Taking technology for a test drive

July 9, 2009

Making transportation cleaner and more efficient is one of the most important aspects of the global energy challenge we face today.

Engineers and scientists have already made major strides in designing cleaner fuels and more efficient gasoline engines. Today’s new car has 95 percent fewer emissions than one from 1970. 

And new technologies hold potential for more progress.

To highlight current achievements and future possibilities, the Maryland Science Center in Baltimore recently opened an exhibit that showcases vehicle-efficiency technologies. It includes a full-scale car display where visitors can learn about the lightweight plastics, advanced tire liners and new motor oils that can make today’s cars more efficient.

Visitors also can test out future technologies by driving an electric vehicle as part of the center’s new AltCar program.

The program features a car — a Maya 300 — that looks like a traditional vehicle, but runs on lithium-ion batteries, the kind that power cell phones and laptops. The car can be plugged into a standard electrical outlet, runs entirely on electricity and produces no vehicle emissions.

Both the exhibit and electric-car program are sponsored by ExxonMobil, in conjunction with the science center and Electrovaya, the maker of the Maya 300.

Why is ExxonMobil involved? Because meeting our energy challenges requires technology — in supplying more energy and in enabling us to use energy more efficiently.

Our lithium-ion battery separator film — now used in the Maya 300 — is one such example.  This high-tech film — no thicker than a human hair — helps lithium-ion batteries achieve the smaller size and larger capacity needed to power a car safely and affordably.

Even with this breakthrough, electric cars still face challenges in reaching widespread use. For example, their batteries generally need 10 times more capacity than those found in hybrids, making battery cost and performance two major hurdles.

All transportation technology improvements are essential to achieve greater energy efficiencies. Next-generation hybrids, for example, will benefit from advances in battery technology, including lithium-ion innovations like ExxonMobil’s separator film. If just 10 percent of cars were hybrids, greenhouse gas reductions would be the equivalent of taking 5 million cars off the road. 

Increasing energy efficiency is one of the best ways to meet our economic needs, enhance our energy security and reduce emissions. Advances in conventional vehicles, hybrids and electric cars can contribute to these goals with further technological development. As we make decisions about our energy future, it’s important that consumers, businesses and governments factor in the power of efficiency technologies.

And as Baltimore’s AltCar program shows, putting advanced technology behind the wheel is a good start to solving our energy challenges.