The Dawn of the Electric Highway0

To better understand the present, sometimes one must turn to the past. For those interested in the evolution of the electric car industry, it’s useful to turn the dial back over one hundred years to the dawn of the automobile.

In 1900, there were 20 million horses and only 4,000 cars in the United States. Urban planners were desperately attempting to deal with the dire issue of “horse pollution”; mainly defined by worsening manure and urine on city streets. If you wanted to fill up, you drove to your local general store or kerosene refinery with a bucket. The world’s first gas station in St. Louis, Missouri would not be built for another five years.

Demand for filling stations took off after Henry Ford revolutionized the motor industry and made the automobile financially accessible to the middle class. Increased ownership spurred the need for greater infrastructure and easier access to fuel. The stigma of the car as a leashed local commodity was lifted. The time of the horse gave way to the era of horsepower.

The United Kingdom took the first big step with what’s being claimed as the “world’s first national charging network.”

Not just a bunch of gas

Today in 2011, the world is yet again poised to repeat history with the introduction of affordable, efficient, and clean-running electric vehicles. Of the 260 million registered autos in the United States, only a fraction of them are all-electric. In the United Kingdom, an estimated 2,000 pure electrics share the road with over 30 million conventional vehicles.

Like the early 20th Century, distance travelled is largely limited to the availability of charging stations—with most owners choosing to power up at home. Ventures beyond the rated 75 to 100 mileage of most EVs can often lead to what’s casually described as “range anxiety.”

In an effort to curb motorists’ fears and encourage adoption of electric vehicles, municipalities, federal governments, and private sector businesses are all moving forward with the installation of charging stations—the majority of which are located in urban centers, a nod to the heavy commuter population.

“Until now, charging posts have all been in city centers like London, but this is where you need them the least.”

Those wishing to travel beyond cities have effectively found their new vehicles limited by a public highway system devoid of charging infrastructure. Proponents of electric vehicles are eager to change that; a move they say could open the doors to mass adoption by alleviating range anxiety fears.

The British are coming

The United Kingdom took that first big step this summer with what’s being claimed as the “world’s first national charging network.” Spearheaded by Ecotricity, a private green energy firm, EV motorists will soon be able to travel from London to Edinburgh (400 miles) by tapping into 27 “Welcome Break” motorway stations with charging points.

“Until now, charging posts have all been in city centers like London, but this is where you need them the least,” said Ecotricity founder Dale Vince.

“Statistics show that it’s not in towns and cities where electric cars need to recharge, but on longer journeys between cities—and that means motorways.”

While the network is free to use and powered by renewable wind and solar, it does come at the expense of one precious resource: time.

Ecotricity’s stations feature fast-charging tech (32 amp, 3 phase AC supply) that can charge a vehicle within two hours or deliver an 80 percent “top-up” in 20 minutes. Unfortunately, the majority of pure EVs on the road today are not compatible. Instead, motorists are looking at a yawning six to eight hour wait between charges on the standard 16 amp 230V option. That turns an otherwise mundane seven-hour drive from London to Edinburgh into a 32-hour expedition.

Of course, installing these chargers is an added benefit to communities looking to tap into motorists with some extra time on their hands. Restaurants, local attractions, and even hotels will likely see increases in revenue while people stretch between charges. In the eyes of some, the classic road trip may once again be about the journey rather than the destination.

EverGREEN solutions

In the U.S., Washington State is planning to offer the first interstate charging network, stretching 580 miles from Oregon to Canada. The units, installed and managed by the California-based AeroVironment, will be strategically spaced 40 to 60 miles along the I-5 corridor to cover a majority of EV ranges. Similar to the UK model, these stations will offer a rapid-charge of 30 minutes for compatible vehicles and a standard option taking four to six hours.

Next generation fast-chargers are said to power batteries to 50 percent capacity in as little as three minutes.

But are these developments enough of a tipping point? Chelsea Sexton, a well-known advocate for electric vehicles and founder of The Lightning Rod Foundation, says they’re encouraging, but not perfect.

“The enthusiasm behind these infrastructure plans is fantastic, and a sprinkling of public charging is useful to support EV deployment,” she said. “I do wish those in the space would heed the lessons we’ve learned over the last 15 years—there’s too much infrastructure going into some areas, not enough in others or not in the right places. And most of the monetization schemes proposed can at best be described as wishful thinking, and will result more likely in the waste of large amounts of taxpayer funding and a well-deserved public and media backlash as chargers go unused.”

As with any new technology, this is just the beginning. Next generation fast-chargers are said to power batteries to 50 percent capacity in as little as three minutes—with full charges capable in 10 to 13 minutes. Companies are also working on automated “battery swap” stations that would get motorists back on the road in under one minute; considerably faster than today’s conventional gas stations.

By 2015, the number of charging points in the U.S. is expected to jump from the current 2,900 to over one million. Such a ubiquitous infrastructure coupled with future battery advancements will likely be the catalyst needed for the electric car industry to cut the range anxiety leash and hit the open road. As the saying goes, it’s all just a little bit of history repeating itself.

Illustration by Hey Studio