I tagged along for a while with a top notch travel reporter from
The Washington Post as she drove a Nissan Leaf electric vehicle around Southern California. This 100 percent EV can charge up overnight in a parking garage with an regular electric outlet, or, for a faster powering up stop at charging station, if you can find one within the 100 or so range from a full power charge. We stopped at a Nissan dealer and the technology is so new to them, it took a whole crew just to figure out how to get their on site charging station up and running. If you go on a road trip as Andrea Sachs did, it also takes some careful planning with stops along the way with charging capabilities as this car is mainly for local commuting and driving around town.
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| How do you work this thing again? |
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| Making sure there is enough power to make the next destination |
1 comment:
Low emission vehicles are expected to witness good growth as they are being accepted across the globe. Currently, low emission market is dominated by Full Hybrid Electric Vehicles (FHEVs) and expected to remain as market leader during the forecasted period. The market of North America is expected to be the biggest one for FHEVs. However, our research says that market for PHEVs and BEVs will develop at a faster rate due to governments’ initiatives to develop charging infrastructure in battery technology. The governments of Europe and China are promoting BEVs due to presence of competitive advantages over the other countries. China can shift to electric vehicle propulsion technology faster than its counterparts due to its ability to heavily invest in its development. Europe is already well equipped when it comes to charging infrastructure for EVs.
The most widely used batteries for Zero Emission Vehicle Report are lead-acid batteries, Nickel-Cadmium batteries (NiCad), metal hydride batteries (NimH), and lithium ion batteries. Till date, the mass produced FHEV cars have been powered by nickel metal-hydride (NiMH) batteries. However, there are certain noticeable rapid shifts in consumption pattern of batteries used for HEVs. Due to high energy density of lithium ion battery, loads of FHEV manufacturers such as Honda Motors (Japan) and Ford Motors (Germany) will be switching over to the lithium ion battery for FHEV. As an outcome, lithium ion battery is expected to capture the lion’s share in automotive battery market by 2017.
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