Most people were skeptical a century ago when automobiles began replacing their horses. Now electric vehicles (EV’s) are again revolutionizing global mobility.
Last year 5.6 million EV’s were sold globally of which half were sold in China. Every auto major is now investing heavily into them. The Nissan Leaf, that sold 360,000 EV’s last year, is the world leader today though the classy looking Tesla, that sold 240,000 EV’s, is perhaps the best known.
The shift is mainly because the world recognizes that some 900 million vehicles fueled by fossil fuels are major polluters but, more importantly, the industry realizes that fossil fuel vehicles are doomed because EV’s are much more efficient than Internal Combustion (IC) engines and thus cheaper.
Essentially the IC engine is inherently inefficient as it wastes about 70 per cent of the power generated by the power stroke to suck fuel into one cylinder while compressing it in another and expelling the burnt exhaust gasses from a third.
A conventional car also wastes energy in the gearbox, cooling system, turbochargers, etc. In contrast, almost all the energy of an electric motor is delivered to the wheels. The power train, therefore, is essentially just the big battery pack and the electric motor and about 5000 parts are eliminated. This difference in power efficiency means that the torque, or power delivery, of a 10 hp electric motor is roughly the same as a 30 hp IC engine.
A typical 100 hp IC engine however usually operates at about a third of this peak power, unlike an electric motor that delivers a constant power output so an EV can quickly accelerate from standstill to top speed without any gears.
India’s first electric car was the Reva introduced in 1994 that sold some 4000 units to 26 countries before it was bought by Mahindra and Mahindra (M&M) in 2010. It was too impractical for most people in India but quite popular in 26 countries that offered incentives and special facilities like a zero congestion tax in central London.
Today M&M sells a Verito EV and the small e20 but many other new models will soon be on the market including the Nissan Leaf, Wagon R-EV, Tata Tigor Maruti Wagon R and M&M’s e-KUV 300.
The recently launched Hyundai Kona SUV clearly demonstrates the experience of driving a modern electric car with a small electric motor with a huge torque of 40.27 kgm or roughly as much power as a big 2800 cc IC engine at full throttle. This power can also be sustained for a huge distance of about 450 Kms on a full charge. A full charge from a normal domestic electric point may need 19 hours but there are much faster options. The electric consumption for a full charge will be just 39 units of electricity that would cost just Rs 200 that is roughly 20 per cent of the price of equivalent fuel for a diesel engine. The life of the expensive Lithium-Ion battery pack has improved so much that they now last a million Kms. As there is no engine and gearbox and few moving parts there is also very little need for service needed during its lifetime.
Heavy transport vehicles travel long distances and have big engines that drink huge quantities of fossil fuels. The country will, therefore, need a network of recharging stations or switching stations where the complete battery pack is quickly removed and replaced with another pre-charged pack.
In another decade EV’s will undoubtedly become popular in India and this will mean a great reduction in e consumption and imports of fossil fuels. It may need another decade before this happens but when it does, it may well start the economic decline of the oil-rich countries.