There are increasing numbers of high-speed chargers along or adjacent to major highways that can provide 200 miles of driving range in less than half an hour.  But people want more charge, and they want it faster.

There are multiple efforts in improving EV batteries and charger technology aimed at transforming a visit to a public charger to an experience comparable to filling up at a gasoline station.

Researchers at the University of Waterloo have designed a new kind of lithium-ion battery that will be able to go from zero battery power to 80% in just 15 minutes. This technology would certainly enhance the capabilities of today’s electric cars.  However, it is quite possible that other technologies that surpass this performance will emerge in the near future.  There is talk across the industry of cars that can charge up in 5 or 10 minutes.   There is also the prospect of many cars that can drive 500 miles on a charge.  These features would address the needs or desires of all but a very small number of drivers.

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From zero to 80 per cent in just 15 minutes

Photo, posted May 7, 2022, courtesy of Sharon Hahn Darlin via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Giant batteries in the Earth

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The wind and the sun are inexhaustible sources of energy, and we are tapping into them to produce electricity at a growing rate around the world.  But neither of them is always available when we need them.  When the sun isn’t shining and the wind isn’t blowing, they don’t work.

An opposite problem also exists.  When our energy needs are low, but it is sunny or windy, solar and wind power are all dressed up with nowhere to go.  Energy storage is the answer to both of these problems.   When there is excess generation, store the energy for later use.  When there is need for energy and not enough is being generated, tap into the energy that is stored.

Giant banks of lithium-ion batteries are the rapidly growing form of energy storage, and they are increasingly providing resilience in the electric grid.  But battery storage is short-term energy storage.  Even the largest battery banks can only provide a few hours of electricity. 

So, there is a real need for “long-duration energy storage” – systems that provide at least 10 hours of backup power and sometimes much more – for the grid to be fully reliable.

Pumped hydro storage, which uses water from elevated reservoirs to drive turbines, has been around for a long time.  Historically, this is the largest form of energy storage in the world.  Other methods include pumping compressed air into underground caverns or lifting massive blocks into elevated positions.  All of these techniques use excess electricity to place things like water, air, or cement into a position where they can be used to drive electrical generators.

The grid of tomorrow will store energy in giant battery banks, but also in the ground, in reservoirs, and in large structures.

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How giant ‘batteries’ in the Earth could slash your electricity bills

Photo, posted March 21, 2024, courtesy of Sandra Uecker/USFWS via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Progress towards electric school buses

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The U.S. has nearly half a million school buses providing daily transportation for about 20 million students.  Most of these buses are powered by diesel engines which not only dump greenhouse gases into the atmosphere but also fill kids’ lungs with harmful fumes.

Thanks to various federal and state incentive programs, this situation is starting to change.  School districts all over the country are beginning to swap out old diesel buses for emissions-free electric-powered school buses.

Electric school buses are finding their way into school districts of all sizes and demographics.  The first district in the country to go fully electric was in Martinsville, Texas, which last year converted its 4-bus fleet.  The first large urban district to go all-electric was the 74-bus fleet in Oakland, California this summer.

The EPA’s $5 billion Clean School Bus program and many state initiatives are providing incentives for the transition.  Five years ago, there were less than 1,000 electric school buses in the U.S.  Now there are about 5,000 and more than 7,000 additional buses are in the pipeline.

Apart from the climate implications, there is urgency to replacing diesel school buses from a health perspective.  Diesel exhaust is classified as a carcinogen by the World Health Organization, and it contains fine particles and nitrogen oxides, both of which are well-documented asthma triggers.

Electric buses are more expensive than diesel buses, but they are much cheaper to operate. School districts need to put in place charging infrastructure.  The transition is not so easy to accomplish, but it is an important step, and more and more school districts are taking it.

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Slowly but Surely, U.S. School Buses Are Starting to Electrify

Photo, posted May 5, 2021, courtesy of California Energy Commission via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Electric cars and power outages

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As more and more cars are powered by electricity instead of gasoline, people are beginning to worry about what happens during power outages caused by storms and other disruptive events.  It is easy to jump to the conclusion that this is a brand-new problem for drivers.  However, when electricity goes out over a sizeable area, most gas pumps stop working and it isn’t easy to keep gas cars running either.

Electric cars are often charged at home every day and such cars are more likely to be almost fully charged than nearly depleted at any time.  For those drivers, a power failure is unlikely to be much of a concern unless it persists for a very lengthy period.  On road trips, unless a power outage extends over a very wide area, one can probably get to a charger that is still operating.

Nonetheless, the federal government has commissioned researchers at Iowa State University to study potential solutions to possible difficulties in keeping electric cars running during power failures.  The goal of the study is to find ways to reduce the outage frequency of chargers by 75% and the power restoration time by 50%.

The study will evaluate the resiliency of charging stations in extreme weather events and identify ways to quickly restore power to charging stations in the event of outages.  Included are onsite solar power and battery storage at chargers as well as redundant power lines from different electrical substations.  There is even the possibility  of trucks delivering pre-charged batteries to charging stations after a storm.  Identifying and developing technologies to improve the resilience of charging stations is an important goal as the transition to electric vehicles continues.

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Researchers working to keep electric vehicles charging, even when the lights go out

Photo, posted July 29, 2013, courtesy of Jeff Cooper via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Solid-state batteries for cars

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Battery-powered electric vehicles have historically faced the challenges of limited driving range and long charging time.  In recent years, both of these limitations have been largely overcome for many if not most drivers.  Popular EVs on the market can go 300 miles and more on a charge and today’s fastest charging networks can add 200 miles of range in 20 minutes.  But many people want even more range and even faster charging.  Both of these things will happen in the not-too-distant future.

Multiple companies are working on solid-state batteries, which hold more energy in a given volume than current batteries.  The lithium-ion batteries that power today’s EVs (as well as our phones and computers) have a liquid or gel electrolyte.  Solid-state batteries use a solid ceramic or polymer electrolyte that provides higher energy density, faster charging times, and reduced fire risk as well.

Samsung announced that it will produce solid-state batteries for vehicles by 2027.  Toyota says it is on track to develop a solid-state battery by 2027 or 2028.  California-based QuantumScape has an agreement to supply solid-state batteries to Volkswagen for mass production.  Tesla has not said what it is doing with regard to solid-state batteries, but it is likely that it’s also pursuing the technology.

The upshot of all of this is that EV ranges are likely to increase dramatically over the next several years leading to the availability of vehicles that can go 600 miles or more on a charge.  Given that the cost of EVs is already rapidly becoming at least competitive with if not lower than that of gasoline-powered cars, the days of internal combustion are becoming numbered.

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Want an EV With 600 Miles of Range? It’s Coming

Photo, posted August 17, 2024, courtesy of Bill Abbott via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

An electric reactor for industry

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The industrial sector accounts for nearly a third of greenhouse gas emissions in the US, which is more than the annual emissions from cars, trucks, and airplanes combined.  These emissions primarily come from burning fossil fuels to produce goods from raw materials as well as from the chemical reactions associated with production.  Many industrial processes require very high temperatures that are not easily achieved other than by burning fossil fuels.

Researchers at Stanford University have developed and demonstrated a new kind of thermochemical reactor that can generate the huge amounts of heat required for many industrial processes that runs on electricity rather than the burning of fossil fuels.  The researchers claim that the design is also smaller, cheaper, and more efficient than the fossil fuel technology it would replace.

Standard industrial thermochemical reactors burn fossil fuel to heat a fluid that is piped into the reactor, much like the way home radiators work, albeit at far higher temperatures.  The new reactor uses magnetic induction, similar to the way that induction cooktops work.  Heat is transferred by inducing a current into materials that heat up as the current flows.

A proof-of-concept demonstration powered a chemical reaction called the reverse water gas shift reaction and resulted in more than 85% efficiency.  The reaction in question converts carbon dioxide into a valuable gas that can be used to create sustainable fuels. 

The Stanford researchers are working to scale up their new reactor technology and expand its potential applications.  They are working on designs for reactors for capturing carbon dioxide and for manufacturing cement. 

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Electric reactor could cut industrial emissions

Photo, posted October 30, 2022, courtesy of Helmut via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Benefits of electric school buses

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There are about half a million school buses in use in the U.S.  A large number of them are older, highly polluting diesel buses.  There are well-established health and climate benefits of switching from diesel vehicles to electric vehicles but making the switch is expensive.  Diesel buses generally cost between $65,000 to $120,000, depending on the type and configuration.  Electric buses cost about $250,000 each.

The substantial cost makes it a difficult decision for local, state, and federal officials, particularly since the actual magnitude of the benefits is not well known.

A new study by researchers at Harvard’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health has quantified these benefits.  According to the study, replacing each bus may yield up to $247,600 in climate and health benefits. These benefits derive from fewer greenhouse gas emissions and from reduced rates of adult mortality and childhood asthma. 

The study compared the amounts of carbon dioxide emitted from diesel bus tailpipes to the emissions associated with generating electricity for the buses and producing their batteries.  It also compared how these respective emissions contribute to fine particulate air pollution, which is linked to adult mortality and the onset of childhood asthma.  The study concluded that particularly in dense urban settings, the savings incurred from electrifying older school buses easily outweigh the costs of replacing them.

An important question not tackled in the study is how electric school buses impact children’s exposure to in-cabin air pollution while riding the bus.  This issue could further inform policy decisions.

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Electric school buses may yield significant health and climate benefits, cost savings

Photo, posted May 9, 2008, courtesy of Christine H. via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

California renewable energy

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California has aggressively pursued the use of renewable energy, particularly solar and wind power.  Last year, renewables supplied 54% of the state’s electricity needs.  This year, California has been achieving some remarkable milestones with its renewable energy.

As of May 26th, California had produced more than 100% of its electricity demand with wind, solar, and hydropower for parts of 51 straight days and 75 out of 81 days.  On May 25th, California’s grid ran entirely on renewable energy for 10.1 straight hours and renewables provided 83% of the state’s electricity for the entire 24-hour period.  California uses more electricity than any other state apart than Texas, which uses more than half its energy for operating refineries and petrochemical plants.

Excess power in California is either exported to other states or is used to charge up the state’s growing arrays of energy storage batteries.  California has the largest grid-connected battery storage facility in the world, located in Kern County.  The facility can store nearly 3,300 megawatt-hours of energy.

The ability to produce more power than the state needs occurs during the day when the sun is shining, and when many people are not at home.  At night, demand goes up and solar power is not available.  But as the quantity of energy storage available continues to grow along with additional solar installations, California will ultimately be able to wean off of the gas-fueled power plants it predominantly uses at night.

According to some experts, California may operate entirely on renewables and battery storage as soon as 2035. 

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California exceeds 100% of energy demand with renewables over a record 30 days

Photo, posted January 11, 2016, courtesy of Jared Eberhardt via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

EV growth and oil demand

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There has been lots of talk recently about the transition to electric vehicles sputtering out.  Several automakers have delayed their EV programs citing reduced demand for the vehicles and lack of profitability.  In the bigger picture, the auto industry as a whole is in a rough patch as rising interest rates and other factors have reduced car buying.

Despite all this doom and gloom talk, sales of electric vehicles will hit an all-time high this year.  Adoption of EVs is accelerating more quickly than many people expected and government policies in China, the United States, and Europe have had a significant impact on vehicle sales.  In China, 37% of new cars sold last year were electric.  The country hit its 2025 target three years early and this year the figure could hit 45%.

But even as electric car sales rapidly increase, oil demand has continued to climb, reaching 100 million barrels a day, slightly more than it was before the COVID-19 pandemic.  The International Energy Agency expects that oil demand will peak before the end of this decade, but oil consumption could remain strong for decades unless there is further policy action encouraging the transition away from it.

Some experts say that the IEA’s models don’t take into account how quickly the world is changing.  New emission rules are expected to speed the adoption of EVs and plug-in hybrids.  In addition, falling battery costs are making the economics of electric vehicles increasingly attractive.  If EV adoption accelerates more rapidly than these models predict, then oil consumption could drop much more quickly.

However, the oil industry is deeply embedded in modern life and is not likely to fade away without a fight.

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EV Sales Are Taking Off. Why Is Oil Demand Still Climbing?

Photo, posted September 9, 2020, courtesy of Chris Yarzab via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Giant batteries and the grid

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All across the country, electric utility companies are starting to use giant batteries to counteract the biggest weakness of renewable energy; namely, that the sun doesn’t always shine, and the wind doesn’t always blow.  Solar panels and wind turbines can keep generating energy when people don’t need it and batteries can store up that energy for when they do.

Over the past three years, battery storage capacity on US grids has grown by a factor of ten adding up to 16 gigawatts.  This year, it is expected to double again, led by massive growth in Texas, California, and Arizona.

California generates more electricity from solar power than any other state.  But it has a timing problem:  solar power is plentiful during the day, but it disappears in the evening when people get home from work and start using lots of electricity.  The previous solution was to burn lots of fossil fuel to produce it.

This has been changing thanks to battery storage.  Since 2020, California has installed more giant batteries than anywhere else in the world other than China.  Batteries are gradually replacing fossil fuels for California’s evening power needs.  On the evening of April 30th, for example, batteries supplied more than 20% of California’s electricity.  This is equivalent to the output of seven large nuclear reactors.

Batteries have multiple uses in the grid.  They handle big swings in generation from renewable sources, they reduce congestion on transmission lines, and they help to prevent blackouts during heat waves.  Batteries are starting to eat into the market for fossil fuels and will play an ever-growing role in the electricity grid.  As the role of renewables grows, so will the role of batteries.

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Giant Batteries Are Transforming the Way the U.S. Uses Electricity

Photo, posted December 5, 2022, courtesy of Jonathan Cutrer via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Offshore wind and the wake effect

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Electricity demand in the U.S. continues to grow and, in the summer, homes and businesses crank up their air conditioning which drives demand even further.  Many East Coast cities are banking on offshore wind projects that are underway in the Atlantic Ocean to help meet that growing demand.  The first offshore turbines are now producing power off the coasts of Massachusetts and New York.

Electric power utilities need to know how much power they can get from offshore wind farms, and this is not that easy to predict.  Wind is variable, so there is some built-in uncertainty.  But there is also a phenomenon known as the wake effect to contend with.

When wind passes through a series of giant turbines, the ones in front extract some energy from the wind and, as a result, the wind slows down and becomes more turbulent behind the turbines.  So, the downstream turbines get slower wind and may produce less power.

A study by the University of Colorado has modeled this phenomenon for planned wind farms in the Atlantic Coast region and has found that power output could be reduced by over 30%.  Researchers are installing weather monitors and radar sensors in islands off the New England coast to better understand the behavior of the wind in the area and improve prediction models.

The New England grid covers Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. Even with the wake effect, offshore wind is predicted to be able to provide 60% of the electricity needs of the grid, but it is important to be able to accurately predict what it can produce.

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How much energy can offshore wind farms in the US produce? New study sheds light

Photo, posted August 31, 2022, courtesy of Nina Ali via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Wireless car charging

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It’s increasingly common to see cars hooked up to charging cables in shopping centers, rest stops, and dedicated charging stations.  Charging electric cars is easy to do, just like charging phones and laptop computers.  These days, it is pretty common to charge phones without using any charging cable at all because of the availability of wireless charging technology.  The same thing may well happen with electric cars.

A team of researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory has successfully demonstrated wireless charging of electric cars with high efficiency and fairly fast charging speed.

The patented system was used to charge up a Hyundai Kona EV using electromagnetic fields, which is essentially how phone chargers work.  The technology makes use of a polyphase electromagnetic coupling coil, which is lightweight and small.  Rotating magnetic fields generated in the coil’s windings boost the power available.  The system provided 100-kW of power with 96% efficiency.  That isn’t as powerful as the fastest high-speed charging stations, but it is considerably more than any home charging solution can provide.  For many vehicles, such a charger could provide 50% battery capacity in less than 20 minutes.

Battery technology continues to improve leading to larger capacity, faster charging, longer battery life, and lower cost.  At some point, charging up an electric car will take no more time than pumping gas.

The Oak Ridge researchers consider this development to be a breakthrough achievement that could open the door to fast and efficient wireless charging for electric passenger vehicles.  One could imagine having the ability to drive up to a charging spot and charging up the battery without even getting out of the car. 

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Charging up the commute

Photo, posted July 12, 2021, courtesy of Chris Yarzab via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Who’s driving electric?

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Electric cars are growing in popularity around the world and are expected to represent 20% of new car sales this year.  In some places, they have a much bigger share:  38% in China and a whopping 82% in Norway.  Here in the U.S., things are more complicated.

Last year, EVs represented 8.5% of U.S. new car sales while hybrids accounted for an additional 10%.  But enthusiasm for plug-in vehicles was by no means universal or consistent across the country or across various segments of the population.

Overall, the West Coast, and especially California, dominated the electric vehicle market.  Electric vehicles accounted for more than 30% of new car sales in the San Francisco Bay Area.  In Los Angeles, the number was close to 25%.

A number of metro areas elsewhere also had strong EV sales, including Denver, Las Vegas, Washington DC, Austin, and Phoenix.  New York City had almost 10% EV registrations. 

Americans buying electric cars so far tend to be richer, younger, and more likely to live in urban areas than the average person and are often motivated by environmental concerns.  Meanwhile, about half of American adults say they are not likely to consider purchasing an EV as their next car and that figure rises to 70% for Republicans.

Lack of interest in EVs is often based on concerns about the availability of sufficient charging options or high EV prices, although those are dropping.  There is also concern about EV efficiency in colder climates, although the Norwegians clearly don’t find it to be a problem.

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Electric Vehicles

Photo, posted October 18, 2021, courtesy of Chris Yarzab via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

One in five cars will be electric this year

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There has been lots of turbulence in the electric car industry of late.  Part of it is aggressive publicity campaigns spreading misinformation and part of it is the natural fits and starts associated with major change.  But apart from the ups and downs of individual companies and countries, analysts are projecting another record year for the sales of electric vehicles and are expecting that plug-in cars will account for 20% of all car sales globally.  Much of the growth will be driven by China, where 38% of new car sales will be electric cars.

Global sales of plug-in cars are expected to grow by 21% this year, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance.  Total projected sales are 16.7 million cars, including 1.9 million in the U.S., 3.4 million in Europe, and 9.7 million in China.  Because of the rapid adoption of electric cars in China, that country is expected to reach peak gasoline demand this year.  In other words, the use of gasoline in China will be diminishing from now on.

The auto industry is in flux.  The traditional big automakers are currently slowing down EV manufacturing as they work to come up to speed with the technology and market demand.  Meanwhile, EV-only carmakers such as Tesla in the U.S. and BYD in China are ratcheting up production. BYD is focusing on emerging economies with its lower-priced offerings.

In the U.S., EV adoption has been slowed somewhat by high interest rates and the slow rollout of EVs by the Big Three automakers.  But many new vehicles by a growing list of automakers will provide customers with more and more choices of EVs to suit diverse tastes and needs.

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This Year One in Five Cars Sold Globally Will Be an EV

Photo, posted November 18, 2023, courtesy of RL via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

EV battery costs continue to drop

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Electric vehicles have historically been more expensive than their gas-powered counterparts primarily because of the cost of the batteries that power them.  Today’s EV battery packs range in size from about 40 kWh to as much as 200 kWh, where kWh measure the amount of energy stored in pack.

The batteries in EVs are lithium-ion batteries, the same technology used to power cell phones, tablets, and computers.  A decade ago, the batteries averaged $668 per kilowatt-hour and packs as large as those in some of today’s vehicles were simply unthinkable from a price standpoint. 

Over the years, government subsidies, increased competition, higher volume, improvements in battery technology, and reductions in the cost of raw materials such as lithium have combined to drive continuous and dramatic reductions in battery costs.  By March 2022, the average price for lithium-ion batteries was $146 per kWh.  This past August, battery costs broke the $100 per kilowatt-hour barrier.

Industry analysts have long maintained that once the $100 barrier has been reached, EVs could achieve price parity with their fossil-fuel counterparts.  Electric cars would no longer be more expensive to buy than equivalent gas cars.

Projections are that battery prices will continue to fall by something like 10% a year for the rest of this decade.  All else being equal, EVs should be cheaper to buy than gas cars.  Of course, they have already been cheaper to operate for a long time. 

None of this means that car prices will go down in general.  That will depend on trends in inflation and those are pretty hard to predict.

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EVs Set to Match Gas Guzzlers in Price as Battery Costs Plummet

Photo, posted May 9, 2018, courtesy of Flickr.

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