An electric vehicle also known as an EV, is a vehicle that is powered entirely or partially by electricity, instead of fully using a combustion engine, which runs on carbon emitting fossil fuels.
Electric vehicles can be used to describe a car, van truck or bike that runs on electricity.
These vehicles come in the form of fully powered battery electric vehicles (BEVs), that run solely on electricity, plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) and hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs). Hybrid vehicles, including those that plug in, work by using a combination of power sources, including electricity and fossil fuels, that either work separately or together to power the vehicle.
Electric cars have 99% less parts under the bonnet, as they run on a powertrain that consists of an electric motor, a battery, control systems and a transmission. Meaning that in BEVs there is no exhaust pipe, combustion engine and fuel tank
To make the car move the battery must first be charged. When the battery has enough charge it will create a DC flow energy current that is received by the vehicle’s inverter, when the vehicle is switched on. This inverter turns the DC current into an AC current that powers the electric motor. The motor converts this energy into kinetic energy to turn the wheels, causing the vehicle to move.
In regards to the battery, this now tends to be a lithium ion battery, as they are excellent at retaining energy and have an increased longevity than previously used batteries. These batteries can be fully charged between 30 minutes to 12 hours, depending on where you are charging your vehicle and how big your battery is.
