Electric Vanagon: EV's are for Going to Work In, & Delivering Things

Thursday, January 20, 2011

EV's are for Going to Work In, & Delivering Things

Here's one of the great things about an electric car: it plugs in at home.

An EV is ideally suited to be a commuter car: driven a set distance each day (plus extra range to accommodate the occasional mid-day errand) and parked in the garage at night. Every family I know has two cars; one of them probably generally operates well within the range of a converted EV or one of the new production ones. Having one vehicle for roving and one that has a dedicated use would be nothing new for most of us. (And yes, it is still a thrill to refer to the current production EV's out there!)

As EV's move into the mainstream almost every article I read about them mentions range anxiety. But I've known EV commuters for years, and they don't suffer from range anxiety at all. They don't need to opportunity charge outside the mall or attempt a trip across the state plugging into Cracker Barrel on the way. They have a routine: they come home in the evening, charge up and head out again in the morning. EV's are low-maintenance and long-lasting, so they can do this for years, day in and day out -- just like you do. Unless you telecommute, your drive to work is probably a significant portion of your family's fossil-fuel footprint!

Overnight charging also does away with time spent filling up. One of the panelists at a BCR mini-workshop once said, "People always ask me how long it takes to charge my car. I tell them: about five seconds. They go, "What?!" And I tell them, look: I park it in the garage, I plug it in, I go inside. In the morning I come out, unplug it, and leave. It's much faster than standing at a pump!"

Here's one of the great things about an electric truck: it's quiet.

My father-in-law remembers electric milk trucks on the streets of London when he was growing up. They were electric because the milk was delivered early, and urban noise pollution was already considered a problem. Of course, that's not the only reason delivery trucks are an ideal application for EV's. There is an excellent article exploring the booming world of electric fleet & delivery vehicles here -- though I think the writer is overly pessimistic about lithium-ion's life-span. I am proud of myself cause I scouted up this link on my own and didn't get it through Dan Monroe!

I have a few more truck links to share here: there is a lot more going on in EV trucking than I thought. Click on the images for details!

Navistar e-Star