Of electric shocks and croaks

The other night, I was watching an episode of BBC’s highly rated auto show Top Gear on DVD that the missus bought me recently. Sardonic, comedic hosts Jeremy Clarkson and James May drove a Nissan Leaf and Peugeot iOn (the original airing was almost a year ago), respectively, to test the practicality of electric vehicles (EVs).

Priced more expensively than its combustion-engine equivalent, these electric EVs of course boasted no emissions, quiet performance, and (arguably) more bang for the buck in the long run.

However, the show being what it is, Clarkson and May also highlighted the EVs’ failures. After a mere 30 miles (not the 100 miles claimed by the manufacturer), the batteries ran dry in a town called Lincoln which, curiously, didn’t have a single charging station. The duo relied on the help of townsfolk to push the vehicles within range of a conventional wall socket.

Interestingly, the Leaf took all of 13 hours to charge to full capacity (Nissan, on its website, claims seven hours from empty to full via a 220-volt charging dock).

Nissan (GB) Ltd. lashed back at the program saying: “Top Gear… confirmed… that the crew intentionally drained the battery to inject suspense into the mission of finding a public charge spot… Lincoln is an area… renowned for not having any public charging infrastructure.”

A “telematics” device sent to Nissan confirmed that the battery was at 40 percent charge when Clarkson drove it. The company insisted BBC had taken delivery of the car fully charged.

Still, for whatever purpose, Clarkson declared that EVs are not the future; hydrogen-powered vehicles are. After the rather disturbing report (who would want to be caught stranded without a charging station in sight?), I would readily agree, too.

Whatever your opinion is on EVs, there’s no doubting that the fossil fuel clock is ticking. Unless we find some vast hidden reserves, our insatiable thirst for black gold will inevitably suck the earth dry.

Even as big EV manufacturers duke it out among themselves (and Clarkson and company), Rommel Juan of the Electric Vehicle Association of the Philippines (eVAP) declared the Philippines is still not ready to join the fun.

“Despite various initiatives in the field, mostly by the private sector, we still are not exactly there yet. We still need advancements in EV technology, the right infrastructure specifically charging stations, better batteries and faster-charging technology and most importantly, government support in terms of incentives not only for the manufacturers but for end-users as well,” says Rommel Juan on the Electric Vehicle Association of the Philippines (eVAP) website.

So how far are we from reaching that electric dream? Juan adds via text to this writer: “I think with the advent of the ADB/DOE (Asian Development Bank/Department of Energy) e-trike project, we can expect charging stations to be more mainstream in the next two years. We believe that private companies should take the lead so that it can be competitive and market-driven.”

While hybrids like the Prius are making steady inroads locally, much leaves to be desired if we want to make EV use practical and affordable. In a developing country like ours, this is a more crucial question. If we truly want hybrids and EVs to make a splash, government must indeed be ready and willing to step up and commit by offering tax breaks and incentives to EV buyers. You can’t fault people for putting basic needs on top of greener living.

A Prius, for instance, doesn’t come cheap; prices start at P2.25 million. The smaller Prius-C goes for P1.475—not peanuts, either. Compare the Prius-C’s tag to its price in the US, $18,950. That means it should be around P900,000 here. I understand taxes but, hey, you see what we have to contend with.

However, before a tadpole starts wishing to turn into a prince, he should first strive hard to grow up and become a frog, right?

Speaking of frogs, you can’t fault me for being as green as a frog with envy for the kind of stuff that those Top Gear hosts get to try and experience. But this frog from this pond in the Philippines continues to hope that the motoring experience in this country of ours will one day be Backseat Driver-free.

Before that blessed day, we’ll keep croaking like mad.