The Electric Deception

The "geniuses" over at the National Academies of Science have discovered what the rest of us already knew: electric cars are impractical.

But it's really the batteries that will be the biggest barrier to adoption for a simple reason: price. The PHEV-10's battery currently adds $3,300 to the price of the car, and the battery of a PHEV-40 adds a whopping $18,000.

The costs don't end there, either. For a reasonable rate of charge, people will have to install 220V, 40A outlets in their garages.

Because of the slow pace of adoption, PHEVs are expected to have a negligible impact on oil use prior to 2030. And, once adoption rates are higher, they won't necessarily have a large impact on CO2 emissions unless the electric grid is substantially decarbonized in the meantime, either through nuclear and/or renewables, or by sequestering some of the emissions from the coal plants that currently produce half the US' electricity.

Getting the electricity to the vehicles will also require some changes, as many areas of the country are already at grid capacity during peak usage hours. Unless there's some pricing incentive that encourages most people to charge their vehicles at night, PHEVs will put an uncomfortable strain on the grid.

In other words, they're Rube Goldberg machines -- a conclusion which everybody with a smidgen of common sense and basic math skills came to years ago. Also factor in that those expensive batteries have to be replaced after about six to eight years. Since the majority of Americans keep a new-purchase car for longer than six years, when they go to trade in their planet-saving hippie transport, the thing will require a new battery that will likely cost more than the depreciated value of the vehicle. What a bargain. At that point the wonderful eco-machine is worth more as scrap.

So, given this grim picture, it might be tempting to question whether it's worth going this route at all. But the committee points out that the US has very little in the way of options for reducing its reliance on oil imports...

Really? How about this: Drill here, drill now, and release Big Oil from the ridiculous federal restrictions on new refinery construction. Problem solved -- and without employing any Goldberg machines! No, no; don't thank me. I'll send my consulting bill along presently.