In this post, let's discuss Electrical Vehicles (cars) which are eco-friendly and changed the world's technology from traditional Internal Combustion engine cars to Induction motor cars.
Introduction:
An electric car is a vehicle propelled by one or more electric motors rather than a fuel or internal combustion engines. The energy is stored in the lithium-ion rechargeable battery packs. Electric cars are one of the best type of eco or green cars.
The 1st ever electric car was invented in 19th century. Here it is clear that the electric cars are not future technology, they already existed till the internal combustion engines invented when there is discovery of fossil fuels. During 20th century, mass production of these fossil fuels, gasoline oils and other crude oil made them much cheaper than those battery packs. This led to the decline in use of electric vehicles.
Environmental Concerns:
An Electric Car had several benefits over conventional internal combustion engine cars. One of the most important is pollution reductions, electric cars literally emits zero pollution. And there is no consumption of fuels, which are now very low in Earths crust. But there are two disadvantages, one is electric car battery packs are made up of lithium-ion cells where lithium is very costly because of it low abundance (rare earth element) and difficulty in extraction.
Other disadvantage is charging takes time near the charge port stations. But there is no more problem, these two are also in research and there will be completely perfect electric vehicles by 2025 estimated. These lithium-ion batteries are now trying to be replaced by other abundant element batteries/ Charging issue can be solved by fast charge circuits.
Energy Efficiency:
| Comparison Between Electrical and Fuel Vehicles (Values may differ between types) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Type of vehicle | Fuel Economy (MPG equivalent) | Range | Production cost for given range | Reduction in CO2 compared to conventional | Abundance of source (2020) |
| Conventional ICE | 10–78 | Long (400–600 mi) | Low | 0% | Will last for 45 years |
| Biodiesel | 18–71 | Long (360–540 mi) | Low | varies depending on biodiesel source | Agriculture production |
| Electrical (Lithium-ion Battery pack) | 54–118 | Shorter (73–150 mi) Luxury models Medium (160–300 mi) | High Very high | varies depending on energy source | 20 mg per kg earth crust |
| Key:mpg is miles | per gallon | ||||
Internal Combustion Engines have thermodynamic limits of converting fuel into energy, that is, only a fraction of energy can be converted from burning the fuel source. Gasoline engines effectively use only 15% of the fuel energy where diesel engines use 20% while the electrical vehicles have efficiency of 69-72% when discharging and around 59-62% when recharging.
Structure:
 |
| The Induction Motor and Batteries setup in EV (source: Learn Engineering) |
Electrical vehicles use Induction motors, which have a good speed control over conventional IC engine. Induction motor have a speed range of 0-18000 RPM whereas IC engine have a speed control of 2000-4000 RPM and need a transmission, because IC engine should not be directly connected to the drive wheel. Whereas Induction motor have its own capability of speed range and self-control over torque. Additional transmission or any other gearbox is not required for this Induction motors.
But an Inverter is used for induction motor, this inverter acts as brain to the Induction motor. More over, electric vehicles have more space than fuel vehicles. The battery pack is used lower down, as it is the heart weight of the car, to lower the centre of gravity and thereby increases its stability.
Safety:
The weight of the batteries themselves usually make an Electric Vehicle heavier than Fuel Vehicle, in a collision, the occupants of a heavy vehicle will suffer fewer and less serious injuries than the occupants of a light vehicle; therefore, the additional weight brings safety benefits despite having a negative effect on the car's performance. Depending on where the battery is located, it may lower the centre of gravity, increasing driving stability, lowering the risk of accidents through the loss of control.
Also Read : Use of Lithium-Ion Battery In EV
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