Springing into an Electric Car

I got my drivers license in the 60’s when the SS 396 and GTO were the sweetest cars on the road. It was a time when a car’s value was measured by the number of barrels in its carburetor, how it purred at idle and roared when the throttle was open.  In those days most of us didn’t look at engine heat and noise as lost energy.  We were even less likely to think that gases spewed from tailpipes might one day contribute to a global climate crisis.  Instead, we accepted the internal combustion engine as an essential and necessary part of our lives, and over the decades saw cars grow cleaner, quieter, smarter, refined by a litany of complicated and synchronized parts, while their elemental reliance on gasoline and oil remained unchecked.

Last week we bought an electric car, and in an instant all the sophistication and refinement of the gasoline engine seemed cumbersome and antiquated.  The car performs without a combustion fuel or lubricating oil, so at a very fundamental level breaks a long standing tradition.  There are no pistons, spark plugs, valves, camshafts, or rocker arms.  There is instead a comparatively simple motor powered by electrons. The low rumble of the 396 has given way to scarcely audible hums and whirs in a vehicle with thrust and responsiveness akin to something out of Star Wars.  It’s not the Millenium Falcon, but close.

More than 120 years ago, Thomas Edison was working to improve the lead acid battery and was zinging along roadways passing horse drawn buggies in his electric powered car.  At the same time, Henry Ford was continuing work on the internal combustion engine. And then we found ancient oil deep in the earth and our preference fell to a noisy, polluting, inefficient technology that has led to a multitude of health and environmental concerns. 

A sewer pipe and a car’s exhaust share a similar purpose: to carry waste.  The electric car lacks this appendage as there is no combustion and no associated byproducts.  And in an electric car, the energy historically lost in the process of braking, as well as that made available while coasting downhill, is captured and sent to the battery to help propel the car down the road.  It is an infinitely cleaner, more efficient, preferred method of transportation, and a thrill to experience.  On a single charge we can drive up to 250 miles with zero emissions using a battery that is guaranteed a hundred thousand miles in a car requiring essentially zero maintenance. The average daily commute in the US is 32 miles.

A few days ago we drove to an Indy destination which, according to the map app, was 75 miles one way.  It was a cool day, low 40’s, cloudy and blustery.  It takes a lot of battery energy to heat a car’s cabin so we were curious to see how we’d get along.  We ran the heat sporadically, visited relatives, made a couple stops for groceries and lunch, and returned home with 92 miles to spare.  No fuel burned, no worries.  We kept passing businesses featuring big display signs with illuminated numbers, but the product they were promoting was foreign to us. We pulled into our shed and plugged in the car to get recharged from a bank of solar panels.  But even without the panels, even if we were stuck with powering up with energy from outdated coal fired power sources, it would still be a win for the environment, and still cost significantly less than gasoline and routine maintenance.

It’s April and in our part of the globe spring is weaving its way into a world fraught with problems and challenges, but there are glimmers of hope.  We are at the precipice of massive infrastructure changes that will make long distance travel in battery powered vehicles convenient and mainstream as momentum in the industry appears unstoppable.  It’s one small step up a mountain of challenges that must be met if we’re to preserve what is left of our functioning biosphere.  As more of us experience the thrill, satisfaction, and economic benefits of electric vehicles, this step should be a quick one.