Outreach Goals and Opportunities
Hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) are becoming more common, with total sales of hybrid vehicles reaching 350,000 in 2007, a 40% increase over total hybrid sales in the previous year[1]. In addition, more automakers are in the process of developing PHEVs, with great public anticipation of near-production vehicles such as the Chevy Volt (2010). However, issues surrounding these technologies still remain. Our goal is to help spread the facts about HEVs, and to get the public to know about the EcoCAR competition, and what we are doing to help change the face of the automotive industry.
Main concerns revolve around batteries. The OSU EcoCAR Project will use lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries, which are desirable for PHEV applications due to increased energy density and packagability (compared to other battery technologies such as nickel-metal hydride). However, these batteries are expensive and are not yet in mass-production – a hurdle for automakers working to get PHEVs out on the street in the next couple years. In addition, due to aging, current batteries will not last the lifetime of the vehicle. Therefore, the battery pack will need to be replaced – a costly investment that consumers do not want to make.
Furthermore, questions still remain regarding vehicle recharging infrastructure and the increased demand on the electrical grid that would result from adding plug-ins as a percentage of vehicles on the road. Also, from a consumer perspective, potential vehicle owners have concern regarding vehicle recharge time, since current technology estimates a lengthy vehicle recharge time of about 8 hours.
Finally, communication challenges for the OSU EcoCAR Project also involve the use of E85 and electricity as energy sources, since bio-fuels like E85 have generated debate over the effects of using corn for fuel instead of livestock feed or as food for human consumption.
In light of the recent economic downturn, media portrayal of PHEVs tends to be of two camps. Some paint plug-ins to be the salvation of the automotive industy. Others, however, are more skeptical, arguing that PHEVs, though more efficient, are also expensive and low-volume products that penny-pinching consumers might be less likely to buy. OSU EcoCAR sees concerns about the media exposure of hybrid and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles; the media only provides fragmented snapshots rather than conveying a more complete picture of these vehicle technologies, their relation to other industries (such as electrical utilities), and also the concept of hybrid vehicles as a stepping stone toward further technological improvements.
Despite these challenges, the OSU EcoCAR Project has the opportunity to build off of the current heightened public interest in improving vehicle technology to produce more efficient and environmentally-friendly vehicles. OSU EcoCAR has set forth clear goals and has a major opportunity in the tangible result of a fully-functional PHEV. Therefore, there is great potential to educate and inform the public about plug-in hybrid technology and to provide evidence of their benefit through vehicle testing, data collection, and outreach.
[1] U.S. Department of Energy, “Fact #514: April 14, 2008, Historical U.S. Hybrid Vehicle Sales”, http://www1.eere.energy.gov/vehiclesandfuels/facts/2008_fotw514.html
