WYPR Green Column

THE ELECTRIC CAR

I had the pleasure recently to be taken for a ride in a Tesla, the new all-electric plug-in sports car.  What a gas (ah... poor choice of word).  A tight squeeze getting in, as design compromises to minimize weight force a compact size, but once seated in the passenger cockpit, perfectly comfortable.

Two things were most memorable.  First the sound, or lack thereof.  No engine roar with consequent vibration.  There was a muted high-pitched whine of the electric engine cranking at high RPMs.  The other is the instant acceleration.  My demonstration drive was mostly around a near empty shopping center parking lot.  When the driver's foot stamped on the accelerator, my head was instantly thrust back against the head rest.  Each time treated to that sensation, I broke into a wide grin, like I was on an amusement park ride.  Unlike a gasoline engine, limited in its ability to spin the crankshaft thus the need to progress through gear changes to get up to maximum speed, the electric engine delivers instant full power torque.

This is a look into the future.  As the automobile companies need to scramble to re-define themselves and widening slicks on the ocean remind us of our sickening dependence on oil for fuel, it is inevitable that the efficiency of electric cars will rise and their costs will come down.  Based on today's price of electricity and gasoline, fueling the Tesla costs about 3 cents per mile, as compared with the hybrid Prius at 5 cents per mile or a H2 Hummer at 30 cents per mile.

To be sure, there are limitations.  The Tesla that I rode in has about a 240 mile range based on a 4 hour charge.  If you average 60 miles per hour, that works out to about one hour of charging for every one hour on the road.  This is not the car you will likely take on a cross-country run, although that is certainly possible with thoughtfully planned stopovers at RV parks and hotels that are equipped to provide charging.  The charge has to be through a 220 volt outlet, otherwise the charging time increases substantially.  Alternatively, once there is a sufficient market demand, rather than charge up the batteries (which are expensive), drivers could go to a battery depot and simply swap out a depleted battery for a fresh one.

Another interesting complication is that there is probably not enough lithium in the world (and most of what there is lies in China) to manufacture a sufficient number of batteries to make a significant dent in our gluttonous consumption of gasoline powered cars.  One keeps reading of promising new technologies for electricity storage capacities.

Recently a group of clever Japanese electric car enthusiasts, the Japan EV Club, working with their Mira EV, coaxed a record distance of 623.3 miles on a single charge.  Their car runs on 8,320 lithium-ion batteries, like those commonly used in laptop computers.  The catch is that the test was performed on a track and the average speed was 30 miles per hour.  Nonetheless the accomplishment shows impressive promise that with continued improvements in design and performance, the electric vehicle is getting closer to being a practical reality.

John P. (Jack) Machen is a real estate attorney in the Baltimore office of DLA Piper LLP (US), a global law firm with over 3,500 lawyers in 28 countries.  In addition to his law practice, Mr. Machen is certified by the U.S. Green Building Council as a LEED Accredited Professional and provides advice to his firm and to clients on green building, green building codes, sustainability and resource conservation.