News & Articles on Electric Vehicles
We’ve made great strides in moving the electricity sector toward renewable energy. However, transportation remains a major source of air pollution and global warming gases. If we are to make a transition to renewable energy, we will need to electrify as much of the economy as we can, including transportation. Electrified rail is one means, electric vehicles (EVs) are another. The focus here is mostly on our experience driving EVs. We’ve been driving electric since the fall of 2014.
Chevy Bolt EV Battery Disassembly and Charging Limitations
By
External Source
Questions about the slow charging rate of the Bolt (compared to other cars) come up quite often. While the charging port being limited to 150A is often blamed, this is not the root cause. I firmly believe that the pack design (and not the cells) provides a very limited way of removing heat. If the pack were to be charged any faster, it could create unacceptable temperature gradients in the cells, which could cause severe degradation.
Do electric cars really produce fewer carbon emissions than petrol or diesel vehicles?
By
Jasper Jolly
The scientific consensus is overwhelming: on any realistic like-for-like comparison a battery car will be cleaner than its petrol or diesel equivalent. Burning fossil fuels to make and drive electric cars will still cause emissions, but at a lower level than inefficient fossil fuel engines. That is true of today’s grid (in richer economies, at least) but in tomorrow’s grid the benefits will grow as long as countries continue to shift away from coal and gas to generate electricity. Putting batteries in cars so far appears to be the only practical way to shift the tens of millions of light vehicles sold every year towards net zero emissions.
More Hydrogen Fleets That Reached The End Of The Tragicomedy Including Iceland
By
Michael Barnard
One thing that the chorus is bad at is even acknowledging, never mind keeping track of, acts 4, 5 and 6, where the governmental taps are shut, leading to the fleet operators scrapping the hydrogen vehicles and getting battery electric vehicles instead, something that they should have started with.
GM says next-gen Bolt will be EUV-only as the SUV virus infects the industry
By
Jameson Dow
We think this is a big mistake, especially given all the recent excitement around the Volvo EX30, a vehicle quite close to the Bolt EV’s footprint and layout. Given the interest we’re seeing in that small, well-priced hatchback/SUV, which despite being called an SUV is still among the smaller EVs currently being introduced, one would think that GM might see that a “Hot Hatch meets MicroSUV” format is popular. Surely that’s why they were bringing back the Bolt in the first place?
New Solar-Powered Level 2 Station in New Cuyama—the Back of Beyond
By
Paul Gipe
Santa Barbara County has installed a new solar-powered level 2 station in New Cuyama. We first noticed this station at the end of November. It was taped off then and when we passed it again a week later it was still taped off. Both times the indicator on the EVSE suggested the batteries were fully charged. We have no idea why it was taped off. It looked operational. For those who don’t know, New Cuyama is the back of beyond. It’s on Route 166 that runs east and west, leading from the southern end of the San Joaquin Valley to the coast.
How problematic is mineral mining for electric cars?
By
Jasper Jolly
Yet overall, the mineral use for electric cars is much, much lower than petrol and diesel as soon as oil enters the equation. Transport & Environment (T&E), a Brussels-based thinktank, found that a petrol car will burn an average of 17,000 litres of oil in its lifetime – about 12.5 tonnes. And most criticisms of electric cars’ mineral use miss a hugely important point: the majority of battery materials used in cars are likely to be recycled. That will drastically cut down the amount of wasted material compared with fossil fuels which disappear invisibly but harmfully to heat the planet.
