An Introduction to EVs�& Ten Myths Debunked!

Electric Vehicle Council of Ottawa (EVCO)

Michael Banks

Vice President, EVCO

Who is EVCO?

• We are a small, non-profit, volunteer-run group of EV owners dedicated to promoting the transition to electric vehicles.
• EVs are practical, environmentally beneficial, economical, and available now.
• Since 1982 we’ve been encouraging EV conversion projects, advising policymakers, and promoting awareness through events, test drives and seminars (like this one!).
• We are motivated by the urgent need to decarbonize our economy as quickly and cost-effectively as possible due to the increasingly real impacts of climate change.

‘Treat the Earth well: it was not given to you by your parents, it was loaned to you by your children.’� - Kenyan proverb

• Sustainability: ‘meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.’ (U.N.)
• The world has never truly been sustainable but certain cultures have lived in harmonious balance with nature. (ie. indigenous peoples)
• We have the opportunity to be the first generation in history to achieve true sustainability on a global scale thanks to existing technologies.

Our Climate Has Changed – We Must Change Too.

• The climate crisis requires urgent action.
• Evidence of our warming planet is visible all around us.
• The science is clear and irrefutable.
• Things will continue to get worse until we drastically reduce fossil fuel use.
• We need to urgently #StopBurningStuff

Canadian GHG Emissions by Sector

• Over half of all emissions in Canada come from transportation, buildings, and the oil & gas industry.
• Reducing transportation emissions will have the largest single immediate impact on overall emissions.
• Individuals have a role to play in reducing emissions by electrifying everything possible.

Source: https://www.canada.ca/en/environment-climate-change/news/2023/04/canadas-national-greenhouse-gas-inventory-19902021.html/

Ditch Fossil Fuels Wherever Possible.

• Walk, bike, use public transportation.
• If you don’t need a car don’t buy a car!
• If you sometimes need a car, consider a carshare program like Communauto.
• If you must have a car, it should be electric.

The Impact of Electrification

• EVs do not burn fossil fuels and can do everything conventional fossil cars can do (and more!).
• As power grids get cleaner, so too do EVs.
• The technology is reliable, available, and ready right now.

2022: 10.2M

2023: ~15.1M (prelim data)

What About Other ‘Green’ Technologies?

• Hybrids
• Plug-in Hybrids
• Hydrogen

Conventional Hybrids

• 25 years ago Hybrids were the symbol of being environmentally conscious, but times have changed a lot since then.
• Hybrids have all the drawbacks of a fossil car, almost none of the benefits of an EV.
• They use old, heavier & less reliable nickel-metal hydride battery chemistry not modern lithium-ion.
• They do save some fuel in city stop-and-go traffic.
• They don’t save fuel on the highway.
• They are a gas car with extra cost, complexity, and maintenance.
• Depending on driving habits, fuel savings may never be realized and may never pay for extra up-front cost of the technology.
• There is no such thing as a “self-charging hybrid” (despite what Toyota marketing says!)

Plug-in Hybrids

• Pros:
• In “EV” mode you can run for long periods of time without using any gas.
• Able to “refill” at home, like an EV but with a much shorter electric range (50-90km).
• Not a bad option for vehicle types that have no EV option yet (like minivans and Jeeps) or those who are afraid to go full EV.
• Cons:
• Still have a gas engine and all the added complexity that comes with it.
• Only beneficial if you actually plug it in every day.
• Not necessarily less expensive than equivalent EVs.
• Engine runs frequently in the colder months to make heat.
• Hard on the battery (far more full battery cycles than an EV would have).

Hydrogen Fuel Cell Vehicles (HFCV)

• Very expensive to purchase and operate.
• Extremely limited refueling infrastructure.
• Unsolved engineering challenges (tank life, frozen nozzle issues)
• Dubious environmental benefits.
• Very inefficient (see next slide)

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This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA

Battery Electric Vehicles (BEV)

• Faster
• Quieter
• Cheaper
• Smoother
• More reliable
• More efficient
• More convenient

More Efficient Means More Savings

• EVs are far more energy efficient (ex. Regenerative braking on next slide)
• $0.75-$0.84 of every dollar you spend on gas is thrown away as waste heat and losses.
• Better efficiency means real cost savings for you.

Regenerative Braking

• Electric motors are also electric generators
• If you put electricity in one side, it’s a motor and creates movement
• If you’re already moving you can make electricity by using the motor as a generator.
• By harvesting energy from the movement of the car, it slows the car down – this is called regeneration.
• No system is perfect though, there are losses. You never get as much regen energy back as it took to get you moving.

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Other Advantages of Driving an EV

• Backup power source for emergencies.
• Quiet, smooth ride.
• Instant, fast acceleration at any speed.
• Can “idle” indefinitely (even indoors!)
• Wake up to a ‘full tank’ every day! (if you want to)
• Cheap to “fill”. (Typical full charge costs between $4 to $10 at home.)
• Preconditioning
• Lower maintenance costs (see next slide).

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Car Maintenance

Mechanically Simpler = Less Maintenance & More Reliability

• Electric vehicles don’t have many common combustion parts that typically require repairs or replacements such as:
• No exhaust system
• No belts
• No need for oil changes or tune-ups
• No gears or transmissions
• No catalytic converters
• No cylinder head gaskets
• No alternators
• No starters

Typical EV Skateboard Platform

• The pack forms the foundation of the skateboard platform, the floor of the car.
• Electric motors and the electronics that power and control them are placed on the front and/or rear axles of the vehicle.
• Any size and shape of vehicle can be added on top of the platform allowing the same basic skateboard to be used for almost any vehicle type.

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Charging

J1772 Level 1 & 2 AC Plug Types

• Current North American standard plug is J1772 for AC charging.
• Most vehicles come with a Level 1 EVSE that plugs into any household outlet.
• You may wish to install a faster “Level 2” dedicated EVSE on your home.
• Level 2 EVSE units cost between $480 - $1,800 but all do basically the same thing.
• Installation cost varies by house but overall installed cost of a Level 2 EVSE is usually somewhere around $2k.

“Filling up” At Home (Level 1 & 2)

• How often should you charge?
• Wake up every day with a “full tank”! (If you want to.)
• Is charging in bad weather safe?
• (Yes!)
• How much should you charge?
• (80% for daily needs, more if going on a road trip.)
• How much does it cost to charge at home?
• (Between roughly $2 - $10.)
• Depending on how much you drive, charging an EV usually costs about as much as an electric hot water tank on your hydro bill.

J3400 (aka NACS) Level 1 & 2 AC�&�Level 3 DC Plug Type

• Tesla uses the same connector for ALL charging (both AC and DC).
• The NACS connector (formerly known as the “Tesla Connector”) was proprietary but is now the new SAE J3400 standard.
• All EVs starting in 2025 will be equipped with NACS.
• Tesla currently provides adapters for Tesla owners to use non-NACS charging infrastructure.
• Starting in 2024 non-Tesla, non-NACS vehicles will be able to use adapters to use NACS charging infrastructure.

“Filling Up” Away From Home (Level 3)

• Most of EV charging happens at home overnight while you sleep.
• Road trips require charging stops.
• Level 3 “DC Fast Chargers/Superchargers” take anywhere from a few minutes to just under an hour for most EVs.
• More expensive than home charging (between $0.34-$0.84/kWh) but cheaper than gas and MUCH faster than Level 2.
• Charging speed is measured in “kW” – the higher the number the faster your car can potentially charge.
• Speeds range from 50kW to 350kW but actual speed achieved depends on your car.
• Similar in concept to a ‘gas station’.

EV Myths

Myth 1: Mining Minerals for EVs is Worse Than Oil.

FALSE

Suncore Oil Sands site near to Fort McMurray in Northern Alberta

Soquimich (SQM) lithium mine on the Atacama salt flat

• Yes EVs require more minerals to produce than an average fossil car.
• BUT! The average gas car consumes 17,000 L of gas during its lifetime.
• EVs require 160kg of minerals (~100x less mined minerals than a fossil car when fuel is included).
• EVs reduce the overall need for mined materials by 99% compared to fossil cars.
• Battery materials are fully recyclable, fossil fuels are not – they are just burned.
• Extra GHG emissions from manufacturing an EV are made up after about 20,000 km (~2 years) of driving.

Sources:

• https://iea.blob.core.windows.net/assets/ffd2a83b-8c30-4e9d-980a-52b6d9a86fdc/TheRoleofCriticalMineralsinCleanEnergyTransitions.pdf
• https://www.transportenvironment.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/2021_02_Battery_raw_materials_report_final.pdf

Myth 2: EV Batteries Will Need Replacing

• EV batteries are designed to last the life of the vehicle (typically between 15 to 20 years).
• Owners should not expect to ever need a traction battery replacement.
• Second-life as stationary storage for another 20+ years
• Recycled into new batteries, current yields are 95%.
• Many older Teslas have reached well over 600,000 kms and are still going strong including a taxi in Australia which has done over 666,666 km with the original battery pack.

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Stationary Storage

• Old EV batteries are still useful for energy storage, they just lose the ability to deliver the high current levels needed for cars.
• Reused EV batteries live on as Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS), silently providing power to electricity grids offsetting the requirement for new energy generation.
• B2U SEPV Sierra (pictured left) uses 1,300 reused Nissan LEAF battery packs providing 25 MWh of capacity
• Oneida Energy Storage project (pictured right) uses Teala batteries to provide 1,000 MWh of grid capacity.

Northland Power Oneida BESS – Jarvis ON

B2U “SEPV Sierra” – Lancaster CA

Battery Recycling

• It is already cost effective to recycle EV batteries.
• The current limits on battery recycling aren’t technological, it’s a limited feedstock.
• Most EV batteries ever produced are still in the cars they were produced for.
• 95% of all battery materials in EVs can be recovered through recycling.
• Companies like Redwood Materials and Li-Cycle already provide large-scale, cost effective recycled materials to car makers.

Myth 3: EVs Are Heavy and Destroy Roads

• ‘EVs damage roads way more than combustion cars do.’
• ‘EVs will make parking garages collapse!’
• Yes, some EVs are very heavy (ex. Hummer EV).
• None are heavier than commercial trucks and buses however and most EVs are lighter than large ICE SUV’s and pickups.

2023 Ford F150 (Gas) / Curb weight

4,705 to 6,470 lbs

Myth 4: EVs Don’t Have Enough Range!

• Chevy Silverado EV 724 km
• Tesla Model S LR 652 km
• Tesla Model 3 LR AWD 568 km
• Hyundai Ioniq 6 LR 581 km
• Volvo EX 30 540 km
• Chevrolet Equinox 513 km
• Kia EV6 LR RWD 499 km
• Hyundai Ioniq 5 LR 480 km

Myth 5: There’s Nowhere to Charge

Myth 6: EVs Just Shift Pollution to Coal Power Plants

• In Ontario the largest source of energy is nuclear followed by hydro.
• Gas was around 5% of electricity production but current Conservative government policies have increased that share in recent years.
• Wind and solar are the least expensive new sources of energy but their ability to connect to the grid had been restricted until recently.
• By 2050, 55% of total generation in Canada will be from hydro; 19% from wind; the balance a mix of nuclear, geothermal, solar and fossil gas. (Canada Energy Regulator)

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Myth 7: The Grid Can’t Handle Everyone Switching to EVs

• Hydro companies are well-aware of the coming EV transition and are already preparing and implementing upgrades as needed.
• There is enough current grid capacity to handle an instant 25% increase in EVs on the road with no changes or upgrades to the grid required. (StatCan)
• According to StatCan data, even when 10 million EVs are added to the grid (representing about half of all cars on the road) demand for electricity would only increase by between 4.7% to 9.4% from 2022 levels.
• Historical single year over year generation capacity growth has been as high as 5.8% (1987) and 4.2% (2007) but averages about 1% per year.

https://www.cer-rec.gc.ca/en/data-analysis/canada-energy-future/2021electricity/

• Nationally ~60% of total generation today is hydro
• ~19% of total generation by 2050 will be from wind

Myth 8: EVs Don’t Work In the Cold

• Heat pumps provide near-instant heat, no need to wait for an engine to warm up.
• Preconditioning means no scraping the windshield!
• Idle for as long as you want! There are no exhaust fumes and EVs can keep the cabin warm for days, even when unplugged.
• Many EVs have AWD and all EVs have low centres of mass which means they handle very well in the snow.

Myth 9: EVs Always Catch Fire

• Electric vehicle fires are extremely rare.
• Fire departments already have the skills, knowledge and training on how to put them out.

Myth 10: EV Sales Are in Decline

• Combustion vehicle sales have fallen 20% since 2017 and continue to decline.
• One in ten new cars sold in Canada is a plug-in vehicle.
• This year (2024) 15.5% of new car sales will be BEV & PHEV.
• Next year one in five new cars on the road will be a plug-in vehicle.
• Waitlists for affordable, popular EVs continue.
• Demand is growing exponentially and difficult for many pundits to predict.

10.8% (2023 Act.)

10.7% (2023 Est.)

15.5% (2024 Est.)

Questions?