Electric Vehicle Basics

Electric vehicles are also known as all-electric cars or battery electric vehicles. These vehicles are able to travel through the movement of an electric motor that gets its power from the battery run through a controller.

One of the features of this kind of transportation is that it does not produce harmful polluting chemicals into the environment as a byproduct of its operation. The fuel used is through the charging and recharging of the onboard electric battery through electricity from a standard electrical outlet or through a charging station.

There are two kinds of motor types for electric vehicles. The first one is called the alternating current motors or AC motor. Here, the alternating currents create the magnetic field that moves the motor. They are great for high power production as they are able to run at a high rate of revolutions per minute without overheating. Almost all electric cars use an AC motor or motors in their car design. This motor is also ideal for regenerative braking purposes. This system allows the battery to be recharged when the brake pedal is stepped on or used during driving. This makes the AC motor more efficient for the electric car but also makes it more expensive for the average person's use.

The second kind of motor is called the direct current motor or DC motor. These kinds of motors have greater torque and higher peak power after a short initial burst. By design too, these kinds of motors are easier to control but have major issues on dissipating heat and size and weight to make it a good substitute to an internal combustion engine.

The second major component of an electric vehicle is the battery. This component is also one of the major drawbacks that limits the proliferation in the use and purchase of electric cars. Batteries have a limited ability to carry charge and in order to move a vehicle, these batteries must be available in an array set up. The following are the basic types of batteries currently in the market today:

1. Lead acid batteries. This is the oldest kind of rechargeable batteries. While this kind of battery is easy to produce and can run many kinds of electronics, it is messy, highly toxic and prone to overcharge leading to explosion;

2. Lithium Ion Batteries. This kind of battery design has one of the highest energy to mass ratio. This means that the weight is low compared to the units of stored energy available to the electric car. They are able to store energy for a long period of time but over time would lose capacity over time. This battery set-up would provide the best opportunities for its mass commercial use but are quite toxic and may need special processing when recycling.

3. Nickel Metal Hydride Batteries. This battery design has great energy density capacity and is non-toxic compared to the other battery designs. The drawback in nickel metal hydride batteries is that they are not good battery capacity holders especially when not in use.

Bobby Castro is the online editor at the Electric Vehicle News site, where he has published a number of articles about the Electric Car industry