Electric Vehicle and their Limitations

An Electric Vehicle Revolution and its Limits to Society

Pamela Warr

GSWLA: Global Connections

Mr. Gregory Falls

December 8, 2017

Abstract
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The purpose of an electric vehicle revolution is to reduce the carbon emissions and pollution in

the world. Many countries have prepared and are continuously working on the process of shifting

closer to this movement. China, Europe, and United States have been making an increase in

supply and demand for lithium-ion for the batteries of these vehicles. Some European countries

have made their decisions to ban and replace internal combustion engines with batteries for the

future. As science, technology, engineering, and math(STEM) become more popular with the

world and the production of these cars, there will be a strong reformation for those who planned

to keep the gas-powered vehicles versus starting to switch, or converting to full battery-powered

vehicles. Following this new worldly change, there will be a significant increase in

unemployment due to the influence towards technology and robot operated machines. An electric

vehicle revolution is possible for the world to achieve since the automotive industry has already

committed and put forth much effort to advance and maintain it; however, there are many

concerns that could halt the process due to limited resources, supply, politics, or demand.

Table of Contents Page

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1. Cover Page………………………………………………………………………….1

2. Abstract……………………………………………………………………………. 2

3. Table of Contents…………………………………………………………………...3

4. Introduction………………………………………………………………………....4

5. Limitations……..…………………………………………………………………...5

6. Literature Review…………………………………………………………………..7

7. Discussion……………………………………………………………………….....11

➢ The Possibilities

➢ Countries Reformation Abilities

➢ Setbacks from Movement

➢ Lithium Batteries and Sources

8. Conclusion……………………………………………………………………….....15

9. References………………………………………………………………………......17

10. Appendix A…………………………………………………………………………20

11. Appendix B………………………………………………………………………….21

12. Appendix C………………………………………………………………………….22

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Introduction

Currently, the world of automobiles is a plethora of electric vehicles filling the market in

the near future. There are over 30 automotive brands standing in the United States and there are

14 companies that support the subgroups of those brands. Recently, there has been a shakeup for

an electric vehicle global race due to environmental concerns. These types of vehicles have been

exposed to the world ever since the early 1800’s when a Scottish man, Robert Anderson, created

the first crude electric vehicle (History of EC, 2009). Major global issues, such as warming,

climate change, technology, and pollution have held the position of these vehicles accountable

for the proceeding years. With a strong presumption of an electric vehicle revolution, the start

has been practically initiated with many limitations to the current and future automotive industry.

The electric vehicle has existed since the time of internal combustion engines as seen by

the first battery electric vehicle that was first built by Thomas Davenport. During the 1900s, the

cars were considered beneficial to having a driving range between 70 and 300 miles and

reducing the pollutant percentage from fossil fuel powered vehicles. However, environmentally,

many versions of the product have such a limited range that it would make one ask themselves,

“how beneficial is it?” Switching to an improved fuel vehicle is competent compared to today’s

combustion engines could be worth it. Due to the junction of the electric motor and wheels, there

is no consumption of energy when the car is stationary. Hybrid vehicles have better performance

than the conventional vehicles due to an improved amount of mileage and a pollution reduction

than other cars without an electric drive system.

Hybrid electric cars are another alternative to preventing further global issues; however, they

may not be as effective as the all battery-powered vehicle. The first battery and gasoline hybrid

vehicle was invented by Ferdinand Porsche in 1901 (Matulka, 2014). Varies of countries has
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regulated their future for combustion engines to be banned by converting to all hybrid and

electric vehicles within the next 25 years. This action towards creating a zero-emission country

and possibly the world is very abrupt in different societies, but not impossible to proceed with.

The future holds a world of technology because people today have motivators like other

successful rivals they want to surpass. The electrical vehicle is a growing product in a significant

flourishing industry that does not halt to the various ideas of inventors, leaders, and employers of

this industry and its future.

Limitations

There are many limitations to the author's research that applies to the question being

answered. As there are many ways a research question can be formed, due to this type of

research it is best to narrow the topic and focus on a more distinct subject. Since the subject is,

“if an electrical vehicle revolution is possible and what are the limitations,” there will be much

attention on the constrictions of the query. The greatest potential impacts of limiting the question

are dependent on what the reader desires to study subsequently from high school, and the

locations the author’s center of attention is.

The originator desires to study mechanical engineering when moving forward from

college. Mechanical engineering is the creation and development of small parts and device to

bigger establishments, like large systems. One must have the drive to design, manufacture, and

operate these man made devices to make, possibly, a global or nationwide product. The author

has interest in the development processes of cars and achieving the vehicle's final appearance

driving on the road. The world is moving toward more efficient and reduction of carbon emission

types of cars, such as hybrid and electrical. Natural global issues could be impacted positively
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and shockingly, negatively from the production of these improved, technological advancements.

Although, these cars are sufficient to decrease our global gas emissions, production leaders

would still have to conclude ways to produce the energy for the battery. In some ways to receive

the energy source for the battery, some companies obtain their energy from coal sources. The

usage of coal for the battery packages is a more dreadful way to recharge the life of a vehicle

than using fossil-fuel.

For example, China is attempting to change their vehicle society by building more of

these battery powered automobiles. This country is a very factory based area, which leads to the

smog problems that they deal with everyday. There is an innumerable amount of energy

producing factories that the plethora of pollution in the atmosphere is very intense for the areas

that are polluted and the health of the citizens. The author plans to focus on other areas, besides

China, such as, France, Norway, and Britain. China needs to reduce their emissions and

contamination drastically due to the smog and health corruption. France and Britain are already

beginning their movement by either banning gasoline and diesel sales and Norway is banning all

fossil-fueled vehicles by 2025.

Building off of these topics will assist the author in increasing and deepening the research

that is available to answer the question. There are many factors: country's politics, emissions,

sources, and the near futuristic changes that the world holds before the people. Some of these

countries are taking radical measures to reduce emission and to get ahold of the next best

generation of the car revolution. The revolutionary process of becoming an electrical and battery

powered planet will suffer many limits and obstacles; however, the industry must be prepared

and be ready to assemble any impediment that may arise, to adapt and overcome.
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Literature Review

According to King, an electric vehicle revolution has already started due to the generation

and ideas graduated students are producing these days (King, 2017). In addition to the upcoming

revolution, many companies and countries are making their technological advancements now

than waiting for other companies to beat them to the line. Transportation and the reduction of

global warming is one of the top issues the world is focusing on today. Ever since the late 19th

century, the world’s carbon dioxide emissions has been dramatically increasing over the years.

Unfortunately, during today’s society, the graph line of the amount of CO2 that is emitted from

man-made technology is now a straight line towards the ceiling (Callery, 2017).

Many companies such as: Tesla, Toyota, Honda, and Chevy, are making their way to

overcome the carbon dioxide worldly challenge by gradually moving closer towards electrical

and hybrid vehicles; although, Tesla is already a full time electrical vehicle production company.

There are many issues that come along within the electrical automobile industry: charging,

batteries, sources, and production rates (Toma, 2016). Due to these situations, the longevity of

keeping the same electrical vehicle without major maintenance is difficult to not be affected by

it. The most expensive and effective conflict that an owner of an electrical vehicle will one day

likely bump into, is the shutting off of the battery. Many people do not have their vehicles

without getting the battery replaced within 10 years.

A major issue that follows the battery trend is that the industry does not know how to

recycle the lithium-ion batteries that are held within the vehicle. It costs over $1,000 to replace

the battery of an electric vehicle, which further leads to the low count in demand because people

need a car that lasts for more than 10 years, or until the owner is able to pay the car off.

According to The Drive, the battery of a Chevy Volt will continue without a replaced one for “at
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least 10 years, 150,000 miles, or 6,000 cycles” (Lang, 2016). Charging the battery is a huge

factor due to how long it takes to refill the battery to a certain capacity. Many electric vehicles

may not have as much mileage because to recharge the vehicle it takes over 30 minutes to refill

compared to the 1-3 minutes it takes for an internal combustion engine. This leads to people not

wanting to charge as much, and they can not travel but for so long until they have to recharge

and put their travels on standby.

In the mid 1800’s, the ‘first small scale electric vehicle’ was innovated by Hungarian,

Netherland, and American individuals that were intelligent in the creation of technology

(Matulka, 2014). Due to this incredible invention, it was not ready to be on the market for

traveling until the 1880’s, when the vehicle was finally empirical for the occasion (“An Electric

Past,” 2012). Robert Anderson, British, was one of the creative inventors that created the first

crude vehicle during the 19th century (Matulka, 2014). An American named William Morrison

had invented the first vehicle that was present in the United States. Another form of electrical

transportation was the railway carriage which was also built in the early 1800’s. As the

innovation of the electric vehicle expands and appeals to new individuals, the interests in

improved, high technology is continuously growing worldwide.

During the middle years from the establishment of the electric vehicle invention, people

have been starting to become really creative , especially some of the major automotive

companies like Toyota, Honda, Tesla, and Chevy. The increasing mass production is leading

manufactures to become more hands on and knowledgeable about the new technology that is to

come in the near future; today. Electric taxi cabs were also an upcoming invention where only a

few of them were on the road in the early 1900’s (Electric Vehicle & Burden of History, 2001).

During the early 1900’s, people decided that once the prices of fuel went down, they lost interest
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in switching to the electric vehicle (Issacs, 2011). Fuel source alternatives for the world’s

transportation is becoming a worldly issue for our automotive production due to the decrease in

fossil fuels, which will lead to finding other source possibilities. In the following years, the

electric vehicle industry is constantly improving and changing their productivity.

According to USA Today, “Electric vehicles are cheaper than conventional cars to

maintain, but they're more expensive upfront and lose value at a much faster pace over time,”

(Bomey, 2017). Purchasing an electrical vehicles at its dealership is more expensive than buying

a new and the buyer can understand the ownership of the car. It is roughly $6,500 a year to own a

small sedan while a medium SUV comes to a whopping $9,500 per year (Bomey, 2017).

Furthermore, the annual cost of an electric vehicle is about $8,500, according to AAA (Stepp,

n.d.). Part of the monthly cost is due to the expensive battery system that most electric vehicles

are powered by. Batteries are extremely high-priced since it is the mainstream of power.

Batteries: the power source of what keeps a technological invention operating. When the

battery of electric cars come into play, they require much attention and much time to be fully

charged. It takes minutes and possibly hours to fully charge any electric vehicle; whereas to

internal combustion engines, it takes between less than a minute to maybe 3 minutes depending

on how much the fueler is filling up and the size of the vehicle's tank. Like previously

announced, batteries are costly because they are based on being $600 per Kilowatt per hour

(Dargaville, 2016). Comparing one of the top electric vehicle companies, Tesla, with an overall

top company Chevy, Tesla has their battery rate at less than $190/kWh by early 2016 (Lambert,

2017), and Chevy has their Bolt EV at a whopping $262/kWh (Lambert, 2017). This seems like

Tesla has a better chance of keeping their vehicles on the roads even after the battery dies out.

Tesla’s Elon Musk plans to decrease the battery rate to about $100/kWh by the end of 2020, but
Electric Vehicle and their Limitations
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trackers are not sure how they are going to drop it that fast within the time remaining (Lambert,

2017).

Lithium-ion is the energy that supports the power of the battery life. The battery does not

only support lithium ions; it also supports materials of anode and cathode, which are positively

and negatively charged electrodes in an electrical device (BCG, 2010). There is a focus on how

fast the batteries will charge and discharge when driven by owners. The smart grid, an electrical

grid used for transmission line for technology, is available to users who desire to control the

charging of their vehicles (Goffman, 2012). It is significantly known that the battery in an

electric vehicle could fail at sometime after driving it. Some consumers of the car purchase

battery service providers since the buying of the vehicle is like separately paying for the battery

and the vehicle (Serra, 2012). The reason behind the slow battery charging is the batteries can

only, at a low state of charge, obtain charge at high power levels. If the high powers levels are

simultaneous with a high state of charge, it will lead to damage and the overheating of the pack

(Serra, 2012).

Many concepts and theories about electric vehicles have been determined whether the

futuristic world is going to take on the upcoming reformation of these cars. The companies that

provide for these automobiles are very prepared in some states to increase their works for

creating a more efficient and economic based overall automotive industry. Consumers are

already influenced by what possibilities further years can bring by improving the societies health

and decreasing the rapidness of the continuity of global warming and air pollution.

Discussion

The Possibilities
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How would it be if the world or even the United States and Europe, since they are the top

areas, came into a revolutionary era where electric vehicle started overcoming the industry of

internal combustion engines? Currently and futuristically, the world is already in an uproar for an

electric vehicle revolution. In Europe, many countries are making immense moves toward the

overtaking of these vehicles. It is expected that electric vehicles will overcome the production of

fossil-fueled vehicles within the next few decades. According to Jess Shankleman of

Bloomberg.com, within two decades, there will be a high probability that these vehicles will

engage and conquer the majority of the nation’s fossil-fueled automobiles because battery prices

are declining, thus leading to changes in the countries that internationally, trade oils

(Shankleman, 2017). There are many aspects of ideas that can transpire through this process of

becoming an electric vehicle motorized movement and revolution for the world. Many countries

have already started their actions and procedures on making it to the next level of worldly

automotive abilities. Companies are changing and creating new energy prospects to their

vehicles. Most importantly and influential to this movement is the people and the individuals

who will support versus the ones who, and the technology and corporate leaders of who can

really get this project underway.

Most of the high productivity of the electric vehicle has been known to come from

Europe; therefore, the world expects some drastic changes to come from that area. Though

America has been making the moves for a ‘better world’, there are some thoughtful qualities that

could affect the possibilities of an ‘American Electrical Automotive Revolution’. China is also

involved in the reformation of the world switching from the internal combustion engine to the

lithium-ion powered battery. Volvo, who is amongst commonly known automotive brands and
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the Chinese industry, is planning to reform all of their cars to become battery powered by 2019

(Kahn, 2017). Europe is the home of where electric vehicles come from and expect to have the

greatest change there is out of the other areas who are participating in this campaign. France has

its motive of banning gas-powered vehicles by 2040 (Kahn, 2017); similar to Norway’s and

Netherland’s target of forbidding gas vehicles by 2025 since they already had plans to reduce

carbon emission ever since the 1900s (Hockenos, 2017).

It is expected for this revolution to be succeeded by 2040, which is basically the world’s

deadline of having more than half of vehicles powered by batteries. If the possibilities and

success of this revolution are fortunate, then oil production will have 8 million barrels that will

not be exported internationally (Shankleman, 2017). Reducing the number of barrels exported to

other areas could reduce the emissions the oil gives off and could reduce the rapid usage of fossil

fuels. Lithium-ion battery prices have been decreasing for a time now ever since 2010 when

batteries were highly expensive at $1000 and now they cost under $300 (Shankleman, 2017). In

2030, it is expected that these batteries will be much less costly at about $73 for a battery

(Shankleman, 2017). Electrical car companies are continuously dropping the prices for these cars

and soon most of them will be the same price or lower than gas-powered vehicles. Currently,

there are already electric vehicles who are priced the same or lower than gas vehicles: Nissan

Leaf, Toyota Prius, Tesla Model 3, Chevy Volt/Bolt/Spark EV, and the BMW i3.

Countries Reformation Abilities

As known before, countries in Europe have developed and started goals of their own to

the creation of an electrical vehicle evolution, and the United States and China are right behind
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them on improving the world with more efficient automobiles to decrease carbon emission and

pollution. According to ClimateCentral, the United States will be one of the top countries that

will be driving the most electric vehicles, while China will be one of the countries that buy the

most of these vehicles (Kahn, 2018). Norway is known to have the ‘highest per capita for

electrical vehicles in the world’ by far in the run for an electric vehicle revolution (Hockenos,

2017). Due to Norway’s extreme abilities to have a great improvement on these vehicles, they

have also built the fastest charging station that is able to support 28 vehicles at once and charge

within 30 minutes (Hockenos, 2017). Though many countries and companies are continuously

working to improve charging stations, Norway, and even Europe, in general, seems to have the

quickest improvement towards a more technical and electric future for upcoming drivers. China

has an extreme goal of militarizing, or putting in the military, five million electric vehicles by

2020 (Hockenos, 2017). Militarizing this many vehicles is not impossible; however, it is a

significant tactic for China due to them expecting to have so many vehicles created for their

armed forces in such a close amount of time left.

Setbacks from Movement

What could happen after the electric vehicle revolution and what futuristic complications

could there be if any that shall come up? Right now there are major concerns that the industries

and companies must think about: lithium-ion batteries, enough energy sources, supply and

demand, lost of jobs, and services. There is an understanding that these vehicles will be about the

same cost as a new gasoline-powered vehicle someday, but what if a person can not afford the

car? Some people will only have gas cars for transportation and when the time comes they will

not be able to purchase gas for their cars anymore. They will need to be provided in some type of
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way because there are always some people who do not wish to buy another car or take public

transportation if times come to that. Included with the consumers, many people will lose their

jobs due to technology taking over the occupations and operations of what the people’s jobs were

there for.

Lithium Batteries and Sources

Lithium-ion batteries are the power sources to these vehicles. There have been many

issues inquiring about the amount of lithium available to complete these cars. Batteries may not

be enough to keep power going; the industry suggests that there needs to be more power plants

to provide energy for these vehicles (Clark, 2017). Due to current lithium markets receiving

increases in demand, it is causing them to have more lithium supplies for these vehicles since

there will be an era for the rise of the electric vehicle (Akhtar, 2017). If there may be some peak

in lithium to support the vehicles, there may not be enough energy sources, such as power plant

like companies to manufacture the necessities for these cars. In 2015, there was an estimated

lithium amount from mining and reserves of 38,000 tons per year that could serve for nearly 365

years (Hunt, 2015). Hunt says, “Even though 365 years of reserve supply sounds very

comforting, the point of the EV and stationary storage revolutions is that current demand will

shoot up, way up, if these revolutions do happen” (Hunt, 2015). Producing 500,000 cars and

8,000 tons of lithium per year by 2020, and 100 gigafactories is expected by Tesla; however, it

would backfire on the reserves time from 365 years to 17.6 years of stable production (Hunt,

2015 and Hone, 2016). His biased opinion is positive towards the development of an electric

vehicle revolution and the drastic increase in demand for lithium power. There is a plethora of

demand for these vehicles in materials and consumers; however, there is not enough supply for

the providers to emit the materials required for the production, though the times are short term.
Electric Vehicle and their Limitations
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Therefore, there will be many supplies once the materials arrive at the production and

manufacturing factories.

Conclusion

There are many contributors to such a reformation to the world for an electric vehicle

revolution; therefore, it is possible for one to happen. Short term and possibly long term setbacks

could hold off the progress of the automotive industry due to lack of lithium-ion sources, and

supply and demand for energy. European countries have developed their future goals of making

extreme changes to automotive and oil sales by banning and limiting the availability for these

vehicles. Norway, Netherlands, and France will have the biggest impact on electric cars and a big

move towards the technological future. China will have a huge market because they know that

their atmosphere is very polluted due to the factories giving off so much gas pollution that this

revolution would be a great start for reducing the emissions. As these vehicles improve over the

years, prices and internal combustion engine vehicle sale will decrease while demand for lithium

and these vehicles increase throughout the upcoming years.

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Appendix A

A new forecast for electric cars shows explosive growth in new sales, particularly in
China.
Credit: Bloomberg NEF
Electric Vehicle and their Limitations
20

Appendix B

Vehicle Type Annual Cost* Vehicle Type Annual Cost*

Small Sedan $6,354 Minivan $9,146

Small SUV $7,606 Large Sedan $9,399

Hybrid $7,687 Medium SUV $9,451

Medium Sedan $8,171 Pickup Truck $10,054

Electric Vehicle $8,439 Average $8,469

*Based on 15,000 miles driven annually

Electric Vehicle and their Limitations
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Appendix C

USGS Mining and Reserves Data (Metric Tons)