Electric vehicle
Using electricity was among the preferred methods for motor vehicle propulsion as it provides a level of quietness, comfort and ease of operation that could not be achieved by the gasoline engine cars of the time, but range anxiety due to the limited energy storage offered by contemporary battery technologies hindered any mass adoption of private electric vehicles throughout the 20th century.
EVs were so popular that even President Woodrow Wilson and his secret service agents toured Washington, D.C., in their Milburn Electrics, which covered 60–70 miles (100–110 km) per charge.
[17] In the 1930s, National City Lines, which was a partnership of General Motors, Firestone, and Standard Oil of California purchased many electric tram networks across the country to dismantle them and replace them with GM buses.
The Copenhagen Summit, conducted amid a severe observable climate change brought on by human-made greenhouse gas emissions, was held in 2009.
[18] In January 1990, General Motors President introduced its EV concept two-seater, the "Impact", at the Los Angeles Auto Show.
Recent advancements in battery technology and charging infrastructure have addressed many of the earlier barriers to EV adoption, making electric vehicles a more viable option for a wider range of consumers.
These systems are powered from an external generator plant (nearly always when stationary), and then disconnected before motion occurs, and the electricity is stored in the vehicle until needed.
The presence of the electric powertrain, which has inherently better energy conversion efficiency, is intended to achieve either better fuel economy or better acceleration performance than a conventional vehicle.
Since electric trains do not need to carry a heavy internal combustion engine or large batteries, they can have very good power-to-weight ratios.
Interest in quiet and potentially renewable marine transportation has steadily increased since the late 20th century, as solar cells have given motorboats the infinite range of sailboats.
Fully electric tugboats are being used in Auckland, New Zealand (June 2022),[60] Vancouver, British Columbia (October 2023),[61] and San Diego, California.
[87] The project's final report was published in 2024, which recommended against funding a national electric road network in Sweden as it would not be cost-effective, unless the technology was adopted by its trading partners such as by France and Germany.
[95] Conventional electric double-layer capacitors are being worked on to achieve the energy density of lithium-ion batteries, offering almost unlimited lifespans and no environmental issues.
High-K electric double-layer capacitors, such as EEStor's EESU, could improve lithium ion energy density several times over if they can be produced.
[113] In 2023, Greenpeace issued a video criticizing the view that EVs are "silver bullet for climate", arguing that the construction phase has a high environmental impact.
"[121] Electric motors are mechanically very simple and often achieve 90% energy conversion efficiency[122] over the full range of speeds and power output and can be precisely controlled.
They can be finely controlled and provide high torque from stationary-to-moving, unlike internal combustion engines, and do not need multiple gears to match power curves.
[123] While this is a desirable attribute, it has also evoked concern that the absence of the usual sounds of an approaching vehicle poses a danger to blind, elderly and very young pedestrians.
To mitigate this situation, many countries mandate warning sounds when EVs are moving slowly, up to a speed when normal motion and rotation (road, suspension, electric motor, etc.)
[citation needed] The lifecycle analysis of EVs shows that even when powered by the most carbon-intensive electricity in Europe, they emit less greenhouse gases than a conventional diesel vehicle.
[129] European carmakers face significant pressure from more affordable Chinese models and price cuts by US-based Tesla Motor.
[134] Shifts from private to public transport (train, trolleybus, personal rapid transit or tram) have the potential for large gains in efficiency in terms of an individual's distance traveled per kWh.
Research published in the British Medical Journal indicates that electric cars hit pedestrians at twice the rate of petrol or diesel vehicles due to being quieter.
[144] By reducing types of air pollution, such as nitrogen dioxide, EVs could prevent hundreds of thousands of early deaths every year,[146][147] especially from trucks and traffic in cities.
[152] An alternative method of sourcing essential battery materials being deliberated by the International Seabed Authority is deep sea mining, however carmakers are not using this as of 2023.
[159] Another improvement is to decouple the electric motor from the battery through electronic control, using supercapacitors to buffer large but short power demands and regenerative braking energy.
Electric trucks have serviced niche applications like milk floats, pushback tugs and forklifts for over a hundred years, typically using lead-acid batteries, but the rapid development of lighter and more energy-dense battery chemistries in the twenty-first century has broadened the range of applicability of electric propulsion to trucks in many more roles.
[161][162] According to the United States Department of Energy, the average cost per kWh capacity of battery packs for trucks fell from $500 in 2013 to $200 in 2019, and still further to $137 in 2020, with some vehicles under $100 for the first time.
[173] In New Mexico the government is looking to pass legislation mandating electrical receptacles that are higher voltage to be installed in garages of newly built homes.
General Motors (GM) is adding a capability called V2H, or bidirectional charging, to allow its new electric vehicles to send power from their batteries to the owner's home.
