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Letters to the Editor
By Design News Staff -- Design News, December 7, 1998
WE ARE HERE!!!Enlightening coverage
I congratulate you on your 10/5/98 issue featuring the EV article. I have grown accustomed to reading glowing articles on technology advancements, but have always felt that a hard look at controversial issues was missing. Your coverage and editorial on EV is enlightening, hard-hitting, and brings some real thought to the topic.
Kudos! Keep up the good work.
Steven Whitney
Whitney Products Inc.
Niles, IL
WE ARE HERE!!!EV owner weighs in
Mr. Murray's article in the October 5 issue on electric vehicle (EV) development was well researched with fairly up-to-date information on the challenges facing automobile manufacturers. In my opinion, however, there were a few misleading statements and the omission of some important information.
1. The chart showing EV prices is inaccurate from a consumer's point of view...Virtually every manufacturer is offering 3-year EV leases at prices as low as $349 per month....
2. The graph depicting energy densities of batteries and gasoline have values that are misleading. You acknowledge this in your text by saying "Even though only about one quarter of this (gasoline) is actually available to power the car." This tremendous loss (due to heat, friction and emissions) should be depicted on the graph. The result would have shown a much smaller energy density gap (by 75%!) between batteries and gasoline.
3. There was no mention of how EVs are working for those that have purchased or leased them and what advantages, if any, the users have experienced. You say that Massachusetts government fleets have zero EVs. This is incorrect. In 1994, the State Energy Office acquired 20 EVs and last year 10 more were added to the fleet. There are also approximately 15 EVs at Logan Airport in the Massachusetts Port Authority fleet. These have been there for several years, with two pure electric buses added in the spring of 1998.
I have been commuting in a pure battery powered EV for almost two years. I travel 110 miles round trip from southern New Hampshire to Boston each day in every conceivable New England weather condition imaginable. With over 35,000 miles accumulated, and an estimated fuel and maintenance savings of over $1,000 thus far, I am one happy customer.
David Dilts
Boston Edison Company
Design News responds: There is some confusion as to what constitutes an electric vehicle in Massachusetts' state fleet, which is still zero, as a spokesperson from the Office of Vehicle Management informs us. The vehicles you refer to were acquired by the Division of Energy Resources as part of a program that introduces electric vehicles to the public. They are not part of the day-to-day fleet. While that may sound like a fine distinction, it's not. The point is that the state did not acquire the vehicles for utility--as any consumer would--but rather as a tool for promoting the concept to the public.
WE ARE HERE!!!EV article: failed connections?
The author of 'Out of Juice! Nation's charge toward electric cars stalls'...has failed to see...the connection between EV battery research and today's latest generation of batteries for laptops, cell phones, a host of new portable devices...(and) our new Space Station--as well as...our nation's aerospace and defense programs...
"...Advanced lead-acid batteries have already broken the much-ballyhooed $100/kW-hr barrier..." He missed the important role that EVs will play in bringing down the cost of fuel cells in the coming decade, and the growing enthusiasm for this technology among the world's leading automotive engineers...and the growing concern among energy planners that worldwide oil production levels may begin to fall in the coming decade, at a time when worldwide demand is expected to rise, (with) significant implications for U.S. motorists and our entire economy.
Dave Goldstein
Program Development Associates
(EV and battery consultants)
Gaithersburg, MD
Design News responds: The assertion that advanced lead-acid batteries have already broken the much ballyhooed $100/kW-hour barrier is at odds with objective studies such as Argonne's Delphi Study, which predicts that the cost will drop to $125/kW-hour by the year 2020. If the technology remained in its research stage--where it should be, since research shouldn't be conducted on the dealership floor--the long-range benefits and cross-pollenization that you allude to could still be addressed. The space station won't crumble if GM takes the EV1 off the market. Lastly, oil prices in this country are exceptionally low and, yes, petroleum reserves are uncertain. But how does it help to build cars that no one buys? It seems to us that the long-range development of a legitimately competitive technology would be a far better use of resources.
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