Germans now putting into production first commercial electric cars

Press, 16 January 1979, Page 13

Germans now putting into production first commercial electric cars

This is the last of a series of articles by Oliver Riddell who, as a guest of the Government in Bonn, spent two weeks studying environmental protection and landscape enhancement in West Germany.

This year should be a significant one in the history of the city as a home of man, because this year West Germany expects to be selling commercial electrical vehicles. There have been (expensive) prototype and model electrical cars in other countries before, but this is the first commercial vehicle.

I went for a ride in one. It was noiseless, except for its air-cooler; it was in an ordinary car body, so to reduce cost; it started easily an a steep upward slope, something I had been told electric cars never do.

These cars will only be suitable for cities, so they are not likely to be seen outside the big centres in New Zealand. They have a range of 70-80 kilometres, with a maximum speed of 70 kilometres an hour. The acid battery is still the best available, but it is hoped that better ones will be available soon, for the same speed but permitting a greater range. The work has been done with funds from the German car industry and research has cost SI4SM deutschmarks (S7OM) so far. By 1990, 30 per cent of all the cars in Germany could be electric, with both Volkswagen and Mercedes Daimler Benz beginning production this

year. In West Germany, half the crude oil used is lost through inefficiency. Industry uses 27 per cent and is 60 per cent efficient; 44 per cent is used in the home and is 50 per cent efficient. Vehicles use 29 per cent and are only 14 per cent efficient. So, although vehicles use only 29 per cent of the oil, they have 43 per cent of all loss through inefficiency.

When research began in 1970, electric vehicles were intended to be goods service vehicles in cities. But electric cars are seen as a major answer to urban pollution and the wasteful use of oil products. Electric bus prototypes were used until enough was known to produce electric cars. When this commercial decision was taken, the Federal Government withdrew its support. This delayed further research into battery efficiency and charging. The cost of setting up hundreds of charging stations in cities will

also need Government support, if vehicle range is not to be too limited. Japanese prototype electric cars had trouble starting on hills. Germany is not as steep, so this is not such a problem, but the German cars did lack climbing ability until research into different starting currents prevented the motor overheating when starting.

Now, replacement of petrol cars by electric cars in cities is considered feasible technically. They will not replace petrol cars on the open road. These will eventually be replaced by vehicles with liquid hydrogen motors, but the German researchers say that many problems, of cost, technology, and storage, have still to be overcome. Future families may well own two cars — an electric car for around town and a hydrogen one for longer trips. It is expected that the ultimate purchase price for an electric car will be 15 per cent higher than for a conventional car, but that it

will be 20 to 25 per cent cheaper to run. There are 40 grams of waste per kilometre from a conventional car, but only three grams from the power plant of an electrical car, and nothing from the car itself. Charging stations will be installed at home and will cost 2000 deutschmarks ($900). It will cost $140,000 to set up .a public charging station charging 50 cars a day. These costs will limit electric cars to their own neighbourhoods at first. All work so far has been on vehicles with normal car bodies. No work has been done on what is the ideal shape for an electric car. But there are problems with axles on conventional cars which need to be overcome for electric cars. The sale price will about $19,000 for a 16-kil-owatt Volkswagen or a 32-kilowatt Mercedes van. The exact price far the proposed cars has not been released yet. The researchers think the electric car will sell when the public is ready to buy, and that may be when the price of petrol becomes unacceptably high. Everything must be seen in association — car, motor, charging facilities — or the costs will be greater and progress slower. F