As a follow up to last week’s Five Friday Facts, here are the top 5 things you may not know about electric vehicles. The full list can be found on the Department of Energy’s website.
- The battery technologies in almost all of the electric vehicles on the road today were created with support from the Energy Department. Argonne National Laboratory developed breakthrough battery technology — a combination of lithium-rich and manganese-rich mixed-metal oxides that offers at least 50 percent more energy storage capacity.
- Before 2009, a 100-mile range electric battery cost $33,000. Today it costs about $17,000, and it is projected to drop to $10,000 by the end of 2015.
- Brake pads last longer in electric vehicles because they use regenerative braking to slow down — a method of converting the energy used to reduce the car’s speed into power that is stored in the car’s battery.
- It costs only $1 for today’s all-electric vehicles to travel the same distance as a similar-sized gasoline car would on a gallon of fuel. This adds up to a savings of more than $2 a gallon or $1,000 a year in refueling costs, and the next generation of electric vehicles will bring even bigger savings.
- There are more than 5,000 public charging stations across the country. Check out the Alternative Fueling Station Locator to find one near you.
Image source: Metropolitan Museum of Art