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ADVANTAGES OF EV

Electric Vehicle
Advantages of EV

Some of the advantages of EV are:

LOW MAINTENANCE: Electric Vehicles run on electrically powered engines and hence there is no requirement of lubricating the engines. There is no necessity to send the vehicle to the service station often as with the normal fueled powered vehicles. Petrol or diesel engine has components like exhaust systems, starter motors, fuel injection systems, oil, radiators, gears, etc. connected to it to operate correctly, on the other hand, EV has three main components motor, battery and inverter and few other components which makes maintenance and servicing easier.

REDUCE CO2 EMISSIONS: EVs are eco-friendly as they run on electrically powered motors and can reduce the emissions that promote weather change and smog. As they run on clean energy sources, they do not emit toxic gases in the environment and produces zero exhaust emissions.

REDUCED NOISE POLLUTION: When compared to petrol and diesel vehicles EV has only one moving part that is an electric motor. Hence EVs put a restriction on noise pollution as they are quitter compared to other engines and provides a smooth drive

USING RENEWABLE ENERGY: EV can be recharged using a solar PV system instead of the grid. By using renewable energy greenhouse gas emissions can be reduced further.

COST SAVING: The motor gets the power from charging through AC outlet from home/work-space or from charging stations, no fuel is required and hence can save driving cost.

The Vehicle Cost Calculator can be used to compare life cycle emissions of specific vehicle models in a specified location.

SAFE TO DRIVE: Electric vehicles are very smooth to drive and they do not have engines which cause vibration and noise. Just in case an accident occurs, one can expect airbags to open up and electricity supply to cut from the battery. Hence it prevents passengers in the car from serious damages.

HEALTH BENEFITS: Since harmful exhaust emissions are zero in Electric Vehicle, the air quality is better, which reduces the cost and health issues caused by air pollution.

EV MOTORS ARE MORE EFFICIENT: EV motors can convert nearly 90% of its energy from batteries for the vehicle movement when compared to petrol and diesel vehicle which is 20%-30%. Hence the efficiency of operation is more in electric vehicles.

“In order to have clean air in cities, you have to go ELECTRIC”

Elon Musk 

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TYPES OF EV

EVs are classified based on the amount(levels) of electricity used as their source of energy to power the motor. Three main types are

  1. Hybrid Electric Vehicle
  2. Plug-In Hybrid Electric Vehicle
  3. Battery Electric Vehicle
Types of EV

1] HYBRID ELECTRIC VEHICLE: Also called HEV [6-12 KWH]. They are powered by both petrol and electricity, that is a gasoline engine with a fuel tank and an electric motor with a battery. HEVs cannot be recharged from the electricity grid, the electrical energy is generated by the regenerative braking system, that is when pressure is applied on the brakes, the power to motors are stopped. The momentum and kinetic energy make the motor turn the wheels, when brakes are applied the motors work as generators and start producing electricity which flows to the battery. Recharging the batteries while braking is called Regenerative Braking System.  

Regenerative Braking System

HEV starts off using the electric motor, then based on the load or speed required the petrol engine takes over. An internal computer will decide when to use battery power and when to use fuel, thus makes sure the best economy for driving conditions.

Some of the advantages are Longer range compared to BEVs, Less CO2 emissions compared to gas only vehicle.

Some of the disadvantageous are Mechanics is complicated- Gasoline + Electric, Operational cost is very much high compared to BEV but less expensive compared to gasoline vehicle, Cannot connect to an electrical outlet for charging.

Examples of HEV : Toyota Prius, Honda Civic, Toyota Camry

2] PLUG-IN HYBRID ELECTRIC VEHICLE:

Also called as PHEV[6-12KWH]. They are powered by two modes, fuel and electricity. It has an electric motor and battery, which can be recharge using both regenerative braking and ‘plugging-in’ to an external electrical charging port. When the battery is low, they can switch to an internal combustion engine which can also recharge the battery.

Two ways of charging the batteries in PHEV

Plug-In Hybrid Electric Vehicle can be charged by plugging into an electric grid, they have more savings in fuel costs than HEV.

Some of the PHEVs are also called as Extended-Range Electric Vehicle [EREVs]

Advantages are Longer range compared to BEVs, CO2 emissions are less, Gas consumptions are less compared to gas only vehicle.

Disadvantages are CO2 emissions, Operational cost are more than BEVs but less than HEVs.

Examples of PHEV : Ford C-Max Energi, BMW i8, Mercedes C350e

3] BATTERY ELECTRIC VEHICLE: Also called as BEV[20-80KWH]. They run completely using an electric motor and battery without any internal combustion engine. They store electricity on-board with high capacity battery packs which are used to run electric motor and all other electronic components. They must be plugged into an electric grid for charging and can also be recharged using the regenerative braking system.

Battery Electric Vehicle

EV chargers are classified based on the speed with which they recharge an EVs battery.

  • Level 1 Charging.
  • Level 2 Charging .
  • Level 3 or DC Fast Charging .

Level 1 Charging: They use standard 120V outlet to plug into the electric vehicle. It takes over 8hours to charge the battery with a range of around 75-80 miles. This type of charging can be done at the workplace or at home

Level 2 Charging: They use 240V outlet to plug into the electric vehicle. It takes over 4 hours to charge the battery with a range of 75-85 miles. Level 1 Chargers are found at the workplace and public charging stations.

Level 3 Charging [DC Fast Charging]:It is the fastest charging solution in the current EV market. It takes 30 minutes to charge a battery with a range of up to 90miles. They are found at dedicated charging stations.

Some of the advantages are–No CO2 emissions, gas or oil change not required, Can charge at home/work space, Smooth acceleration, Maintenance is easy, Low cost of operation.

Some of the disadvantages are shorter range compared to gasoline vehicles, Moderately more expensive than the gasoline equivalent.

Examples of BEV: Hyundai Kona Electric , Tesla Model 3, Honda Insight, Nissan Leaf

“Electric cars are going to be very important for urban transportation”

“Cars have a large engine in the front and you have a gearbox, which is cumbersome. Electric cars don’t have this problem. The motor is much smaller, the battery is below you. This will allow you to play with different shapes“

–Carlos Ghosn
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BASIC COMPONENTS OF AN EV

Electric Vehicles are powered by electric energy. They have an electric motor instead of an internal combustion engine. The three important components of an Electric Vehicle are Battery, an Electric motor and Controller.

Important Components of EV

BATTERY: Electric Vehicles uses the energy which is stored in a traction battery to power an electric motor to turn the wheels. When the battery is depleted, they are recharged using grid electricity from charging stations. The battery also powers other electronic devices in the vehicle. Higher the capacity of the battery higher will be the range of the vehicle. Current electric vehicles use Lithium-ion type of batteries as they are capable of storing more energy.

CONTROLLER: Controller is the electronics package that functions between the battery and the motor to control the vehicles speed and acceleration. It is used to manage the flow of power from the battery to the motor so that the motor does not burn-out, also to control the speed of motor and torque it produces. The accelerator pedal of the vehicle is connected to a pair potentiometer, which is connected to the controller to figure out how much energy is required for the vehicle to go smoothly on the road. The controllers on most vehicles also have a system for regenerative braking, that is when pressure is applied on the brakes, the electric car takes advantage of the forward momentum of the motor to recharge the battery.

ELECTRIC MOTOR: Electric motors convert the electrical energy into mechanical energy. Two types of electric motors are used in electric vehicles to provide energy to the wheels, the direct current (DC) motor and the alternating current (AC) motor. Both types of electric motors are used in electric vehicles and they have their own advantages and disadvantages.

Electric motor comparison
Other components of an EV

BATTERY PACK: This houses the batteries which are connected in series and parallel according to the requirement.

BATTERY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM: BMS is the brain of the electric vehicle. It controls the charging and discharging of the battery by determining how fast and how much electricity should flow through the battery. It shields the battery from working outside its safe operating range. Each model will have an exclusive BMS.

ONBOARD CHARGER: EV is charged using AC or DC. It takes the power from the home socket, which is AC provided via charge port and converts into DC power for charging the battery. The charger makes sure that the precise amount of current and voltages are available for charging and also monitors the battery characteristics temperature and the state of charge while charging the battery pack.  The charger restricts the power to the battery to avoid over-heating of the battery and supply-system.

DC/DC CONVERTER: It converts the higher voltage DC power from the traction battery pack to the lower voltage DC power which is required to run other vehicle machinery.

THERMAL SYSTEM (COOLING SYSTEM): This system manages an appropriate operating temperature range of the electric motor, power electronics, and other devices.

INVERTER: Battery stores the current in the form of Direct Current (DC). Generally, most of the electric vehicle’s motors run on Alternating Current (AC). Hence to convert DC to AC an inverter is used. It also converts the AC obtained from the regenerative braking and converts to DC to store in the battery.

“We have to use cars much more efficiently. We have to look at alternative technologies of cars such as bio-fuels or, even more importantly, electric cars.”

― Faith Birol

“Electric cars are not going to take the market by storm, but it’s going to be a gradual improvement.”

― Carlos Ghosn

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WHY EVs?

The rate of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is increasing day by day which is the major cause of Global Warming. One of the largest sources of carbon dioxide emission from human activities is from burning fossil fuels for transportation. Hence the transportation section is the best place to put our efforts to reduce CO2 emissions.

The number of fueled vehicles is increasing every day, which is not bad but, we have to minimize the use of it. An average passenger vehicle emits around 4.6 metric tons of carbon dioxide per year, this number depends on vehicle’s fuel, fuel economy, and the number of miles driven per year.

  • CO2 Emissions from a gallon of gasoline: 8,887 grams CO2/ gallon.
  • CO2 Emissions from a gallon of diesel: 10,180 grams CO2/ gallon.

We can find and compare CO2 emission rates for specific vehicle models in Fueleconomy.gov

India is the world’s third-largest emitter of greenhouse gases (GHGs), after China and the US.

Absolute Growth in CO2 emissions in 2018

” Industry has to find a way, together with the governments, to find new modes, new modalities for transportation.“

– Fatih Birol
Fuel Vehicle v/s Electric Vehicle

Here comes the requirement for alternative technology in the automobile industry such as electric vehicles (EV) and adapting such environment-friendly vehicle. EV uses electric motors instead of internal combustion engines (ICEs) for propulsion which is the main cause for local pollution.

Electric Vehicle Working

Electric vehicle work in a similar way as ones powered by petrol, diesel or even hydrogen. A battery-electric vehicle uses energy stored in the battery to power the electric motor to propel the vehicle and can be connected to a charging port and can be recharged when required.

They are classified into battery electric vehicle [BEV], hybrid electric vehicle [HEV], and plug-in hybrid electric vehicle [PHEV]. They are operated on different battery technologies varying from lithium-ion batteries, lead-acid batteries, and nickel-metal hydride.

What are the benefits of EV?

Some of the benefits of EVs are it produces less engine noise, no localized emissions, easy to drive, have automatic gearboxes. Low running costs that are filling the battery with electricity is cheaper than using petrol or diesel to go a similar distance. Variety of options for charging, the charger can be installed anywhere (home, office, etc) and can be powered using solar panels. EV requires less maintenance and is more reliable.

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