THE Electric Revolution

Your next car may be electric. We look at the technologies that will bring
the revolution.

The main reasons why electric cars are not more popular at present are
their price and their relatively small range. Existing battery systems only
allow electric cars to travel a distance of between 100 and 160 km.
However, this distance may not be a problem for urban drivers. A recent
Sydney study reported that 70 percent of journeys were 30 km or less,
and recent data from the US suggests that 77 percent of trips taken
there are 48 km or less.

An innovative company called Better Place is aiming to make electric
cars an option for all drivers. It wants to see existing vehicles replaced
by electric vehicles which, it says, offer a number of benefits. Firstly,
they can be powered by renewable energy which produces zero
emissions. What is more, electric motors are more efficient and can
convert more than 90 percent of power into movement, whereas the
efficiency of diesel or petrol engines is less than 20 percent. To achieve
its aim, Better Place plans to use technology which is already available.

The plan is simple but revolutionary. It strarts with the installation of a
home charge point, and through this, the vehicle will be plugged into the
electricity grid whenever it is in the garage, typically at night. In the
morning, with a fully charged battery, the car is capable of as much as
160 km in urban motoring conditions addition to the home charge
point, the battery can be tropped up by charge points at work and at
supermarkets.

The battery is linked to control centre by smart technology inside the
vehicle. Better Place can then ensure that the car is charged with
electricity from renewable sources at the cheapest price. For longer trips,
a navigation system directs the driver to the nearest switch station,
where the depleted battery can be replaced with a charged with a
charged one by a robot within a couple of munites.

By Tim Thawaites, issue 29 of Cosmos, October 2009