Are electric cars for Sri Lanka?

The Toyota Prius and Honda Insight cars became a common site in Colombo city. This made most of the Sri Lankans to be interested on hybrid technology and how it can be beneficial. Though it’s controversial, most people believe that this dual power train combination is the future.
But some disagree. Some people believe all electric cars are the future. Let’s look at the aspect of electric cars and what these strange cars hold for us.

What is an electric car?
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An electric car is an automobile that is propelled by an electric motor. Normally the electrical energy is stored in batteries. The electric motor replaces the engine of a gasoline car and removes some other components such as gear box, radiator, exhaust system and much more.

So what?
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Yes, what’s the advantage or what make people go and buy an electric car replacing the old gasoline companion? The fuel cost is the big apple here. Everyone is concerned about the ever rising fuel cost and the fact that we might be the last generation to use fossil fuel. Nissan’s solution to all these problems is Nissan Leaf full electric car. The Nissan Leaf is the best selling electric car in 2012. Nissan claims that its fuel economy is 300+ mpg equivalent. In another term, the electricity cost will be lower than the fuel cost of Indian motor bike.

The environmentalists have favoured the electric cars over combustion engines. Although the electric car itself doesn’t make any emission (zero emission), this depends on how the electricity is generated. If the electricity is generated by burning fossil fuel, the emission will not be zero. But there are alternatives. With the alternative power sources getting more advanced, we may have a replacement power source for fossil fuel. The solar panels are getting more and more efficient and the world is mastering the technology of harvesting the wind energy. In Sri Lanka there are several wind power plants, but those don’t contribute to the national energy need in significant numbers.

Can I replace my car with an electric car?
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Yes, May be not. Let’s take a scenario. If you are person living in Colombo and you hardly travel away from city limits, a Nissan leaf can be a good choice. You will have a nice smooth ride which will not cost much. As there are very less amount of moving parts, the repairs should be simple. Battery is main unit which will need attention after few years. Most of the electric cars give around 100,000 km warranty for the battery. [By November 2012, Nissan Leaf is not available in Sri Lanka.]
If you happen to travel outstation in the weekends, an electric car might not be the best option. Normal electric car will have the maximum range around 150 Km. This value can largely depends on the other factors like driving behaviour, outside temperature, air conditioner usages, etc. Other issue is Sri Lanka is yet to have the first public charging station for electric cars.

Final word
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Electric cars can be very attractive in all aspects and but right now it’s not for everyone. With the time the cars will have better driving range in single charge, will take less time to charge, more public charging stations will be available and the price of a cars will come down. Till that time, we probably will stick in to our old gasoline companion.