Analysis of Electric Vehicles Efficiency and their Influence on Environmental Pollution

Abstract

Electric vehicles are increasingly present on the roads of the whole world. They have the opinion of ecological vehicles, not polluting the environment. Society is more and more often persuaded to buy electric cars as an environmentally friendly solution but is this for sure? Electric cars need quite a lot of electricity accumulated in batteries to drive on a long range. During the charging process, this energy is obtained from the electricity network, to where it is supplied by power plant. Electricity production from renewable sources is a privilege for the rare. However, electric cars are charged from the electricity grid, which in large part energy comes from non-renewable fuels. The efficiency of energy production in power plants and the energy transmission and conversion chain causes that only part of the energy produced in this way goes to the vehicle’s wheels. Although the power plants are equipped with more and more efficient exhaust gas cleaning systems, they do not clean them up to 100%. Sulphur, nitrogen, mercury and heavy metals remain in the exhaust. The article is an attempt to answer the question whether the total emission of toxic components associated with the use of an electric vehicle is not bigger than in a traditional internal combustion engine.

Water Power Plants Possibilities in Powering Electric Cars—Case Study: Poland

“…Assuming that the efficiency of thermal power plants (coal-and gas-fired) is about 38%, the efficiency of the whole energy conversion chain from the thermal energy generated from the fuel to the wheels of an electric vehicle is about 22%. This is about 8-10% less energy than that of a car with an internal combustion engine [41].…”

“…Electric vehicles are driven by electricity stored in the battery. An analysis of electricity requirements for a vehicle's propulsion carried out by [41] included three popular electric car models: Nissan Leaf, Hyundai Ionic, and Tesla S. Calculations have shown that the average energy consumption for covering 100 km in a standard NEDC test in these three types of vehicles is about 15 kWh. Since the energy reaching the wheels of an electric vehicle is reduced by the losses at the various stages of energy conversion (Table 1), the power plant actually has to produce more energy.…”

Use of IDeS Method to Design an Innovative HYICE Sportscar

“…It is easy to notice the ever-increasing investments into Electric Vehicle (EV) technology to try to overcome those environmental issues [18], but we also noticed how difficult it is to eradicate the emotional aspects of driving an Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) vehicle in people who see cars not only as a mere means of mobility but also as something to enjoy in the form of pure driving pleasure, as a famous car commercial used to say [19]. That is the reason behind the choice to develop a concept vehicle powered by an HYICE engine, a technology in which there is still much to invest in and experiment with, but one that could potentially prove to be a viable alternative on the sustainability front to EV technology, given its known pollution problems stemming from the technology inherent in batteries [20][21][22][23]; at the same time, the aim is to appease that segment of the population mentioned earlier. To better approach this segment of the population, and to begin the proposal of this technology, we thought of targeting a niche market [24], that of small sports cars, in order to better meet the tastes of these enthusiasts and to receive more direct feedback on which to develop the concept; we can then proceed to create more articulated proposals in the future on different segments that can go on to make the most of the strengths of this technology.…”