Driving the Future – Electric Vehicle Practicalities

In the late 1800s and early 1900s vehicles were powered roughly equally by steam, electricity, or fossil fuels. Henry Ford’s wife drove an electric vehicle (EV) that was powered by nickel iron batteries, still operable today.

A Northland story

In 2011 Nissan introduced the LEAF, a wholly electric vehicle. The LEAF was $70,000 in New Zealand – overpriced in our market – but in 2013, Gary Baxter’s friend, Ulrich Schmid (Ueli), bought a secondhand import for $35,000.

Having friends between Whangarei Heads and Auckland where he could recharge, Ueli drove his LEAF back. When he got to Gary’s in Whangarei, the vehicle’s charger refused the charge, so Ueli drove to Northpower who had a Mitsubishi iMiEV in its fleet and had a purpose-built charger. Japan operates on 200 V while New Zealand operates with 230 V. At Northpower a meeting about EVs was in progress. Seeing Ueli’s LEAF and learning the reasonable price at which he’d purchased it, led to Northpower bringing second-hand EVs into New Zealand at reasonable cost. They then set about fostering EV charging infrastructure and that’s resulted in a high EV adoption rate in Northland.

Approximately 600 EVs are registered in New Zealand with 38 of these located in Whangarei where Northpower is based. The power company has its own chief EV enthusiast, Network Engineering Manager, Russell Watson.

A vehicle owner’s dream

The EV’s only maintenance involves rotating the tyres periodically and changing windscreen wipers. No petrol cost, oil changes, brake maintenance, spark plugs, air filters, cam belt replacements, piston rings or valves to adjust. Eventually batteries need replacement with factory estimates for the Nissan LEAF at 160,000 km, but Baxter believes this is conservative.

When Baxter’s Daihatsu Mira was converted to electric in 1993, each battery in a bank had to be consistently monitored for water levels and connections. Today’s technology utilises a battery management system that ensures each cell charges evenly. If this doesn’t occur, the system turns itself off until the batteries self-equalise. Power from the batteries to the motor is regulated by a controller.

“The beauty of EVs,” says Baxter, “is that you have full power from the instant you touch the accelerator. You don’t have to wait to build revs. The Tesla Model-S EV accelerates from 0-100km in 3.1 seconds. Still, the LEAF is not short of power, sitting easily at top motorway speeds. EVs are super quiet, and very smooth.”

How far can you go

Talk around EVs often centres on range, and the term, ‘range anxiety’, has been coined to address one of the most pervasive barriers to EV uptake.  Factory specs for the LEAF give a range of 150-160 km in ideal conditions, but actual range is around 120-130 km. The size and weight of the vehicle affects its range, as does the rate of acceleration, and terrain. Mountain touring uses power faster than flat roads although the vehicle will partially regenerate going downhill. Every time you brake in an EV, or take your foot off the accelerator, the motor becomes a generator putting the braking energy back into the battery.

EV purchasers need to consider range, and the location of charging sites along any intended route. PlugShare, a global app, maps all charging station locations and types.

“A modern EV won’t suddenly die when it runs out of power,” says Baxter. “The computer system constantly monitors the power supply and when you’re down to approximately five kilometres range, it will go into ‘limp home’ mode, reducing speed to around 20 km per hour. If you do run out of juice and are crippled on the side of the road, the battery system will, over hours, generate a bit of charge, and you can move again. You might have to do this a few times to get home, but each bit of charge takes hours, maybe as much as 24 hours, so avoid running out of juice.”

Charge ‘er up!

Purchasers also need to consider personal charging options. Charging is available at any three-pin plug using an 8 amp charger. A 14 amp Nissan  charger allows the use of a caravan plug or three-pin 15 amp socket – think campgrounds, welding machines, industrial compressors.  EVs require separate charging units for each system. i.e. Rapid DC Chargers have more complex connections, but most vehicles are equipped with slow (3.5 kW – 4 hour) and fast (44kW – 25 min) chargers. Charging systems, installation and information are offered by Juicepoint, www.juicepoint.co.nz.

Many EV enthusiasts install solar panels at home allowing vehicles to charge during daylight hours for free (as well as supplementing electricity), but others generally charge during cheaper night-rate hours, a situation which suits electricity supply companies who are looking to develop 24 hour custom.

“The trick,” says Baxter, “is not to allow batteries to completely flatten. Charge each time you use your EV, or if you use it all day, charge overnight.”

Rapid Charging Sites

Northpower installed the nation’s first Rapid Charger at the Alexander St substation in Whangarei in May 2014. Alexander St is capable of charging six EVs at once, with the Rapid Charger recharging to 80% capacity in 15-20 minutes.

Steve West of Charge.net.nz, will install 74 rapid charging sites across the country by 2018, each located at cafes, shopping centres, or supermarkets along the state highway network. The first of these is already operational at Rosedale on Auckland’s North Shore. West expects to install 23 units this year. Drivers will use smartphones or swipe cards to activate the chargers and monitor their accounts, but so far, if you’re in Whangarei, public charging at Alexander St, and the Northland Regional Council (NRC) charging stations is free.

Council and companies on board

NRC Rivers Programme Manager, Joseph Camuso, is a keen EV enthusiast. The NRC owns two Nissan LEAFs, and has an 80-panel solar array producing 20 kW on the roof of their downtown building. They provide two free charging spaces in their public carpark.

Camuso says, “The Northland region stretches from the Brynderwyns to Cape Reinga, but an analysis revealed 56% of NRC pool vehicle trips were within 100kms. We paid $22k for the 2012 Nissan LEAF and have saved $3k after driving 20,000kms. We will save approximately $15k after driving 100,000kms.”

Blue Cars, a Whangarei car rental company servicing the eco-tourism industry, has an entirely electric fleet and provides hirers with free charging at partner stations.

New Zealand’s first fully electric taxi is run full-time in Whangarei. Driver, Margaret Baker, charges once a day, and when it’s busy, pops into Alexander St to recharge for five minutes on the Rapid Charger. Rapid Chargers supply the bulk of a charge within ten minutes but take 30 minutes to fully charge.

Thwarted invention

In Baxter’s opinion, the best EV ever built was the General Motors EV-1 produced from 1996-99. GM refused to sell the vehicles, leasing them instead, many to celebrities. When GM and the oil companies realised the advantages of the EV-1 through the experience of its users, and the losses they would make in spare parts and oil sales, they recalled and crushed them all except for a few which were remotely disabled and given to technical institutes. One EV-1 is permanently displayed at the Epcot Centre in Florida.

“Because of its design efficiency,” says Baxter, “The EV-1, with modern battery technology, would today probably have a 400 km range.”

“The original EVs which Mrs Ford drove had long range because they only did 10-15kmph, but modern drivers want all the bells and whistles, and offset improvements in technology with their luxurious expectations. If consumers were willing to accept lighter, more basic vehicles, EV range would be greatly enhanced.”

Off the beaten track

His view is proven by New Zealand’s eldest EV owner, 77 year old, Judy Reinken of Omapere. “I’m Green,” she says, “and driving a LEAF which has zero emissions, just makes sense. Besides, I now have cruise control and aircon, which I’ve never had. It has a great sound system, and there’s enough room when I put the back seat down, to accommodate my husband’s wheelchair.”

Omapere is quite a way off the beaten track, but as long as Judy can get into Kaikohe, a friendly local business allows her to recharge there. EV ownership is almost a club, a highly supportive one.

EV Developments

EV technology today is around battery development and lighter weight vehicles. To counter the cost of new car batteries, it’s possible to repurpose vehicle-exhausted battery banks, which still have useful life, for domestic solar storage.  Dyson recently claimed it was working on a battery which would propel a vehicle 1000 km on a single charge, and the whisper networks say Apple is developing an EV.

Hybrids provide perhaps the best of both worlds, especially for those with range anxiety, but they are heavier, much more complex, and therefore not as efficient on electricity, and, are usually fossil-fuel assisted in EV mode.  Most major vehicle manufacturers have produced a solely electricity-powered version of one of their popular models, and many sell hybrid versions into a growing market.

Farewell fossil fuels

“Seventy-nine percent of New Zealand’s electricity comes from renewable resources,” says Baxter. “If Rio Tinto pulls out of Tiwai Point in 2017, there will be a glut of power at Manapouri which produces 13% of the country’s energy. The electricity which Marsden Point Refinery uses to process our national fossil fuel needs is more than sufficient to run New Zealand on electric vehicles, which would save the country $8 billion dollars in the crude oil we currently import.”

Joe Camuso points out the Wairua Falls 5 MW hydrostation in Northland has generated enough electricity to drive to the moon (385,000kms) every day since 1916, and is likely to continue for another 100 years.  By comparison, the Tui Oilfield which began production in 2006 and harvested two million barrels a year, had by 2014 already lost capacity to 200,000 barrels.

“There’s a fixed cost to maintain the electricity network,” says Camuso. “In electrifying transport, electricity prices can be lowered by higher utilisation of the grid.

“Electric cars are coming. We can wait and be disrupted, or capitalise on the opportunity.”

Transport and lifestyle

Baxter says,”EVs are certainly part of the answer in New Zealand, but there’s too much reliance on cars, and we suffer from poor urban design which is around vehicles. If urban design was around people instead, and we had public transport of the correct size running to capacity, it would be much more efficient than everyone driving their own EV.”

“We really need to think hard about basics first. If you’re enthusiastic, you’ll be willing to change your lifestyle to suit an EV because it is so cool not to be reliant on expensively produced, environmentally destructive fossil fuels, especially when you can hook your vehicle up to solar power for free (you will need another meter). Our lifestyles are energy-demanding – we could reduce the energy demand by not relying on technology to fill the gaps in our expectations”

Think global, act local

In Whangarei over the past year:

33 EVs collectively travelled 491,000kms

They saved $77,332 in petrol

They paid instead $19,640 for locally-produced electricity

Collectively they saved $57,692

They kept 80,000kgs of Co² out of the atmosphere

From interviews conducted by Theresa Sjoquist in June 2015

© Theresa Sjoquist

First published in Organic NZ Magazine Sept/Oct 2015 Edition – www.organicnz.org.nz