Electric Vehicle

Recently I published a post on hybrid vehicles. In this post I will blog about another (supposedly) green technology – electric vehicle, or EV.

Based on what I know, it is easier to make an EV than a hybrid vehicle such as Toyota Prius. China’s BYD and Chery have both marketed EV. Even Malaysia’s underperforming Proton has teamed up with Detroit Electric to make EV. We should see EV hitting Malaysian roads in the near future.

While the technology behind the EV isn’t exactly state-of-the-art, there are a few concerns:

• How far can the EV go in one charge?
• How long does it take to charge an EV?
• Will we be able to charge our EV in hotels and shopping areas?

Take Mitsubishi’s iMiEV as example. With air-conditioner off, this mini electric car can go for 160km in a single charge – not enough to reach my hometown from Kuala Lumpur. Charging takes 14 hours at 110V or 7 hours at 220V. Mitsubishi does have ‘quick charge station’ which can charge the batteries to 80% in 30 minutes. However, I am not sure what it takes to install such quick chargers.

Whether an EV is good for the environment depends on where the electricity comes from. If the electricity is generated from coal, good luck.

So, will you buy a Proton EV when it is available?

Mitsubishi iMiEV

Note:

There is another category of EV which are also equipped with gasoline engines. These are called plug-in hybrid vehicles. China’s BYD has already rolled out plug-in hybrids, while GM and Toyota are planning theirs.