This is a thoughtful perspective of frugal environmental appropriateness in the context of evolving technology and range of use. While it makes sense, I must say that I so much enjoy avoiding the gas station all together as we employ our office SMART EV. It is a pleasure not to breathe the fumes at the pump, or worry over any oil spill and the limited if any lubrication required to maintain this tidy little vehicle.
We service the limited area of Kauai Island where a range of just over 80 miles gets us from the middle of the Island to either end and back without trouble. I have been able to trickle charge the vehicle overnight at 110v. and/or on sunny weekend days directly from my solar PV excess. I enjoy calling this our solar vehicle.
Since most of our travel is within town, less than ten miles a day, I believe an even smaller battery with consequent efficiency of less weight would serve adequately if I simply charged the vehicle every other day.
It was pointed out at purchase, that the low center of gravity and constant battery weight makes the SMART EV more stable and consistently smoother ride than its varying mass higher positioned gas tank counterpart.
As always, the "true" environmental impact is a complicated balance.
I am encouraged by the progressive leadership of our electric utility coop that has positioned the Island at over 50% renewable with many days of 100% solar energy service. This makes it easier to swallow the few times that we "plug-in" to other than personal PV.
Unfortunately, MBUSA has "pulled the plug" on SMART imports in the US, at least for now.
aloha,
pH
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Palmer Hafdahl AIA
Owner/Architect
Palm's Hawaii Architecture
Lihue HI
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Original Message:
Sent: 12-02-2020 09:12
From: Nikolaus Philipsen
Subject: How your ride can best combat climate change
With the threat of Climate Change heavy on the mind many people ask what is a safe but environmentally friendly way to get around, especially now when the use of transit and trains presumably adds COVID risk. The answer is a pretty easy one: A mid size plug in hybrid (PHEV) such as the Toyota Prius Prime, the Chevy Volt or the Hyundai Ionic plug in. This may surprise you.
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Most miles traveled can be covered by the small battery of the
PHEV with much less weight and embedded energy. (Scientific Reports)
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Owners of fully electric cars (EV) look at plug-in hybrids with scorn. They note their tiny range (usually only about 30-50 miles), the complications of having two motors under the hood and studies that show that some plug-in owners leave the charging cable unused and just drive in standard hybrid mode while cashing in on the electric car tax incentives. For many environmentalists having any gas powered engine is unacceptable if one wants to truly be green. They see the car industry's plug-in hybrids as a fraudulent way of scoring on the number of electric cars they make so their CAFE fleet consumption standards look better.
There is a kernel of truth to all of this, still, currently the greenest way to have a car at all is a frugal plug-in hybrid (PHEV)! The emphasis is on frugal, meaning a very low gas consumption in gas-engine mode combined with a fairly small Lithium Ion battery back. (There are also all kinds of plug-ins with large and thirsty gas engines). Key for the advantage of the PHEV is the insight that the overall environmental impact of a car....
READ FULL ARTICLE HERE
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[Klaus] Philipsen FAIA
Archplan Inc. Philipsen Architects
Baltimore MD
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