Electric blues; They may be a green alternative to petrol, but

0 Comments | Sunday Herald, The, Sep 15, 2002 | by Mike Woodcock

After 170 years of wacky inventions and strange new models, it seems we may finally be at the end of the road for the electric car. Since the first days of the internal combustion engine motor car many different sources of power have been tried and found wanting. Electricity has never been far from the minds of boffins looking for an easy, efficient and clean source of power, but the technology to make it work as effectively as petrol and diesel has remained frustratingly elusive.

A Scot, Robert Anderson, is credited with inventing the first electric engine in the 1830s and today one of the latest models, Ford Motor Company's Th!nk City car, which is powered by a rechargeable electric battery and is made of thermoplastic, is undergoing a three- year trial in Edinburgh. But with Ford's recent announcement that it is to end production of the Th!nk cars to focus on other potential fuel sources, the future of electric cars looks bleak.

The major car companies seem to be changing horses in the race to find a clean power source for cars that matches the capabilities of petrol and diesel engines, is commercially viable and meets the growing pressure to produce environmentally friendly cars, which was ratcheted up a few gears at the recent World Summit for Sustainable Development in Johannesburg. Only a few remaining electric car models are sold now in the all-important American market by GM, Nissan and Toyota.

In the early days of the 20th century the electric car reached its peak, selling more than all other types of cars in America. Electric cars did not need cranking or the gears changing and were ideally suited for short trips around town. For a while they were seen as the vehicle of choice for drivers. The discovery of crude oil in Texas and the development of the electric starter in 1912 improved the stock of petrol cars, however.

Professor Garel Rhys, director of the Centre for Automotive Research at Cardiff University Business School, believes the electric car's lack of range is crucial. "The trouble with things like this is that the preferences and desires of decision- makers and the chattering classes are somewhat ahead of people when they go out and spend their hard-earned money. Everybody would say 'electric cars are a good thing but I hope the other person will buy one.'"

Ford's decision to end production of the Th!nk City car at its Oslo facility and the Th!nk Neighbor in Detroit reflects the lack of demand for electric cars that cannot compete on range. After investing (pounds) 79 million in the new technology, Ford managed to sell only 1000 Th!nk City cars against an annual target of 5000.

Despite its poor sales, the two-seater Th!nk City car performs its function well within its limitations. It is powered by a nickel- cadmium battery and costs 40p to recharge. It takes six hours to recharge fully but this can be done through a normal three-pin plug. The engine is soundless and there is no exhaust pipe. It can accelerate from 0-30 mph in seven seconds and has a top speed of 56mph.

On a test drive around Edinburgh the Th!nk City handled well and seemed well equipped to deal with city driving. It is an automatic, preventing constant gear-changing on busy city streets, and accelerates smoothly, faster even than some manual cars in pulling away from traffic lights or junctions. But its left hand drive is slightly disorientating.

The car's main weakness is its range of 53 miles on one full charge. Its lengthy recharge time would clearly pose a problem for recharging between uses during the day.

Ford insists it will continue with the Th!nk @bout Edinburgh project, and a similar initiative in London, to allow it to fully evaluate the Th!nk City car and take forward elements of the technology. Edinburgh was chosen ahead of Rome, Amsterdam and Brussels for the three-year trial. Ten companies in the city are using the car for 18 months on a subsidised (pounds) 80 a month leasing arrangement to uncover its strengths and weaknesses and feed this back to Ford. The plan is for another 10 companies to do the same in the subsequent 18 months.

The early feedback from the trial project has been positive. One of the companies taking part is chartered surveyor Ryden's. Roy Drurie, a senior partner in the firm, says it would be interested in extending the lease once the trial period has elapsed. "It is great for us to be seen to be using the car and it will be saving us money," he says. "It costs 40p to recharge it, but the same journey would probably cost (pounds) 5 in a normal car." Edinburgh City Council has been a key backer of the project, along with the Scottish Executive and the Energy Saving Trust initiative Powershift. Councillor Andrew Burns, executive member for transport, says evaluating options such as the Th!nk City car is a key part of producing the city's transport strategy. "There are serious problems with congestion and we will be faced with fast growth situations in areas of the city in the next few years," he says. "We need to think a lot more carefully about car usage and the use of alternative fuels and alternative-power vehicles forms a part of that." Rhys recognises the Th!nk City car's qualities but he says the commercial imperative for Ford is to focus on overcoming its limitations. "Electric vehicles that have these attributes will not pump CO2 into the atmosphere, but it is not delivering to consumers what they expect in a motor car," Hydrogen fuel cells or hybrid engines are seen as the future for environmentally friendly cars. In jettisoning the electric car, Ford is backing hydrogen or hybrid as the most sustainable options, but is convinced the Th!nk trials will throw up useful data about the technlogy which will inform its future models. One element that has proved successful is regenerative breaking, which recharges the battery every time the brakes are applied. Dirk Dens is field manager for Th!nk Mobility, Europe, the research arm of Ford. "In terms of what Ford is doing all the way toward alternative fuel vehicles, this is a little part of the solution," he says. "We are trying to find out what the solution really is because nobody really knows." With a hybrid low-emission sports vehicle, the Escape, set to be launched next year and research contuing into a hybrid, zero- emission vehicle, Ford is well positioned to move on to the next stage of achieving this solution. But some of its rivals are pressing ahead. This month Toyota Motor Corporation and Nissan Motor Company announced they would work together to develop hybrid petrol-electric engines. Toyota is the world leader in hybrid vehicles, having produced the Prius Sedan in 1997, and has sold 120,000 hybrid vehicles in four models. Under the agreement, Toyota will supply Nissan with hybrid components for use in its vehicles to be sold in America from 2006, and is aiming to sell 100,000 units in five years.