Electric vehicle (EV) – Basic Knowledge about EV Sector / Electric Vehicle - Part 1

 Electric vehicle (EV) – Basic Knowledge about EV Sector / Electric Vehicle

An electric vehicle (EV) is a vehicle that uses one or more electric motors or traction motors for propulsion.

An electric vehicle may be powered through a collector system by electricity from off-vehicle sources, or may be self-contained with a battery, solar panels, fuel cells or an electric generator to convert fuel to electricity.

 EVs include, but are not limited to, road and rail vehicles, surface and underwater vessels, electric aircraft and electric spacecraft.

Commonly, the term EV is used to refer to an electric car. In the 21st century, EVs have seen resurgence due to technological developments, and an increased focus on renewable energy and the potential reduction of transportation's impact on climate change and other environmental issues.

 Project Drawdown describes electric vehicles as one of the 100 best contemporary solutions for addressing climate change.^[2]

 

Onboard storage

 These systems are powered from an external generator plant (nearly always when stationary), and then disconnected before motion occurs, and the electricity is stored in the vehicle until needed.

Full Electric Vehicles (FEV). Power storage methods include:

Chemical energy stored on the vehicle in on-board batteries: Battery electric vehicle (BEV) typically with a lithium-ion battery

Kinetic energy storage: flywheels

Static energy stored on the vehicle in on-board electric double-layer capacitors

Batteries, electric double-layer capacitors and flywheel energy storage are forms of rechargeable on-board electricity storage systems. By avoiding an intermediate mechanical step, the energy conversion efficiency can be improved compared to hybrids by avoiding unnecessary energy conversions. Furthermore, electro-chemical batteries conversions are easy to reverse, allowing electrical energy to be stored in chemical form.[citation needed]

 

Lithium-ion battery

Ø  Most electric vehicles use lithium-ion batteries (Li-Ions or LIBs).

Ø  Lithium ion batteries have higher energy density, longer life span and higher power density than most other practical batteries.

Ø  Complicating factors include safety, durability, thermal breakdown and cost.

Ø  Li-ion batteries should be used within safe temperature and voltage ranges in order to operate safely and efficiently.

Ø  Increasing the battery's lifespan decreases effective costs.

Ø  One technique is to operate a subset of the battery cells at a time and switching these subsets.

Ø  In the past, nickel–metal hydride battery batteries were used in some electric cars, such as those made by General Motors.

Ø   These battery types are considered out-dated due to their tendencies to self-discharge in the heat. Furthermore, a patent for this type of battery was held by Chevron, which created a problem for their widespread development. These factors, coupled with their high cost, have led to lithium-ion batteries leading as the predominant battery for EVs.

Ø  The prices of lithium-ion batteries are constantly decreasing, contributing to a reduction in price for electric vehicles.[

 

Vehicle types

Ø  Ground vehicles

Ø  Pure-electric vehicles

Ø  Hybrid EVs

Ø  Plug-in electric vehicle

Ø  Range-extended electric vehicle

Ø  On- and off-road EVs

Ø  Rail borne EVs

Ø  Space rover vehicles

Ø  Airborne EVs

Ø  Seaborne EVs

Ø  Electrically powered spacecraft

 

Ground vehicles

Pure-electric vehicles

A pure-electric vehicle or all-electric vehicle is powered exclusively through electric motors. The electricity may come from a battery (battery electric vehicle), solar panel (solar vehicle) or fuel cell (fuel cell vehicle).

Hybrid EVs

A hybrid electric vehicle combines a conventional powertrain (usually an internal combustion engine) with an electric engine.

 As of April 2016, over 11 million hybrid electric vehicles have been sold worldwide since their inception in 1997.

Japan is the market leader with more than 5 million hybrids sold, followed by the United States with cumulative sales of over 4 million units since 1999, and Europe with about 1.5 million hybrids delivered since 2000. Japan has the world's highest hybrid market penetration.

By 2013, the hybrid market share accounted for more than 30% of new standard passenger cars sold, and about 20% new passenger vehicle sales including kei cars. Norway ranks second with a hybrid market share of 6.9% of new car sales in 2014, followed by the Netherlands with 3.7%.

Global hybrid sales are by Toyota Motor Company with more than 9 million Lexus and Toyota hybrids sold as of April 2016, followed by Honda Motor Co., Ltd. with cumulative global sales of more than 1.35 million hybrids as of June 2014,[66][67][68] Ford Motor Corporation with over 424,000 hybrids sold in the United States through June 2015,[69][70][71][72][73] and the Hyundai Group with cumulative global sales of 200,000 hybrids as of March 2014, including both Hyundai Motor Company and Kia Motors hybrid models.[74] As of April 2016, worldwide hybrid sales are led by the Toyota Prius liftback, with cumulative sales of over 3.7 million units. The Prius nameplate has sold more than 5.7 million hybrids up to April 2016.

Plug-in electric vehicle

Ø  The Chevrolet Volt was the world's top selling plug-in hybrid of all time. Global Volt/Ampera family sales passed 100,000 units in October 2015.

Ø  A plug-in electric vehicle (PEV) is any motor vehicle that can be recharged from any external source of electricity, such as wall sockets, and the electricity stored in the Rechargeable battery packs drives or contributes to drive the wheels.

Ø  PEV is a subcategory of electric vehicles that includes battery electric vehicles (BEVs), plug-in hybrid vehicles, (PHEVs), and electric vehicle conversions of hybrid electric vehicles and conventional internal combustion engine vehicles.

Ø  Cumulative global sales of highway-capable light-duty pure electric vehicles passed one million units in total, globally, in September 2016.

Ø  Cumulative global sales of plug-in cars and utility vans totaled over two million by the end of 2016, of which 38% were sold in 2016, and totaled three million in November 2017.

Ø  As of January 2018, the world's top selling plug-in electric cars is the Nissan Leaf, with global sales of more than 300,000 units.

Ø  As of June 2016, it was followed by the all-electric Tesla Model S with about 129,400 units sold worldwide, the Chevrolet Volt plug-in hybrid, which together with its sibling the Opel/Vauxhall Ampera has combined global sales of about 117,300 units, the Mitsubishi Outlander P-HEV with about 107,400 units, and the Prius Plug-in Hybrid with over 75,400 units.

Range-extended electric vehicle

Ø  A range-extended electric vehicle (REEV) is a vehicle powered by an electric motor and a plug-in battery. An auxiliary combustion engine is used only to supplement battery charging and not as the primary source of power.

On- and off-road EVs

Ø  On-road electric vehicles include electric cars, electric trolleybuses, electric buses, battery electric buses, electric trucks, electric bicycles, electric motorcycles and scooters, personal transporters, neighborhood electric vehicles, golf carts, milk floats, and forklifts. Off-road vehicles include electrified all-terrain vehicles and tractors.

Railborne EVs

Ø  The fixed nature of a rail line makes it relatively easy to power EVs through permanent overhead lines or electrified third rails, eliminating the need for heavy onboard batteries.

Ø   Electric locomotives, electric multiple units, electric trams (also called streetcars or trolleys), electric light rail systems, and electric rapid transit are all in common use today, especially in Europe and Asia.

Ø  Since electric trains do not need to carry a heavy internal combustion engine or large batteries, they can have very good power-to-weight ratios.

Ø  This allows high speed trains such as France's double-deck TGVs to operate at speeds of 320 km/h (200 mph) or higher, and electric locomotives to have a much higher power output than diesel locomotives.

Ø  In addition, they have higher short-term surge power for fast acceleration, and using regenerative brakes can put braking power back into the electrical grid rather than wasting it.

Ø  Maglev trains are also nearly always EVs.[86]

Ø  There are also battery electric passenger trains operating on non-electrified rail lines.

Space rover vehicles

Ø  Manned and unmanned vehicles have been used to explore the Moon and other planets in the solar system.

Ø  On the last three missions of the Apollo program in 1971 and 1972, astronauts drove silver-oxide battery-powered Lunar Roving Vehicles distances up to 35.7 kilometers (22.2 mi) on the lunar surface.

Ø  Unmanned, solar-powered rovers have explored the Moon and Mars.

Airborne EVs

Ø  Since the beginnings of aviation, electric power for aircraft has received a great deal of experimentation. Currently, flying electric aircraft include manned and unmanned aerial vehicles.

Seaborne EVs

Ø  Electric boats were popular around the turn of the 20th century. Interest in quiet and potentially renewable marine transportation has steadily increased since the late 20th century, as solar cells have given motorboats the infinite range of sailboats.

Ø  Electric motors can and have also been used in sailboats instead of traditional diesel engines.

Ø  Electric ferries operate routinely. Submarines use batteries (charged by diesel or gasoline engines at the surface), nuclear power, fuel cells or Stirling engines to run electric motor-driven propellers.

Electrically powered spacecraft

Ø  Electric power has a long history of use in spacecraft. 

Ø  The power sources used for spacecraft are batteries, solar panels and nuclear power. Current methods of propelling a spacecraft with electricity include the arcjet rocket, the electrostatic ion thruster, the Hall effect thruster, and Field Emission Electric Propulsion. A number of other methods have been proposed, with varying levels of feasibility.