Range Anxiety
One of the largest obstacles alternative energy vehicles face is the rumors spread about safety and reliability of the vehicles. One such fear is called “range anxiety.”
Electric vehicles only have a range of around 200 miles or less, depending on the model or brand of vehicle. Although most people would not drive 200 miles in one day, individuals believe they will run out of charge on the battery and become stranded, a fear dubbed as “range anxiety.”
To combat this, Elon Musk, CEO and founder of Tesla Motors (a California based electric vehicle company), released a software update for his electric vehicles that makes it impossible for the driver to run out of a charge. Essentially, the built in navigation accounts for the charging locations and won’t allow the driver to navigate somewhere so distant that he or she would be outside the range of a charger. If a driver only has 40 miles left on the battery, for example, the navigation system wouldn’t allow the driver to take a route to something 100 miles away without stopping at a charger first. Despite this, many seem to believe that faster refueling and longer ranges are important [1].
While Tesla software is taking steps to reduce “range anxiety” about batteries, the public may still need some statistics to help ease their minds. “According to the U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration, 100 miles is sufficient for more than 90% of all household vehicle trips in the United States. For longer trips, it is necessary to charge the vehicle or swap the battery en route [2].”
All Tesla vehicles have a range substantially larger than 100 miles, which has been shown to be sufficient for almost all household vehicles. While electric vehicles are commonly criticized about this, I expect fuel cell vehicles to face similar issues eventually if the infrastructure is not extensive enough and users believe the refueling stations are too widespread and uncommon.
Danger
Additionally, fears about hydrogen being more dangerous in vehicles are also unfounded, yet commonly accepted. One study states, “…in a collision in open spaces, a safety-engineered hydrogen fuel cell car should have less potential hazard than either natural gas or a gasoline vehicle. In a tunnel collision, a hydrogen fuel cell vehicle should be nearly as safe as a natural gas vehicle, and both should be potentially less hazardous than a gasoline or propane vehicle, based on computer simulations comparing substantial post collision release of gasoline and natural gas in a tunnel [3].”
People seem to overlook the fact that gasoline is also highly flammable, and because fuel cell technology in vehicles is new and foreign, unwarranted concerns arise. Once these facts become better known, interest in alternative energy vehicles will surely increase.
Lithium ion batteries have also been labeled as dangerous by some. We discuss this in depth on the page explaining how battery electric vehicles work. In short, the chance of this occurrence is highly unlikely due to numerous safety measures. Battery cells have small holes that allow excess heat to vent out in the case of a problem. Additionally, computers constantly monitor the charging and discharging of the batteries and divert electricity to control for overcharging and other problems.
Sources used for this post:
[1] B. Schoettle and M. Sivak, “The Relative Merits of Battery-Electric Vehicles and Fuel-Cell Vehicles ,” The University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute, February 2016 UMTRI-2016-5, tech. [Accessed: 29-Feb-2016].
[2] “Alternative Fuels and Advanced Vehicles,” Alternative Fuels Data Center. [Online]. Available at: http://www.afdc.energy.gov/fuels/. [Accessed: 01-Mar-2016].
[3] F. Barbir, “Safety Issues of Hydrogen in Vehicles,” University of Illinois. [Online]. Available at: https://courses.engr.illinois.edu/npre470/web/readings/hydrogen safety issues.pdf. [Accessed: 29-Feb-2016].
[4] “Tesla Motors,” Tesla Motors. [Online]. Available at: https://www.teslamotors.com/. [Accessed: 07-Mar-2016].
Electric Versus Fuel Cell Vehicles 