Published: 03 June 1999
The Case For The Private Electric Car
This article examines the difficulty of promoting private electric cars but goes on to propose why and how they could be encouraged.
Fundamental to our lifestyle and economy is the movement of people and goods. However personal mobility by private car consumes a disproportionate amount of resources. The current technology of the car engine reduces the quality of life for all by its emission of noise, vibration, dirt, odours, poisons and gases damaging to the global atmosphere. Cars waste time, whether by encouraging long journeys or when congestion slows up short trips. Should personal mobility by car continue to be allowed?
The private car is a complex battleground at many levels. Anti-car legislation is virtually a no-go area, recognised as a serious vote loser. The opposite view is taken by a diverse collection of groups; environmental, pedestrian, cycling, public transport, all giving a loud "No to cars", whether propelled by the current dirty or newer squeaky clean technologies.
The electric car could be one solution to these conflicting pressures. An electric car does not emit any pollutants at point of use and, therefore, is particularly suited for urban use. The power is delivered unobtrusively using transmission cables that are below capacity over night when most charging of batteries would be done. Generation of power by renewable technologies completes the package.
Listening to the pundits, we should wait for the hybrid engine/electric systems and, later, fuel cell technology. The promise of technologies meeting environmental aims with no compromise to the driver is very endearing. It suits both the manufacturers and market alike. Curious that not a single hybrid is on the market and no fuel cell technology looks the slightest bit practical or commercial. In contrast the electric car is here today.
This is the view I took some years ago when I set out to purchase and use my own electric car. Since March 1998, my household has operated an electric car, a household of two young children and two working parents. Our situation is of note for several reasons. The electric car we have is a Peugeot 106 electric, a mature design, in production by a major manufacturer. Charging at 230 V/13 A is via a socket in the pavement, a novel feeder-pillar design using the public footpath. An "ELECTRIC VEHICLE" parking bay has been marked in the road directly outside our house in central London.
In the 2 months of use so far, we can declare that, for all our varied London trips, the car and charging facility meet all our needs, comfortably, effortlessly and admirably. Driving our electric car is easy and relaxing. The car is silent making the journey pleasurable for both the driver and passengers alike, one of the great secrets of electric vehicles.
As the first on-street charging facility in the country, a grand official opening was warranted. My hope was to demonstrate that the technology is here and possible.
There was the encouraging feedback from those wanting to buy a Peugeot 106 electric for themselves. However the media response was perhaps typical of widespread public attitudes and misconceptions. The usual stereotypes were trotted out, "just a jumped up milkfloat" and concern over the limited range. The report in Autocar magazine ended with a cartoon showing a car stuck under a "London 35 miles" sign with the driver setting out to unwind a 5-foot diameter cable drum by rolling along the hard shoulder.
Adoption of electric cars involves individuals accepting some change, even compromises, for the general good. Is this task insurmountable?
Consumers expect providers to be environmentally aware and responsible, so companies and other organisations take their green image very seriously. Why is the expectation for individuals' own behaviour so different? Perhaps it's a matter of establishing a threshold of acceptable behaviour, a change of mentality.
There are precedents in recent times. Drinking and driving is frowned upon, not macho but unacceptable. Smokers in shared spaces become lepers. Speed cameras are now a common sight on our roads, a "fair cop". Though these examples could be argued as infringements of personal liberty, they have become accepted as cultural norms.
Is it possible that another could be added? That non-drivers should have the right to clean air and a peaceful existence where they live, travel, work and play?
Idealistic though it may seem, this challenge is being taken up by a near neighbour within Europe. Mendrisio, a district of 100,000 in Switzerland, began a pioneering project in 1995. The authorities there believe they can promote public benefit at the cost of private individuals. They refer to a vehicle that is both light and electric, an LEV.
LEVs have to overcome a major handicap: hardly anyone is prepared to buy a comparatively expensive vehicle with a limited range for purely ecological reasons. In Mendrisio's large-scale fleet test, measures are being carefully examined to find out how to promote the sale and use of LEVs. The aim of the fleet test is expressed through a high density of LEVs within a confined area since by demonstration, the confidence of the general public in LEVs will strengthen. Furthermore an electric vehicle driver will enjoy a very positive image as a person who is contributing to improving everyone's quality of life.
The goal in Mendrisio is clear and concise: to increase the proportion of LEVs in the overall passenger-car fleet to around 8% by 2001. This corresponds to 350 within Mendrisio and is well on target with 150 by the end of 1998. With the lessons learnt from the Mendrisio project, the eventual goal is grander: for 8% of the national fleet to be an LEV by 2010.
Vehicle subsidies of up to 60 percent are the main marketing tool of the test. This enables prices to match those of conventional engine cars. As the numbers purchased increase, economies of scale will enable manufacturers to reduce their prices allowing the subsidies to be scaled down.
Can we contemplate such an approach for the UK? Extensive subsidies are unlikely here for the moment but there are other options of much lower cost: preferential access, preferential parking and sockets everywhere.
Switzerland has a special parking permit by which LEVs can be parked for free and for twice as long as is indicated for the area. Long-term parking areas are equipped with charging sockets. A universal key guarantees access to public recharging sites around the country.
Though the promised fuel cell can deliver 200 miles from a tank filled in few minutes, why should the environmental quality of our own neighbourhoods have to wait? Vote for city streets where you can sit at a road side cafe, free from noise, vibration and air pollution, just watching the bustle of city life go by, a rich mixture of pedestrians, cyclists, public transport and clean cars.
Resources
For details of the first on-street charging point in the UK, visit http://website.lineone.net/~simon.h.roberts.
More details on the Mendrisio project can be found at http://www.infovel.ch/inglese/sintesi.htm.
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