Research engineer explores future of hybrid technology

The Science Forum lectures continued Friday with a talk from Bob DeVault titled “Plug-In Hybrid and Electric Vehicles in 2010.”

DeVault, who earned a bachelor’s and master’s degree in engineering science from UT, is a research engineer and principle investigator for plug-in vehicles at Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

DeVault began his talk by giving his audience background information on energy and electrical use in the United States. The majority of energy in the United States is consumed by the electrical and transportation sectors, especially with oil, he said.

“In the U.S. we consume about one-fourth of the world’s oil,” DeVault said. “We have the highest per capita use of oil in the whole world. We only produce eight percent of the world’s oil. We only have approximately two percent of the world’s oil reserves. We import so much oil; we’re exporting massive amounts of money to other countries. It is unprecedented the amount of money we spend on one commodity.”

DeVault said he believes one way to decrease the nation’s use of energy and dependence on oil, most of which is used for transportation, is to move to the use of plug-in hybrid electric cars. These cars use a mixture of gas and battery power and can potentially reach 100 miles per gallon.

“We’re still going to have to import oil if everyone drives a hybrid car,” DeVault said. “If we could get everyone to drive a plug-in hybrid, we could get to a place where we wouldn’t have to import any more oil.”

Although plug-in hybrids offer benefits, there are some problems that need to be addressed first, like the impact these cars will have on electric grid.

“If, in a neighborhood, a man buys one, and then his neighbor buys one, and then his neighbor gets one, the electric company might have to put in a bigger transformer,” DeVault said.

One way to avoid this unwanted stress on the electric grid would be to plug in the cars when the grid isn’t experiencing a lot of use.

“One study said, if everyone plugged their electric cars in at night when the utilities aren’t selling much electricity, 80 percent of the population could have electric vehicles without a single new power plant being built.”

Another deterrent for potential buyers is the battery life. DeVault said plug-in hybrids are much more demanding on the battery than current hybrids.

“Batteries, depending on how you use them, can go a long time or die a quick death,” DeVault said. “The batteries on the Prius are actually lasting the life of the car. They are more reliable than gasoline engines. The batteries in the plug-in hybrid cars will not last that long.”

Despite these possible problems, the advancements in technology are amazing and not too far off in the future.

The Nissan Leaf, a totally electric car, is slated for release in 2012. Nearly identical in size to the Prius, the Leaf will have a range of approximately 100 miles, and Nissan projects the cost of the battery plus the cost to charge the car will be less than the car owner’s typical cost for gasoline.

Funded by a $1.6 billion loan from the U.S. Department of Energy, Nissan is first going to build charging stations in a few states, including Tennessee, and market the cars there before expanding nation-wide. In Tennessee, Nissan’s main focus areas will be Knoxville, Chattanooga and Nashville.

Millie Gimmel, professor in Spanish, was concerned that, although the cars sound like they have many upsides, they wouldn’t be very functional.

“Knoxville, Chattanooga and Nashville are over 100 miles apart,” Gimmel said. “So how can I travel between cities without running out of charge?”

DeVault responded that Nissan will also build charging stations in between its focus cities to allow their customers more travel possibilitie, but added, due to the initial limited availability, long-distance travel will be out of the question.

“This is probably more of a third family car, but a third car you use the majority of the time,” DeVault said.