Chapter 1: Introduction

1.1 Abstract

Politicians and car manufacturers agree on one thing, that electric cars are coming. With the rising fuel costs and the threat of oil shortages, the transport sector is a major user of oil and the private car contributes greatly to this usage but also is a major contributor to greenhouse gases casing the greenhouse effect.

In this paper I am going to talk about the feasibility of the electric car including the current problems for the electric car and the potential benefits of the electric car for Ireland plus is it economic feasible and the greenhouse effect.

1.2 Introduction

With the believe that we are at the stage that oil will soon reach its peak supply which is called 'peak oil' or 'Hubert's peak'. Hubert predicted that oil supply will no longer be capable to satisfy world demand, once this peak happens it will be the end of cheap oil. If there is shortages of oil, it will start to get expensive which in turn has potential consequences for economies, business and the ordinary individual.

With Ireland's dependence on fossil fuels and the fact it imports over 90% of fossil fuel, it is in Ireland's interest to look at alternative energy supply. The Irish economy is mainly an export economy which is driven by agricultural and industrial. Its well known that oil prices and food prices are related so if oil prices increases the prices of food increases. If in Ireland's case, shortages of oil supply would cause the economy to simple stall or collapse.

One of the biggest consumers of oil, not only in Ireland but in the world is cars. There is an estimate that there is over 600 million cars in the world today and 1.5 million in Ireland. It is estimated that cars contribute about 30% of greenhouse gases and in Ireland they consume a 7,487 k toe of fuel. Off all the 1.5 million cars in Ireland, over 99% are either petrol or diesel. Car manufacturers today build more fuel efficient and environment friendly cars but the reality is that the price of fuel keeps increasing which is a growing concern for there customers. They are being to develop alternatives such as hybrid and electric cars.

1.3 Different cars types

• Petrol/Diesel car - The petrol or diesel car is the most common type of car on the road and account for a large percentage of the consuming of oil and therefore greenhouse gases. They have one power source an combustion engine. Combustion cars are generally not efficient particularly at low speeds.

• Hybrid car - One of the solutions the car manufacturers came up with was to develop the hybrid car. The idea is simple, basically its a vehicle that has two power sources instead of one. The hybrid car has a conventional engine and a battery powered electric motor. If the car has stopped or driving at a low speed its works of the battery and if driving fast or battery is low it works from the combustion engine. The battery can be charged from the combustion engine or plug in.

• Bio fuel - Is a fuel that is make from sustainable resources like crops, vegetable oils, organic waste, etc. the two most common types are bio ethanol and bio diesel. Can be used in any petrol or diesel car with a minimal modification and tuning work, but because this oil source is from a food source it is not considered a long term solution.

• Electric car - Another solution the car manufacturers came up with was to develop electric cars. The electric car was one main power source which comes from the battery. The battery is charged from a plug in.

Fig 1.1 Ferrari electric car

Companion of the the 3 types of cars

1.4 What makes up a electric car?

The electric car has less components than the petrol and diesel cars. The heart of the electric car is a simple device with two main parts the a stator and a rotor.

Fig 1.2 Diagram of a electric car

1. Motor controller:- The motor controller monitors the motor positions, speed, power and temperature. The signals from the throttle pedal are sent to the controller, which determines how much current should be taken from the batteries, the motor controller and inverter converts the DC voltage supplied by the battery to three precisely timed signals to the drive motor.

2. Air conditioning system:- An high voltage air conditioning system is specifically designed for hybrid vehicle applications, drawing energy directly from the main battery pack. An inverter is included in the compressor.

3. Electric water pump:-The electric drive water pump circulates coolant for the traction motor, invertors, battery and heater.

4. Electric motor:- Performs the conversion between electrical and mechanical power. Electric motors also the efficient three times that of a combustion engine minimizing energy loss and heat generation.

5. Electric power steering:- A steering pump to assist a returned steering rack or power steering.

6. Gearbox:-The transmission has the identical role as in a conventional vehicle, it is different design consideration due to he highter RPM range available from the electric motor and increases

7. Powertrain cradle:- A structure for motoring all engine compartment electric car components and providing isolation from the vehicle body through traditional engine mounts.

8. Electric vacuum pump:- The vacuum pump supplies vacuum to the brake system for power assist.

9. High voltage electric heater:- Heating systems are specifically designed for hybrid vehicle applications. Energy efficient PTC technology is used to heat the coolant that circulates to the passenger car heater.

10. Vehicle control unit:- Communicates with the driver as well as each individual vehicle system to monitor and control the vehicle. The VCU manages the different energy sources available and mechanical power being delivered to the wheels to mazimise range

11. Battery pack:- The batteries are air cooled using existing vehicle cabin air. the pack includes a monitoring system that manages temperature and state of charge of cells

12. AC Charger:- Are used to convert the off vehicle AC source from the national gird to the DC voltage required by the battery.

13. DC to DC converter:- Allows the vehicles main battery pack to charge the on board battery which powers the vehicle to do various stuff such as headlights etc.

1.5 How it all works

Electric cars are obviously powered by electricity, they have several large batteries that store the power. The batteries can be charged from a domestic electricity supply. Electric cars can have one or more electric motors to drive the gearbox and wheels. An electric motor is a tightly wrapped coil of wire that can spin around freely inside an outer casing of powerful magnets. When electricity is fed into the coil, it generates a magnetic field that makes the coil rotate very quickly inside the magnets. The spinning coil is attached to an axle that can be used to drive the cars wheels.

1.6 What are greenhouse gases?

The diagram below illustrates what makes up greenhouse gases.

Fig 1.4 Extra gas emissions by sector

As the above diagrams shows that transport is the third highest sector accounting for 14% of gas emissions into the atmosphere and is considered a major contributor of carbon dioxide.

1.7 What is the greenhouse effect?

The greenhouse effect is the heating of the earth's surface by heat and release radiation. The Earth relies on the Greenhouse effect to maintain a stable temperature, but due to the increase of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, heat is getting trapped in the atmosphere. This is causing the heating the planet and is believed to be the main reason for climate change as illustrated in the below diagram.

Fig 1.5 Natural greenhouse effect v Human greenhouse effect