Electric Vehicles 101

An Introduction
By Dan Lauber
Nov 13, 2009

EVs 101
Electric Vehicles 101
 A Brief History
 Advantages
 Challenges
 Meeting the Challenge
 EV’s Today
 EV’s at MIT

EVs 101
Kinds of Electric Vehicles

Locomotives Golf Carts Fork Lifts

Busses Nuclear Submarines Elevators

Sources: www.umcycling.com/mbtabus.html, GE, Toyota

EVs 101
Kinds of Electric Cars

Hydrogen Fuel Cell Hybrid

Solar Racer

Neighborhood MIT CityCar Full-Size

Electric Battery Electric
Sources: Honda, Toyota, GEM, MIT

EVs 101
History of EV’s
 1830’s
 Battery electric vehicle invented by
Thomas Davenport, Robert Anderson,
others - using non-rechargeable
batteries
 Davenport’s car holds all vehicle land
speed records until ~1900
 1890’s
 EV’s outsold gas cars 10 to 1, Oldsmobile
and Studebaker started as EV companies
 1904
 First speeding ticket, issued to driver of
an EV Ford Electric #2
 Krieger Company builds first hybrid
vehicle
 1910’s
 Mass-produced Ford cars undercut
hand-built EV’s
 EV’s persist as status symbols and utility
vehicles until Great Depression

Source: http://www.eaaev.org/History/index.html
Detroit Electric

EVs 101
1968 – Great Electric Car Race

 Trans-continental race between MIT and Caltech

 53 charging stations, spaced 60 mi apart
 MIT’s car used $20k of NiCd batteries ($122k in 2008
dollars), CalTech’s cost $600

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1970 - Clean Air Car Race
50+ cars raced from MIT to Caltech
using many alternative powertrains
CalTech – Regenerative braking
Boston Electric Car Club – Battery
Swapping
Toronto University – Parallel hybrid
design very similar to modern Prius
architecture
MIT – Series hybrid and electrically
commutated motor

Sources: see http://mit.edu/evt/CleanAirCarRace.html

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1990’s – EV1:Who Killed the Electric Car?
AKA: Would you have bought it? REALLY?
 Program cost > $1bn MSRP $33,999
 800 units leased Real Pricetag
(estimated)
$80,000+

 $574/mo. Lease without GM’s actual cost $1,250,000

state rebates per vehicle leased

 2 seats
 80-140 mi. range

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Motors_EV1

EVs 101
What is an EV?
And how does it work?

EVs 101
Electrification

Conventional Hybrid Battery Electric

Fuel Battery Fuel Battery

Motor/ Motor/
Engine Generator
Engine
Generator

Transmission Transmission Transmission

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Degrees of Hybridization
The vehicle is a….
Micro Mild Full Plug-in
If it… Hybrid Hybrid Hybrid Hybrid
Automatically stops/starts the engine
in stop-and-go traffic
Uses regenerative braking and
operates above 60 volts
Uses an electric motor to assist a
combustion engine
Can drive at times using only the
electric motor
Recharges batteries from a wall outlet
for extended all-electric range

Citroën C3 Honda Insight Toyota Prius Chevy Volt

Efficiency
Source: http://www.hybridcenter.org/hybrid-center-how-hybrid-cars-work-under-the-hood.html

EVs 101
Energy Loss : City Driving
Urban Drive Cycle Energy Balance
2005 3 L Toyota Camry

Standby
8% Aero
3%

Fuel Tank 16% 13% Rolling

Engine Driveline
100% 4%

Braking
Driveline
Engine Loss 6%
Losses
76% 3%

POWERTRAIN VEHICLE-Related

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Energy Loss : Highway Driving
Highway Drive Cycle Energy Balance
2005 3 L Toyota Camry

Standby
0% Aero
10%

Fuel Tank: 23% 19% Rolling

Engine Driveline
100% 7%

Braking
Driveline
Engine Loss 2%
Losses
77% 4%

POWERTRAIN
VEHICLE-Related

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 Energy Saving : Hybrid Systems
Micro Hybrid
Eliminates
Standby
8% Aero
3%

Fuel Tank: 16% 13% Rolling

Engine Driveline
100% 4%

Braking
Driveline
Engine Loss 6%
Losses
76% 3%

Full Hybrid •Engine downsizing

Reduces •Decoupling of engine and wheel Mild Hybrid
Plug-in •Can eliminate engine entirely Reduces

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 Energy Loss : City Driving – Electric Vehicle
Urban Drive Cycle Energy Balance

Aero
29%
90% 76%
Batteries Rolling
Motor Driveline
100% 35%

Braking
Driveline
Motor Loss 11%
Losses
10% 14%

POWERTRAIN VEHICLE-Related

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Well-to-Wheels Efficiency
Well-to-Tank Tank-to-Wheels
Generation Transmission 31% Plug-to-Wheels 23%
33% 94% 76%

31% 76% = 23%

Refining Transmission Pump-to-Wheels

82% 98%
80% 16% 13%
Source: http://www.nesea.org 80% 16% = 13%
EVs 101
[http://www.nesea.org/]]
How PHEV’s Work
 All-electric range
 Get home with exactly
no battery left
 Charge-sustaining
mode

[Tate, Harpster, and Savagian 2008]

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Technical

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What is an EPA rating?
 Conditions
 Drive cycle: e.g. city or
highway cycle, real-
world, or constant
speed
 Test temperature
 Start: (warm or cold)
Fuel: convert to
gasoline-equivalent
 Test mass: (accounts for
passengers and cargo)
 MPGe rating
 PHEV’s

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Terminology
 State of charge (SOC)
 Battery capacity, expressed as a percentage of maximum capacity
 Depth of Discharge (DOD)
 The percentage of battery capacity that has been discharged
 Capacity
 The total Amp-hours (Amp-hr) available when the battery is
discharged at a specific current (specified as a C-rate) from 100%
SOC
 Energy
 The total Watt-hours (Wh) available when the battery is
discharged at a specific current (specified as a C-rate) from 100%
SOC
 Specific Energy (Wh/kg)
 The total Watt-hours (Wh) per unit mass
 Specific Power
 Maximum power (Watts) that the battery can provide per unit
mass, function of internal resistance of battery

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Benefits

EVs 101
Benefits of EVs and PHEVs
 More efficient, lower fuel costs, lower
emissions
 Simpler transmission, fewer moving parts
 Fuel Choice
 Oil/energy independence
 Emissions improve with time
 Emissions at few large locations is easier to
control than millions of tailpipes

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V2G (Vehicle to Grid) Technology
 Allows communication between utility and vehicle
 Allow integration of more renewables like wind
 Used EV batteries could be used as stationary
batteries for utilities
 With so much focus on energy efficiency reducing
electricity sales and expensive renewable energy
generation mandated, EVs could be a welcome new
segment for utilities
 They could still be a nightmare
 Batteries could provide ancillary services

Source: McKinsey

EVs 101
Night-time Charging
30000

25000

20000
.
MW Demand

15000

10000

5000

Peak wind power

production
0
7:12 AM 12:00 PM 4:48 PM 9:36 PM 2:24 AM 7:12 AM 12:00 PM

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Electricity Sources

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Power Grid Capacity

When BEV’s represent 20% of the vehicle market,

they comprise only 2% of the power market
Source: McKinsey, Mike Khusid

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 Operating Costs

Battery Electric Vehicle

On-board energy consumption
Charging Efficiency
Electricity consumption
Electricity Cost
Driving Cost (electricity only)
300 Wh/mile
At 15,000 miles/year, you would
90% save $700/year on fuel
333 Wh/mile
10 cents/mile The estimated price range for
advanced batteries is
3.3 cents/mile
$500 - $1,000 per kWh

Conventional Gasoline Vehicle ~ buying 1 kWh of battery

Fuel economy 25 MPG energy (~3 miles of electric
Fuel Cost $2.00/gallon range) each year
Driving Cost (fuel only) 8.0 cents/mile

EVs 101
CO2 Emissions

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Biofuels vs. Biomass, Solar
 Biomass Electricity about 80% more efficient
than Biofuel
 Solar Panels to charge a car would fit on your
roof.

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Challenges
Why don’t they catch on? A conspiracy?

EVs 101
Gasoline: The (almost) perfect fuel

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_density

EVs 101
Energy Equivalency
Gas Batteries
21 Li-ion batteries
1 Gallon (Car battery size)
135 MJ
of energy

340
54 gal
2.7 kg kg

EVs 101
Challenges
 Limited Range
 Large battery weight/size
 Long Charge times
 High initial cost
 Battery life
 Consumer acceptance
 Grid Integration

EVs 101
Operating Costs

 In Europe, $60/barrel oil is enough,

 In the US, $4/gal gas is needed to be price competitive

EVs 101
Addressing customer perception
 Accepting limited range
 Most people drive less than 40 mi/day
 Most cars are parked 23 hours of the day anyway
 Smaller vehicles & reduced performance
 In the last 30 years, nearly 100% of efficiency
improvements have gone to increasing vehicle size
and performance, not reducing consumption
 How do you get people to charge at the right
time?

Source: On the Road in 2035, Heywood, et.al.

EVs 101
Meeting the
Challenges
EVs 101
Range Anxiety
 Battery Swapping vs. Fast Charging

Source: http://pneumaticaddict.wordpress.com/2009/03/10/hybridcarscom-mercedes-rejects-electric-car-battery-swapping/

EVs 101
Better Place Model
Business plan like that of
mobile phone

Better Place owns the

batteries, the consumer
pays for energy (miles)

Plan includes charging

stations and battery
swapping

So far: Israel, Denmark

Australia, California,
Hawaii, and Canada

100,000 charging stations

planned for Hawaii by
2012

EVs 101
Rapid Charging

 Batteries
 Altairnano
 A123
 Balance of system
 Rapid Charge Stations – Don’t need many
 Refueling a car is ~10MW going through your hand

EVs 101
Batteries
 Lithium sources
 We’re not Lithium constrained
 Abundant
 Recyclable
 Recycling – 90% recoverable
 Extending battery life
 Battery management systems
 Weight/Volume reductions
 Alternative chemistries

EVs 101
Battery Cost : Learning Curves

Source: McKinsey Quarterly: Electrifying Cars: How three industries will evolve

EVs 101
Initial Cost
 Companies that sell cars, but lease the
batteries
 Leases like Power Purchase Agreements
 Split operating cost savings with financer
 Charging Infrastructure
 Charging subscription plans

EVs 101
2008 Federal Plug-in Electric Drive Vehicle Tax Credit
100
Tax Credit Value
$14,000
Battery Cost (Low) 90
Battery Cost (Mid)
Battery Cost (High)
$12,000 80
Electric Range (Estimate)

70
$10,000
60

Miles
$8,000
50

$6,000 40

30
$4,000
20
$2,000
10

$0 0
0.0 5.0 10.0 15.0 20.0 25.0

Battery Energy (kWh)

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Adoption Rate of EV’s

Source: Thomas Becker, UC Berkeley, 2009

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Looking Forward
 Tipping point will be ~2020 when 10% of vehicles sold
will be BEV’s
 Battery cost: ~$700-$1,500 / kWh, down to $420 by
2015, but still too high.
 Price Premium
 PHEV40 $11,800 > ICE
 EV100 $24,100 > ICE
 Long-term PHEV’s will beat out HEV’s
 PHEV’s likely to dominate BEVs
 A 30-50% reduction in fuel consumption by 2035
*Heywood
 47% reduction by 2030 *McKinsey
Source: McKinsey Quarterly: Electrifying Cars: How three industries will evolve ;
http://newenergynews.blogspot.com/2009/08/mckinsey-looks-at-coming-ev-phenomenon.html

EVs 101
EVs NOW
When can I get one?

EVs 101
EV’s Today

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Tesla Roadster

Top speed: 125 mph

Acceleration: 0-60 in 3.7 sec
Range: 244 mi
EVs 101 MSRP: $110,000
EV’s Available Soon

Fisker Karma (PHEV50) Tesla Model S

$87,900 Delivery 2010 $57,400 Delivery ~2012

2011 Chevy Volt (PHEV40)

$40,000

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EV’s Available Soon

2010 Mitsubishi I MIEV Th!nk City 2010 Nissan Leaf

$24,000 (Japan) ~$25,000 (europe) $25,000 (30 min charge)

And many others…

2010 Aptera 2e
~$25,000 (PHEV100)

EVs 101
@MIT
EVs Around the Institute

EVs 101
MIT Electric Vehicle Team (EVT)
 Porsche
 elEVen
 eMoto
 TTXGP

EVs 101
MIT EVT

EVs 101
MIT Vehicle Design Summit
 Student team working
towards a 100+ mpg vehicle
 Series hybrid architecture
 Lightweight body and
chassis
 Life cycle cost analysis and
minimization
 Shared use model for
transportation efficiency
 Contact Anna Jaffe,
ajaffe@mit.edu

EVs 101
MIT Solar Electric Vehicle Team
 Founded in 1985
 Design, build and race
solar cars
 Just placed 2nd in the
10th World Solar
Challenge
 mitsolar.com

EVs 101
MIT Vehicle Stuff
 EVT
 SEVT
 Vehicle Design Summit
 Transportation @ MIT
 Sloan Lab Seminars
 Media Lab – City Car, course
 Spinoffs
 A123
 Solectria
 Genasun

EVs 101
Thank You
 “No single technology development or alternative fuel can solve the problems
of growing transportation fuel use and GHG emissions.” – John Heywood

 Dan Lauber – djlauber@mit.edu

http://mit.edu/evt

EVs 101