Rekindling the Spark

This article presents advancements in the development of battery-powered vehicles and the comparison between battery-powered vehicles and internal combustion engine. With its SkyActiv-X, a homogenous charge compression ignition engine, Mazda hopes to improve fuel economy by as much as 20%. A 2016 study by Arthur D. Little, the international consulting firm, comparing battery electric vehicles (BEV) against internal combustion engine vehicles (ICEV) stated, ‘the ultimate environmental and economic reality of electric vehicles is far more complicated than their promise.’ The study showed BEVs enjoy economic advantages. The electricity cost associated with operating BEVs over a distance of one mile is significantly lower than the cost of gasoline over the same distance for a conventional car. The report shows that most of the environmental impacts generated by ICEVs are localized to the combustion of gasoline in the engine; however, the BEV manufacturing process ‘generates a much more widely dispersed and damaging set of environmental impacts.’