Tens of Thousands of Tennesseans Expected to Switch to Plug-in Vehicles within Next Five Years
The Republican Senator of Tennessee, Lamar Alexander, said this week that he expects tens of thousands of Tennesseans to switch to plug-in electric vehicles or plug-in hybrid vehicles at least partially powered by electricity within the next five years.
The TN Senators met with representatives of auto manufacturing companies, battery producers, and Chairman of the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), Bill Sansom, who offered a 20 percent discount of off-peak electricity (i.e. outside of noon to 6 PM) that would encourage adoption of plug-in vehicles with batteries that could be charged cost effectively during off-peak evening hours.
According to Energy Central News, TVA carries an excess generating capacity of roughly 7,000 megawatts in the evening, equivalent to the generating capacity of roughly six or seven nuclear power plants.
The top selling hybrid car in the U.S., Toyota Prius, is also the most fuel efficient car sold in the U.S. with an average fuel economy of 48 miles per gallon. GM sells several hybrid vehicles as well.
In contrast to non-plug-in hybrid vehicles (HEVs), plug-in hybrid vehicles (PHEVs) need to operate in a long-range charge depleting mode, which requires deep discharge of the battery’s energy over time. A123 Systems develops affordable PHEV cells, based on nanophosphate lithium-ion battery technology, with the following innovations:
- Higher energy density for long-range (100+miles), charge-depleting, all electric PHEV operation;
- Retention of high power for charge-sustaining PHEV operation;
- Thousands of deep discharge cycles for successful, long-term PHEV operation.
The following graph illustrates how the A123 PHEV cells maintain their energy capacity over thousands of deep discharge cycles.
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