Electric vehicles

It is possible for cars to drive directly on electricity using an electric engine. This technology has been in existence for many years but the electric car has yet to make a breakthrough in the market. Reasons often cited for this include: 

• expensive technology
• long charging times 
• the short distances that can be driven.

Recent years have seen a resurgence of the electric car. For example in the United States the Toyota Prius is the most frequently sold car (check). This is a hybrid car which has an electric engine and a combustion engine. As such it combines the advantages of both of these engines. The CO₂ emissions from the Prius are also lower than for standard petrol driven cars: 104g per kilometre compared to 160g /km for a regular medium-range car.
(Source: Policy Document on Emissions).

According to its supporters, the efficiency of the electric engine is the main advantage offered by the plug-in electric car. In an opinion piece in the Volkskrant newspaper on 18 June 2008, several scientists from TU Delft argued that between 75 and 85% of the fuel in regular cars with combustion engines is lost in the form of heat. The opposite applies for electric cars: 75 to 80% of the electricity charged into the vehicle is actually used to move the car. The researchers calculated that an electric car needs around 50% less energy per kilometre than a car with a standard combustion engine. In other words: 50% less energy required = a reduction of 50% in CO2 emissions. They also claim that an electric car has the added advantage of becoming ever more sustainable as electricity generation becomes increasingly sustainable.
Read the letter they sent to the newspaper (in Dutch)

What is TU Delft doing?

Dutch INCERT initiative
The Dutch Initiative for the Electrification of Road Transport is an open source research and education programme. Its objective is to work together on the electric car of the future.

Drive-by-wire
'Drive-by-wire' vehicles are not only driven electrically but also use electricity for steering and braking. This obviates the need for large, inflexible steering and braking cables. It also has potential for innovative designs of forms of transport. In these early stages researchers are focusing on the issue of safety: if the electrical system fails, it must still be possible to break and steer the vehicle. The industrial designers are trying to learn from experience in the civil aviation industry.

(photo: Crijn Bouman, Epyon)

Improving the performance and capacity of Li-ion batteries for - for example - hybrid vehicles
The Lithium-ion battery is a rechargeable battery which is used in hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs), among other things. It is not necessary to connect the vehicles to the electricity network in order to charge the battery. The energy generated for braking, for example, is automatically stored in the battery. With improved capacity and performance, the batteries can make the vehicle much more economical and energy efficient. Work is therefore underway with Shell examining two different ways of improving the performance and capacity of the Li-ion battery.

• Development of new nano materials for electrodes
• Read the technical/scientific project description
• Optimising the structure of materials used to make electrodes
• Read the technical/scientific project description

Spin-off
TU Delft spin-off Epyon is developing technology for super rapid charging. This will enable electric vehicles to be charged in minutes rather than hours. The Epyon technology is based on nanotechnology, lithium-ion storage, new conversion technology and intelligent control systems.
Read more about Epyon