Electric Cars Using Clean Energy Could Be on the Horizon for Costa Rica.

Electric cars have made their entrance into Costa Rica. Are they here to stay? It would seem that at this time and age when the cost of gas is forever rising, they are the answer to mankind’s biggest headache. Yet, as it is often in life, it is not as easy as it may seem.

Unlike many other countries, where up to 70% of electricity is produced by petrol, Costa Rica generates most of its electricity from its own clean resources, such as the wind, the water, or the Earth’s steam. According to Carlos Roldan, a Chemistry professor in the Costa Rica Technological Institute during a conference about the potential energy of the country, cars could benefit from the nocturnal energy that the country doesn’t use, and thus the dependency on gas would be greatly reduced. This dependency has surpassed a $2,800,000 bill this year, which is the approximate equivalent of one third of all exportations.

During the night, electricity plants work at a minimal level, when they could in fact produce more energy, without the need in invest in more fuel or plants, and thus provide such electric cars with the necessary energy to become a part of daily Costa Rica Travel. The Costa Rican Electricity Institute (ICE) has expressed urgency in the production of new plants to address the growing daytime demand. Therefore, cars could get recharged at night. An electric car needs less than 1000 colones ($2) per 60 kilometers (using the highest rate charged for electricity by ICE, at 126 colones per kilowatt hour). To cover this distance an electric car would use 7.3 kilowatt hours.

However, by using the most economic rate, which varies according to the time of day, in order to get the same amount of energy it would just cost 20 colones per kilowatt hour. A normal car would need 2,400 colones ($5) to cover the very same distance!

To give you a better idea, if an electric car was to cover 60 kilometers a day during a whole year, it would cost 50,000 colones ($100). With a normal car using gasoline, it would cost 800,000 colones ($1,600). It seems that there is little room for doubt. The calculations could go further, and if 100,000 cars used electricity instead of gas, the country would in effect save $150 million a year in the purchase of gasoline, and that is a 5% of the annual gas bill. All together, more than 50% of the fuel required in the country is used for the transportation of people and merchandise.

Studies are now being done to establish how much electricity would exactly be needed of the country was to use electric cars only, and whether there would be the need to build other plants or not. It is agreed that the technology of electric cars still needs more perfection. They still need recharging after about 80 kms and this is not convenient if you are traveling to Corcovado for example!

According to Salvador Lopez, director of ICE’s Energy Control Center, the country only has spare energy at night during the winter, or rainy season. In the dry season, electricity is counter productive, as it has to be produced mainly with petroleum, due to the low capacity of the electrical system.

A little patience is needed. Soon, the cars will be able to travel longer without needing to recharge their batteries. According to Lopez, they will be able to travel up to 300 kms without recharging by the year 2011. This certainly sounds promising; imagine a world without the sound of cars, and the air as clean and clear as crystal. Is this really possible? It certainly brings hope into the heart.

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Filed under: Business on July 1st, 2008