EPA Electric Vehicle Mileage Fraud

Via my friend and fellow blogger John Cook, I learned about an article by Forbes contributor Warren Meyer discussing delays in EPA certification of the Chevy Volt.

The first paragraph brought back painful memories of the demise of the EV1 ... crushed for reasons more political than economic. But I read on, in hopes that Mr. Meyer might shed some constructive light on the whole debate. Can't really tell.

Short: The EPA has done a sloppy job of finding a unimetric comparison between gasoline vehicles and electric vehicles. I truly appreciate Meyer and others sounding the trumpet about this.

Long: We should proceed full-steam-ahead with electric drive. Hybrid cars and trucks are especially vital. Trains should vary from hybrid to pure electric. (They already do, but the status-quo seems ignorant of that point.) Anything electrically motored is an improvement over purely mechanical motivation.

It's not just about the environment.

But everyone has an agenda, and everyone's a xenophobe.

Electric drive is not a panacea. It's not a silver bullet. There are challenges. My point is that electromotion is the most effective way to mechanically move things. Period.

Various values of "to mechanically move things" in this context excludes shooting, blasting, rocketing, or exploding. I have to add this because someone will argue, so I need to make the reference clear. We're talking about controlled movement, where acceleration is expected to be managed and braking is likely to also be involved.

Electric and hybrid ...

• They're not Golf Carts (some are even luxury class)
• They're Torquie (light turns green, you're movin!)
• They're Quiet
• They're Smooth and Responsive (we're talking "fun"), and yes
• They Are Cleaner

Last time I measured it (and it has been a while) electric motors were 4-to-1 cheaper than internal combustion in terms of dollars per mile. That does not account for the up-front costs, which have supposedly come down since I checked. But I state this without proof, and it's only one metric. My argument in the whole thing is: there's always more than one metric.

No one ever said better tech is cheaper. Better tech is (across the board) usually more cost effective. In the case of "edrive" this is clearly true. The pain is in the transition.

Since we all continue to demand the five hour trip to Grandmother's House, battery powered pure electrics are out of the picture. It's sad. That's the ultimate: an engine with one moving part, quiet, clean, safe, cheap to power, instantly available (no warming up). So instead of this, we have hybrids, and they're okay. Really, they're fine.

If going totally electric reduces the car's complexity, then going hybrid does the opposite. Because of this, and because early hybrids could not go into full electric mode (I'm a purist) I rejected hybrids. I'll spare you that soggy saga for now. But so-called "full hybrids" work well, are increasingly reliable, and are reasonably priced. (They're not cheaper than gasoline only cars of the same size and horsepower.) And full hybrids can be coaxed into running on electricity alone.

Pros and Cons:

Once upon a time, I did a personal and informal comparison of the good points and the bad points of battery powered cars. The good ...

• cheaper to operate
• cleaner
• quieter
• less complicated (easier maintenance)
• instant start (no warm up)
• cooler in the summer
• warmer in the winter (with electric assist heat)
• safer (compared to the burn potential of gasoline)
• faster off the line

The not so good ...

• limitted range of batteries (which is improving)
• high up-front costs (which are coming down)

Do you need someone who is NOT a tree hugger to endorse electric and hybrid cars? That would be me. I bought one. I didn't do it to save the planet. (Though I don't mind pumping less carbon into the air.) I didn't even do it to switch dollars from the Middle East to Japan. (Though I'm not the least disappointed by that aspect.) I did it for the geek factor. The car's great! If I had the money, I'd buy another today.

To the Forbes reader:
Don't dis electric and hybrid technology as only an environmental thing. You're not selling out to the greenies by buying a Prius ... or perhaps a sweet Phantom 102EX.

Summary: I fear that Forbes readers will take Meyer's article as yet another nail in the coffin (of their own faith in electric drive). If you're only interested in shaving your personal vehicular costs, don't get a hybrid or electric car. They're more expensive, and they will be for a long time. But if you want to put your driving dollars into other economies than Saudi Arabia, think seriously about a Volt.

-- R; <><