Technical challenges of deploying electric vehicles

There are several technical challenges of deploying electric vehicles such that energy and power
density, battery charging, lifetime performance and system costs.
Firstly, energy and power density are the first challenge we going to discuss. The total amount of
energy that a battery pack contains translates to the vehicle range. The power is the rate of energy can be
removed, which translates to vehicle acceleration. The weight and volume of car affect the power and
energy consequently affect vehicle range and acceleration. Small batteries increase range while light
batteries increase the power to weight ratio for better acceleration. EVs are typically smaller because
more batteries are more expensive that will increase the cost of the electric vehicle. Larger electric
vehicles will become economically viable if the price of batteries fall along with volume and weight per
unit energy.
Next challenge is battery charging. The issue of range is one of the limiting factors for electric
vehicles. After travel fewer than 40 miles electric vehicle have to recharge may influence the driver not
interested in electric vehicle. The discharge rate of batteries further enables high performance electric
vehicles. However, the mirror metric of charge rate will determine the rate of batteries can be charged.
The higher the rate the more energy is lost through heat. The uses of other components such as capacitors
can have very high charge and discharge rates with lower losses, but typically have low energy density.
Next challenge to be discussed is lifetime performance. Each battery chemistry has its own
peculiarities of how different usage parameters affect its usable life. Current battery technology in
automotive applications is likely to last up to 5 years. This is a step down from the current expectation for
new cars. The driving performance of electric vehicles diminishes over the lifetime of the vehicle, but the
symptoms of age for an electric car may be more pronounced and take some time for customers to accept.
(MIT Electric Vehicle Team, April 2008, paragraph 12)
Lastly, system costs are also the challenge of deploying electric vehicles. While batter costs are
high, and the lifetime is relatively shorter than traditional powertrains, there must be some more creative
ways to address the burgeoning cost of the vehicle. Electric sports cars are a good early market, but to
make dent in gasoline consumption there need to be many more electric vehicles on the road. New
innovations in the business plan for auto sales can already be seen in Project Better Place. Instead of the
driver owning the entire car, the batter pack will be leased and swapped out interchangeably by a service
provider. The driver will pay a monthly fee for this service instead of taking on the risk of battery system
repair. (MIT Electric Vehicle Team , April 2008, paragraph 15)

Biggest challenge and solution

I believe the biggest challenge is high price of electric vehicles which is the key market barrier as
the consumers cannot afford to buy expensive electric vehicles. To solve this problem, one of the critical
issues should be known when trying to create a significant change in consumer behavior is to define the
quality of service that can be guaranteed to customers. Government support or incentives are needed in
order to solve the problem. However, decrease price of electric vehicle and batteries or increasing of fuel
prices are the most effective ways to solve this challenge.

Government incentives
There is government incentives for electric vehicles in Malaysia but the incentive not yet approve
or reach to the vehicle production company in Malaysia. Green tech department board project director
Datuk Zainuddin Che Din said that Proton had targeted to roll out the Exora REEV and Persona Electric
Vehicles (EV) by 2013, and would likely spend about RM200mil until the end of the Fleet Test Vehicle
(FTV) programme. Zainuddin said the amount was for the period between the project began in 2008 till
2012. He said the national car maker had applied for a grant and the government had agreed to give but
they havent receive yet. (Proton wants incentive policy for electric vehicles, November 5, 2011,

paragraph 5)
Frost & Sullivan Asia Pacific automotive and transportation practice principal consultant
Dushyant Sinha said that the 50% excise duty exemption for completely-built-up (CBU) hybrid cars that
would end this year, should be extended. The exemption has certainly helped make imported models like
the Toyota Prius and the Honda Civic Hybrid more affordable, he said. However, these incentives need
to continue beyond Dec 31, 2010, to ensure that a critical mass of vehicles is reached before demand
becomes large enough to make local manufacturing and assembly feasible. Dushyant said added
incentives that reduced day-to-day operational costs, such as free parking and reductions in road tax,
would be welcomed at this years budget. (EUGENE MAHALINGAM, October 13, 2010,

paragraph 5)

Should we bother with electric vehicles?

We should not bother with electric vehicles. The broad-scale adoption of the electric vehicle
could bring significant changes for society in terms of not only the technologies we use for personal
transportation, but also moving our economies away from petroleum and lessoning the environmental
footprint of transportation. Developing electric vehicles is important in reducing greenhouse gas (GHG)
emissions because electric vehicles do not pollute the air through tailpipe emissions and the use of an
electric motor produces clean energy with no carbon or other greenhouse gases produced. However, even
with the pollution caused by power plants associated with the use of electric vehicles, an overall reduction
of air pollution and greenhouse gases makes electric cars beneficial to the environment. Besides that,
electric vehicles more energy-efficient than gas-powered vehicles since internal combustion engines
convert only 20 percent of the energy in gasoline to power while electric engines convert 75 percent of
the energy from the batteries. (Alexis Aiger , Jun 21, 2010, paragraph 5)

Reference:
1.

(November 5, 2011). Proton wants incentive policy for electric vehicles. Retrieved 27
November, 2011, from http://biz.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?
file=/2011/11/5/business/9845173&sec=business

2. EUGENE MAHALINGAM (October 13, 2010). Hopes for cheaper green cars. Retrieved 27
November, 2011, from http://biz.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?
file=/2010/10/13/business/7204734&sec=business
3. Celeste Chavis, Kazutaka Kanairo, Angel Lopez Samartino, Nakul Sathaye Ikhlaq Sidhu (PI),
Phil Kaminsky, Burghardt Tenderich (September 18, 2009). Strategies for Electric Vehicle
Deployment in the San Francisco Bay Area. Retrieved 27 November, 2011, from
http://cet.berkeley.edu/dl/EV%20Deployment%20Final.pdf
4. MOTHI A/L SK KOTHANDABHANY (18 October 2011). ELECTRIC VEHICLE ROADMAP
FOR MALAYSIA. Retrieved 27 November, 2011, from
http://www.mai.org.my/upload4download/SustainableMobilityConf/2_Mothi.pdf
5. MIT Electric Vehicle Team (April 2008).Technology, Challenges, and the Future of Electric
Drive. Retrieved 27 November, 2011, from http://web.mit.edu/evt/summary_future.pdf
6. Alexis Aiger (Jun 21, 2010). Why Would Driving Electric Cars Be Safer to the Environment?
Retrieved 27 November, 2011, from http://www.livestrong.com/article/155253-why-woulddriving-electric-cars-be-safer-to-the-environment/