Future Transportation Systems - Decreasing Fuel Consumption and Exhaust Gas Emissions in Transportation - page 266

Fig. 17.5 Comparison of
storage technology

10,000

1,000

6

5

4

100

3

1

2

10

1

1 10 100 1,000 10,000

-1

density of energy [Wh*kg ]

4. lithium-ion
5. internal combustion engine
6. gas turbine

1. lead-acid
2. nickel-cadmium
3. nickel-metal hybrid

of power which is limited by the permissible engine temperature. Depending on
the kind of propulsion, the power factor is 1-2 min for short time and 30 min for
long time. The maximum propulsion power must be monitored and reduced
according to the limits of the power actuator, engine, and battery [ 16 ].
Table 17.2 shows the most important parameters of current electric motor
vehicles.
An annual world production of 800,000 electric cars is forecast within 9-
10 years. In reality, experiences of the last years has proven that this prediction is
highly uncertain; see Fig. 17.6 .
In 25 years, the driving characteristics of electric cars could be similar to cars
with self ignition engines. However, current electric cars are still slower and reach
smaller distances than cars with internal combustion engines. Short distance
transport of less than 20 km (12.42 mi) is most common in megacities and in
congested areas. Here, nearly 80% of trips could be optionally made with electric
vehicles.
Nowadays, there are first commercial vehicles with electric propulsion on the
market. The GVW of current types is up to 12 t (26,432 lb). The performance
reaches up to 120 kW (160.9 HP), the distance 200 km (124.3 mi) with one
charging [ 17 ]. In the future, electric propelled commercial vehicles, e.g., buses can
gain on importance, particularly in short range mass transport.
However, in the long distance transport, there are no real alternatives to the
internal combustion engine in the next 20-30 years.