Need a "scholarly paper" about electric cars.

[Sean T.]

I am writing a paper on the electric car... but I'm not sure what topic I'm going to focus on... I have to answer a question through research.

I need a scholarly paper to base my research on.... (idk?)

Does anyone have any links or ideas? I'm thinking of focusing on the development of electric cars through the 90's-today, or possibly something along the lines of why the EV1 shouldn't have failed. I want to keep the paper positive, so nothing like why did the EV1 fail or something.

[Electric Frenzy]

why not do a simple paper on why EV's are better than gas burners in every way but one. Make it simple to understand, point out the obvious facts and turn some people on to a new way of thinking.

I show all of my friends "who killed the electric car" and they seem to think it's too much to digest but when I break it down in laymans terms it seems everyone wants to go out and buy an insight, aptera or Tango (my one rich friend!)

[Katana]

You might want to mention some of the original leccy cars from the 1900's.
Jay Leno's Garage
Some info and a video of a 1909 Baker Electric Car, apprently they were marketed at women and never caught on with men who liked the noise of gas power.

[roflwaffle]

I may know someone who has a bunch of SAE pdfs on EVs you may be able to use under "fair use" and all that. LMK if you're interested.

[aerohead]

I've been sifting through my shreds of paper from the late 1980s/early 1990s and the most fascinating thing which might be mentioned,is that electric cars cost no more than regular cars.--------------------------- The context,is that you're serious about building them and in volume.----------------- Peugeot was building electrics and ran the numbers to discover that,if they produced the electric,on the same assembly line as the gasoline version it was based on,then,at 40,000-50,000 units a year,the electric cost the same as the regular car,about $13,000 US in 1990 dollars.------------------------------ My thought towards the EV-1,was that it could have been produced as a gasoline car also,built at Saturn on the same line as the SC.They would both sell for $13,000 ( as the SC did ),the EV-1 a plug-in,and the Sc as a 80-mpg gas burner.------------------------------------------ And here's a remarkable fact to consider.Under US Federal law,a plug-in electric car is rated at 185-mpg.-------------------------- Had GM sold a 80-mpg gasoline equivalent EV-1,not only would it factor heavily into GM's CAFE corporate average,the 185-mpg EV-1 would allow it to sell even more and more highly profitable higher-end vehicles.------------------------------ I would have burned my CRX if I thought I could have a chance at a car like that!---------------------------------------------------------- And the aerodynamics of both cars would have pushed consumer knowledge to a whole new level.We've lost over a decade of progress.

[Silveredwings]

More Jay Leno EV coverage with the Mini E.

Jay Leno's Garage
What he says is spot on regarding electricity to power cars:

You know, in some ways, we're in the same position now we were almost a hundred years ago.
...
Electric motors have always been powerful and dependable. The trouble is, again, the range. It's always been, not the motor itself, but the power source.

It's true. The batteries we see today aren't a new discovery. The battery manufacturing/packaging technology: maybe. You can find the same basic "battery couples" (the combination of a cathode & anode in an electrolyte) in a 100 year-old university library book as we are seeing in "new" batteries today.

This specific lack of new innovation is arguably the main cause of failure for the EV1 as well as the biggest obstacle to new EVs today. The positive side is that most of what we need for a starting place of such innovation was documented a hundred years ago. I would think that could be a paper. There is room for meaningful academic research, as well as a clear fundamental (if not profound) statement.