While electric cars have been around since the 1970’s, they are only now becoming a practical means of transportation. Electric motors have been an adequate power plant for cars for quite some time, but battery technology has limited the development of electric cars in the past. Modern electric cars can go almost as far on one charge as a comparable gasoline powered car, and they can often be recharged in about one hour.
Electric cars are powered by an electric motor. While electric motors can be built just as powerful as any gasoline engine, they require a lot of electricity to run. Electric cars usually use small motors, and are built as light as possible to compensate for the reduced power. They are actually much simpler vehicles than gasoline powered cars.
Power Source
Electric cars are powered by batteries rather than combustible fuel. A recent breakthrough in electric car technology is the ability to be charged from a standard electric outlet in a home garage. Charging the car with electrical power is considerably cheaper than gasoline. The electric car has a bank of batteries, and usually manages the power from them with a computerized system.
How the Engine Works
How the When you press the accelerator pedal in electric car electricity is introduced to the motor. Once it reaches the motor, the electricity engages electromagnets. The motor’s shaft is wrapped with a conductive wire in a predetermined pattern inside the electromagnets. The magnetic field that results from this causes the shaft to spin.
Transmissions
An electric car’s motor is attached to a standard transmission in order to transfer energy from the motor’s shaft to the drive wheels. The gearing ratios in some specialized electric car transmissions are different than that of internal combustion engines. This is because electric motor can deliver greater power over a wider RPM range than internal combustion engines. Some electric vehicles have motors which are geared directly to the drive wheels and do not change gears at all except to reverse.
Energy Conservation
One disadvantage to early electric cars was that a disproportionate amount of energy was lost in stop and go traffic. A car needs much more energy to accelerate than it needs to maintain a constant speed. This problem has been solved in many modern electric vehicles by the invention of brakes which recapture the energy lost in stopping. Instead of simply applying friction as most brakes do, these brakes turn small alternators whenever they are used. The alternators charge the battery whenever the car is stopping. This measure can extend the battery life of an electric car significantly in urban driving conditions. Another way electric cars save energy is by not wasting energy idling. When you are sitting still, no energy is being used by the engine. This link contains more information about how an electric car works.
Related Video
How Electric Cars Work
- How do Hybrid Cars Work?
- What is a Hybrid Car and How Does it Work?
- How Do Car Engines Work?
- How Does a Hybrid Car Work?
- How Does a Car Battery Work?
