6 - Driving the Revolution Revolution: From Volta to Tesla and Back

Summary

The role of the car is examined from the advent of the internal combustion engine (ICE) in the early 1900s (Benz and Daimler in Stuttgart, Olds and Ford in Detroit) to electric vehicles (EVs) in the past 2 decades (GM’s EV1, Toyota’s hybrid Prius, and Tesla’s Roadster). With over 1 billion cars on the road and annual sales of almost 100 million, 90% run on hydrocarbon combustion, EV propulsion is changing the rules of the road. By 2035, the sale of gasoline and diesel cars will end across Europe and other regions. Examples of electric propulsion are given, including cars, trucks, buses (especially China), marine transport, and airplanes, as are the challenges to electrify each sector (cost, range, weight, charging infrastructure). The competing technologies of lithium-ion batteries and hydrogen fuel cells are discussed.

Increased energy storage is needed to continue the green transition in transportation (chemical batteries, hydrogen) and the grid (gravitational, mechanical, thermal). Lithium supply chains and mining practices are discussed in Australia, China, the US, and South America (the so-called high-Andes “lithium triangle”). Load-management, distributed energy resources, and vehicle-to-grid technology are explained to recondition an aging one-directional grid, redefining consumer habits similar to early grid building.