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ShayBanerjeeSecondEssay 6 - 18 Jun 2015 - Main.ShayBanerjee
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| | | Plug-in electric vehicles are one potential solution since they rely on grid-based power generation, where oil accounts for only 1% of energy use. Yet despite their commercial viability, higher energy efficiency, and competitive price, plug-in electric vehicle penetration remains at under 0.5% after decades of oil price increases. The truth is that America’s infrastructure imposes insurmountable hurdles to the construction of a national electric charging network. Charging 100 electric cars in a single area at peak hours – as the average gas station does – would require around 10-15 MW[1] to cross into residential and commercial areas. That sort of power would strain residential and commercial distribution lines to their breaking point. That is a problem the private sector will not fix because it lacks the financial incentive and legal authority to do so. State governments do not have the capital to solve it and, unlike the federal government, they cannot finance it through deficit spending. If plug-in electric cars are to take hold, Congress must either replace distribution lines with higher-voltage transmission lines or build centralized electric refueling facilities in proximity to power plants. | |
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< | Hydrogen fuel cells are also potential solution because, unlike oil, hydrogen is abundant. Yet Toyota expects to sell only 3000 of its hydrogen-powered Mirai’s in the U.S. by 2017, while competitor brands expect lower figures for their models. Replaceable battery electric vehicles, like their plug-in counterparts, are another potential solution. Yet Tesla for its part has not developed replaceable battery technology beyond proof-of-concept. Neither hydrogen fuel nor replaceable batteries will develop meaningful demand without a complimentary national refueling structure that rivals the over 100,000 gas stations across America. Private firms are dis-incentivized to build stations comprising such a structure because accruing the full profits requires collective action. If hydrogen or replaceable batteries are to catch on, the federal government must build or heavily subsidize the refueling stations itself. | >
> | Hydrogen fuel cells are also a potential solution because, unlike oil, hydrogen is abundant. Yet Toyota expects to sell only 3000 of its hydrogen-powered Mirai’s in the U.S. by 2017, while competitor brands expect lower figures for their models. Replaceable battery electric vehicles, like their plug-in counterparts, are another potential solution. Yet Tesla for its part has not developed replaceable battery technology beyond proof-of-concept. Neither hydrogen fuel nor replaceable batteries will develop meaningful demand without a complimentary national refueling structure that rivals the over 100,000 gas stations across America. Private firms are dis-incentivized to build stations comprising such a structure because accruing the full profits requires collective action. If hydrogen or replaceable batteries are to catch on, the federal government must build or heavily subsidize the refueling stations itself. | | | Transformational political change is hard, but paying $200 a barrel to power 250 million vehicles traveling an average 15000 miles a year will be harder. Solutions exist. Congress must do its job and pick one. |
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