Almost all of us drive car and it is common that no way to comfortable living without four or two wheel friends or comrades. Today more and more people starts to remember that so called GREEN lifestyle is not just a simple word. We have to start correct our mistakes to help our wonderful home called Earth to survive. One of the way is using Green cars or electric vehicles or even hybrid cars.
Many consumers are still not sure why they must pay an extra money for car that can drive less mileage and even looks not so good.
“It’s all about the driving experience,” said Glenn Schmidt, head of planning and government steering affairs of BMW group AG. The company’s celebrated BMW ActiveE concept vehicle, the next systematic step towards an emission-free mobility solution.
“Those who haven’t seen one before or had the chance to try one out would probably assume that it’s something quite strange. It doesn’t help that a lot of the initial electric vehicle concepts looked rather unusual,” concedes the 37-year-old father of one.
“Many people also feel that it’s just something for scientists or the lab. But we’ve had positive feedback from those who’ve had the chance to drive these vehicles, and they tell us that it was an emotional experience,” he adds.
With the normal engine, you get torque very slowly as you accelerate. An electric motor, however, has torque right away, which means that the power and the force are there immediately.
“You’ll notice it if you’re at the traffic lights and you accelerate. It gives you instant momentum and torque. This is what excites people about driving electric vehicles,” says the Munich-based Schmidt.
“This is the way to go if you want to protect the environment,” he continues. “With the BMW electric vehicles, we want to go a step further. If you use renewable energy to tank up an electric car, you have zero CO2 emissions. So, not only is it fun to drive, you’re also helping the environment.”
The first electric cars to enter the market will be at a premium price. But this is normal, reassures the self-confessed family man.
He likens it to the period when flat-screen TVs were first introduced, when there were very few models and so were ridiculously expensive. “Today, these TVs are everywhere and the prices have gotten very competitive. I think electric cars will go through a similar process,” he says.
In his adopted country of Germany (Schmidt originally hails from Vancouver, Canada). Last year, he reveals, only a couple of electric vehicles were registered. But in the first two quarters of this year, there are already several thousands.
Technology An electric vehicle, explains Schmidt, has three major components: the electric motor, battery (which stores the energy) and power electronic control unit (the intelligence or software behind it).
It’s a simple principle: You store the energy in the battery and when you need the energy, it’s taken out of the battery and used to power the electric motor, which propels the car.
But there’s an interesting feature with electric cars. The energy, says Schmidt, who whizzes around in a BMW528i station wagon back home, can go in more than one direction. “An electric motor can act as a motor to power the wheels, to propel the car, and also as a generator, which is the other way around. It’s called brake energy regeneration. With the ActiveE, the car starts slowing down as soon as you cease using the accelerator, so you end up not having to use the real brake. This makes it even more environmentally friendly.”
Also, with brake energy regeneration, it’s possible to increase the range of the vehicle by up to 20 per cent.
Maintenance BMW is still developing this technology and is at the testing phase of its vehicles. “But when we finally get to the stage where the electric vehicles can come as a series, I think it’ll be quite encouraging,” says Schmidt with a smile.
“An electric motor, for example, is almost impossible to break. It’s very robust, very stable, and you can do millions of kilometres without very much wear and tear at all, because there’s no friction inside it. All we need to do now is just concentrate on the battery, to improve the energy density and its lifetime. We’ve had positive experiences around the world with the electric Mini.”
Infrastructure Where does one charge?
“Public charging infrastructure is very expensive and very difficult to make because you need to have a parking spot, you need to install the charging post and most of the time, it’ll probably be underused,” says Schmidt.
“We need to put the charging infrastructure at where people commonly park their cars. This could be at home or shopping malls. We shouldn’t try to build an infrastructure somewhere and hope to bring the people there.”
Charging As long as you have access to electric cable and have a charging socket, you can charge your vehicle, reassures Schmidt, whose father is German and mother, South Korean.
“When you come home for the day, just leave the car in the garage to be charged overnight. For condo living, as long as there’s an electric socket, then it’s possible to install an electric line to provide electricity for the car.
“One thing that governments can do, and there are positive examples such as in France, is to come up with legislation requiring new buildings to have an electric infrastructure so you can have a charging infrastructure.”
Speed of charging, adds Schmidt, depends on the technology at hand. If you’re charging with the normal socket, the charging time will be overnight. But if you have a special charging infrastructure, for example, a wall box with alternating current of 32 amps, then you’ll need 3-4 hours. That’s what BMW offers its clients.
Clean, sustainable era In modern society, industry growth and prosperity are closely linked to CO2 emissions. The wealthier the society becomes, the more prosperous the economies are, the more CO2 is emitted. And the more carbon that’s out there in the atmosphere, the more serious the issue of global warming.
“People who drive electric vehicles are starting to ask questions about where the energy is coming from — is it nuclear, coal fire or gas? — and how clean is the energy that’s coming out.”
BMW believes that the additional energy you need for electric vehicles in future needs to be renewable. But the company can’t do everything on its own. BMW, says Schmidt, is in the business of cars and not in the business of energy generation. “This is the reason why we’ve partnered with major energy companies around the world.”
Hybrid rides
hello cleaner air Lower fuel consumption. Less pollution. Less noise.
As nations around the world battle to reduce traffic congestion, cut carbon emissions and improve air quality, the UK stole a march on its global competitors by introducing technology that will transform bus services into a greener, cleaner generation of low-carbon vehicles.
Behind the success lies a unique partnership between two technology pioneers, Alexander Dennis Limited (ADL) and the advanced power management and energy systems division of BAE Systems.
Together, Britain’s biggest bus and coach builder, which is currently storming new export markets in the US, Canada, Hong Kong and New Zealand, and BAE Systems, which joined forces in 2007, have developed a range of hybrid electric buses that is achieving 35 per cent fuel and CO2 reductions.
“Bus operators have demanding schedules and the one thing they need is a reliable bus that does what it says on the tin. Our hybrids are now achieving 98 per cent reliability, which is on par with conventional diesels,” says Colin Robertson, CEO of ADL.
The hybrid system works best in a heavy-traffic environment, the kind of stop-start-stop-start situation.
“Hybrids are the most efficient units on the market now. We offer you a reduction in fuel usage of 30-35 per cent. Most importantly, we offer a reduction in CO2 production, and in these times, everybody is looking for a green footprint.
“A hybrid bus offers you that — CO2 reduction, and a reduction in the use of fossil fuel means the environment is better protected,” explains Bruce Boden, head of new market development from BAE Systems’ HybriDrive team.
“Our HybriDrive series system powers more than 3,700 buses around the world.
“We’re now looking for a partner in Malaysia to share our technology.”
KL, adds Boden, who had lived in Malaysia for eight years, is made for hybrid technology because of its traffic issue.
“I’ve been coming to KL for 20 years and what used to be a kampong besar is now a massive city. It used to take me just two minutes to go up to Jalan Sultan Ismail, but now it takes me 40.
“So, you have to get the car ridership out of the city centre and get people onto the public transport, and this is the perfect way to do it. You’re cutting down pollution and fuel, and you’re putting people on nice modern buses.”
Its product, says the UK-based Boden, is specifically a city bus and transit bus product.
The system The hybrid system uses a generator, an electric motor and lithium-ion battery storage, along with a regenerative braking system. The diesel motor, about half the size of those normally used to run buses, runs the generator and a computerised propulsion control system manages power delivery to the electric drive.
Because the system uses no mechanical transmission, there’s less maintenance, and the buses use a new, lighter energy storage system that increases battery life and reduces vehicle weight and so improves fuel economy and cuts emissions.
Cost. The cost is not something Boden is keen to dwell on. Then again, what price do you put on a greener future?
Though the premium attached to a hybrid vehicle may make some companies balk and present a hurdle to many, with government support, it can be overcome. The British government, for example, introduced various green bus funds to encourage the purchase of hundreds of low-carbon-emission buses.
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