A fundamental question in every customer’s mind. How is it different from an internal combustion engine? How does an electric vehicle work? And why there is no need for 5 or 6 gear sets in a traditional way.
Electric vehicles differentiate from the traditional combustion engine in terms of energy storage and next is the motor. Two types of motors are present, heat engine motor and electric engine motor.
The heat engine motor works by releasing the burning in form of potential chemical energy in the fuel. This heat causes expansion and drives the rotary motion. It can be seen in gasoline or diesel engines.
The cons of such a motor are- a lot of wear and tear due to heat and explosion, a lot of maintenance, wears down quickly, and wasting a lot of energy. Also improving the efficiency to 50% leads to increases in the cost of the engine.
The problem with ICE, wasting of energy more than 75% of a regular car that consumes heat. 95% of energy is wasted by a sports car in regular city traffic. And the exhaust fumes, 1 liter of fuel produces 2.3 Kg of CO2 gas.
You can see the environmental harmful effects it is causing.
Whereas an electric motor works with the use of a magnetic field. Well, who does not like magnets? In our childhood, we all have been mesmerized by the unique features of magnets.
So, in a science experiment, if we pass current through a coil of wire, it will create a magnetic field. Once it is placed in between the two magnets, one side of the coil is pushed up and the other side will be pushed down. At that moment, the coil turns its vertical position and the polarities are changed quickly resulting in a rotary motion.
The electric motors are 3 times more powerful than the ICE. It is 40 times small than the ICE motors. Electric motors are 3-20 times more efficient and it is maintenance-free due to the gentle magnetic field.
The power-to-weight ratio in an electric motor is 3-10 KW/Kg. The power density is 13.6 KW/L. It is 93- 96% efficient and got one moving part, called a rotor.
The rotor is relatively light, compact, and inexpensive.
To sum it up, a regular electric car is 4 times more efficient than the conventional one and sports cars are 20 times more efficient.
Another plus point with oversize electric engines, its does not reduce efficiency and the engines are cheaper and lighter.
These all factors let electric vehicles accelerate faster. It can run on renewable energy and the motor got zero emissions.
Energy storage
An area where the ICE got its upper hand compared to the electric motor. However, time and the need for better quality batteries in smartphones and cellphones led to the development of good quality of the battery.
The lithium batteries produced by Tesla Gigafactory are about 0.25 kWh/kg but are still considered 50 times worse by the experts. And with more development in batteries to store energy double the amount is expected to be 30 times worse and with lithium-air, the situation is expected same.
However, with new development in recent years especially in battery technology, the electric vehicle will get an upper hand. And considering the fuel savings and efficiency, the electric vehicle is much cheaper to own than any present vehicle available in the market.
Source:- Electric Cars: Technology (TU Delft)
