March/April 1995
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March/April 1995 |
by Nancy Bazilchuk
Driving an electric car, you can't help but feel smug every time you drive past a gas station.
No gasoline! No exhaust system! No fancy transmission! No fuel injection! No tune-ups! No oil changes!
Just batteries, wheels, a body, brakes, a motor and a brain.
I know. I got to drive one earlier this fall as part of Vermont's two-year, $625,000 project to test them in the toughest of conditions -- like snow, cold, and my dirt road.
Since more than half of all air pollution in the United States is spewed out of auto tailpipes, cutting car use is one of the cheapest ways to clean up dirty air, state environmental officials say.
My car for the weekend looked exactly like a Geo Metro from the outside, except for the fancy decal on the side that announced it was part of the Vermont Electric Vehicle Demonstration Project, and the logo on the back that announced its maker -- Solectria -- and the model, the Force.
I got a driving lesson from Harold Garabedian, with the state's air pollution control division, which is very interested in electric cars because of the possibility they offer in cleaning Vermont's air.
Driving the car is simple. You put the key in, turn it on, and turn a little switch on the dash to "forward" or "reverse" depending upon which direction you want to go. Then you put your foot on the accelerator, and away you go, the belt on the little electric motor whirring madly.
The car's range is limited by the amount of energy stored in the batteries, in this case about 50 amp-hours. Right above the tape player is a little digital meter that tells you exactly how much juice has been consumed -- a kind of reverse gas tank gauge.
An efficient driver can get the car to drink only 0.8 amp-hours per mile, giving it a range of about 60 miles before it needs a charge, Garabedian said. "After I drove it a while, I could get 0.8 amp-hours per mile," he said. "But I bet you use more."
Part of the trick, Garabedian said, is something called "regenerative braking," which means that when you take your foot off the accelerator without stepping on the brake, the car's brains tell the motor to turn into a generator and recharge the batteries. When the motor acts as a generator, it essentially turns backwards and slows the car down.
"Good drivers virtually never put their foot on the brake," Garabedian said. "They just use regenerative braking."
It takes just a few minutes to get used to how the car will respond to the accelerator, but the big question on my mind as we drove onto the interstate was, "How fast will it go?"
Since it was nearly dinner time, I decided to squander my electrons and push the vehicle to the limit. After all, I was only 20 miles away from a friendly electrical outlet.
I floored it. In no time I was whizzing along at 65 miles per hour, indistinguishable from all the other cars around me, except for the sound of my car, a high-pitched whir, instead of the growl of a gasoline engine.
But my flight to the supper table had its costs. To travel 20 miles took me 30 amp-hours -- a dismal 1.5 amp-hours per mile. I had failed the Garabedian challenge.
My strategy for Saturday was simple. Take the car on my normal weekend rounds, which includes going to the transfer station with a load of recyclables and my one green garbage bag and do the food shopping in Burlington.
I'd travel 41.1 miles, making my average consumption 1.1 amp-hours per mile. Not quite good enough to meet the Garabedian challenge, but not bad for highway driving.
But my experience convinced me that on my next trip to Burlington, I'd try to find a place to plug my car in before I headed home. Little did I realize how hard that would prove to be.
The outlets are there, but society itself may not be ready, as I found out Sunday, when I drove my electric car to Burlington and tried to plug it in.
I teach a class every other Sunday, so I've got three hours in town during which the car could be topped off with electrons. My first thought was to plug the car in at the University of Vermont (UVM), which is one of the 21 participants in the program. Plus, there are plenty of outdoor plugs.
I called UVM security to tell them of the plan.
"You can't do that," said the dispatcher, "That's theft of services."
"But this is a state car, with state plates, and this is a state university," I wailed.
"It doesn't matter. The only one who can approve something like this is Tom Salmon," the UVM president, she said.
I finally called a friend who agreed I could connect to the power grid at her place. Her husband was not so sure, however.
"How much is this going to cost me?" he asked, suspiciously.
Fortunately, I knew the answer. To completely charge the batteries costs about 75 cents. I had only used 23 amp-hours to get in, or just under half of the battery's capacity. I figured 35 cents would do it.
"Just leave it on the kitchen counter," he said, half-joking.
Three hours later, when I came to retrieve my car, it was completely charged. My drive home was uneventful.
Monday, I returned the car, a little sadly.
Sure, there are questions that remain. I do like my conventional car in the winter because it has four-wheel drive. I'd rather have a four-seater, which is possible. And it seems clear if I were to drive an electric car, I'd want to be able to plug it in once I arrived at work, and there's clearly no way to do that yet.
But my experience made me think if more people test drive these cars, Detroit could be in trouble.
For more information contact Harold Garabedian, Air Pollution Control Division, Vermont Agency of Natural Resources, 103 South Main Street, Waterbury, Vermont 05676. (802)241-3849.
Nancy Bazilchuk is a staff writer with the Burlington Free Press. This article was excerpted with permission from the Burlington Free Press.
Sommaire
Au volant d'une automobile électrique, on ne peut s'empêcher de se sentir un peu supérieur chaque fois que l'on passe devant une station-service. Pas d'essence! Pas de système d'échappement! Pas de transmission compliquée! Pas d'injection de carburant! Pas de mise au point! Pas de changement d'huile! Uniquement des batteries, des roues, une carrosserie, des freins, un moteur et un cerveau.
Je suis bien placé pour le savoir. J'en ai conduit une au début de l'automne, dans le cadre d'un projet du Vermont, étalé sur deux ans, qui coûtera 625 000 $ et qui vise à éprouver ces voitures dans les conditions les plus rigoureuses -- comme la neige, le froid, et mon chemin de terre.
Comme plus de la moitié de toute la pollution atmosphérique aux États-Unis provient des gaz d'échappement des automobiles, une réduction de l'utilisation de l'automobile est, selon les fonctionnaires de l'État chargés de l'environnement, l'une des façons les moins coûteuses d'assainir l'atmosphère.
Revised: April 8, 1997
Maintained by Kevin McGunagle,
mcgunaglek@ijc.wincom.net