Electric Vehicle

  How does the electric car engine work? Electric cars function by plugging into a charge point and taking electricity from the grid. They store the electricity in rechargeable batteries that power an electric motor, which turns the wheels. Electric cars accelerate faster than vehicles with traditional fuel engines – so they feel lighter to drive. How does charging work? You can charge an electric vehicle by plugging it into a public charging station or into a  home charger . There are plenty of  charging stations around the UK  to stay fully charged while you're out and about. But to get the best deal for home charging, it's important to get the right  EV electricity tariff , so you can spend less money charging and save more on your bill.   EVs and their range How far you can travel on a full charge depends on the vehicle. Each model has a different range, battery size and efficiency. The perfect electric car for you will be the one you can...

  An EV is a shortened acronym for an electric vehicle. EVs are vehicles that are either partially or fully powered on electric power. Electric vehicles have low running costs as they have less moving parts for maintaining and also very environmentally friendly as they use little or no fossil fuels (petrol or diesel). While some EVs used lead acid or nickel metal hydride batteries, the standard for modern battery electric vehicles is now considered to be lithium ion batteries as they have a greater longevity and are excellent at retaining energy, with a self discharge rate of just 5% per month. Despite this improved efficiency, there are still challenges with these batteries as they can experience thermal runaway, which have, for example, caused fires or explosions in the Tesla model S, although efforts have been made to improve the safety of these batteries.It can cost as little as £7.80 to fully charge an electric car from home and can even be free in public car parks.. BEVs can ...

  Congress’   big spending bill , now called the Build Back Better Act, is evolving from truly terrible to somewhat less terrible. On energy, the highly punitive sticks like the Clean Energy Performance Program (CEPP) have mostly been dropped, but a half a trillion dollars’ worth of carrots remain, and those are bad enough. Under these provisions, all taxpayers will have to subsidize wealth transfers to individuals and businesses who buy and use politically favored energy sources and products, most of which were chosen to pursue a climate agenda. Perhaps worst of all are the incentives applicable to electric vehicles (EVs). The biggest change is that the already generous tax credit of up to $7,500 for the purchase of an electric vehicle will increase to as much as $12,500. However, the extra $5,000 has some new and controversial strings attached. Starting in 2027, it only applies to vehicles made with unionized labor in the United States. This, of course, greatly favors the bi...

  Resale Price Of Conventional Cars Will Plummet If you buy a conventional car instead, not only will you miss out on these savings, I’m certain your vehicle’s value will soon plummet as EVs destroy demand for internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles. Second-hand cars currently command high prices thanks to the pandemic, but the next few months may be your last chance to unload a petrol or diesel-powered car at a good price.  We’ve seen Tesla electric cars drive down the resale value of luxury cars they were competing with over the past few years.  Now the Tesla Model 3 has  fallen in price  and more  affordable  electric cars are becoming available, we’ll see the same happen with mid-range and lower cost conventional cars.   Australians already recognize the advantages of EVs.  This  CarsGuide article  says the Tesla Model 3 may outsell Toyota Camry this year.  I’m tempted to buy a Tesla Model 3 myself.  The only th...

  The  Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act  signed into law today not only makes critical investments in our core  infrastructure, it creates several new programs to support the increasing electrification of the transportation sector. Especially notable in the $1.2 trillion package are the investments in electric vehicle charging stations, clean-powered buses, and electric-powered ferries. These investments include: Creating new grants to build out electric vehicle charging station networks Funding to modernize the primarily diesel-fueled fleet of school buses with electric or alternative fuel buses Funding to state and local governments to procure electric or low emissions ferries Electric Vehicle Charging / Fueling Infrastructure: To support the nationwide buildout of electric charging and alternative fueling stations, the law directs the Secretary of Transportation to establish an Alternative Fuel Corridor grant program. Alternative Fuel Corridors are intended ...

EV Charging From A Wall Socket Your first option, which is good enough for some people all the time, is you simply plug your car into a regular socket. A regular socket can give you 10 amps.10 amps times 230 volts gives you 2.3 kilowatts. So, you can charge at just over two kilowatts from a standard socket using the wall box that came with your car. Now, if you’ve got a 60 kilowatt-hour battery, that’s going to take about 30 hours to charge from empty. So it is a slow trickle charge, but if you don’t empty your tank every day, then that doesn’t matter. If you only use 10 kilowatt hours on a typical day, then you plug it in for five hours overnight; boom, you’ve got a full battery. So, a standard socket will charge at just over two kilowatts. But if you want to buy a dedicated charger that goes on the wall, your options are single-phase or three-phase. And the question is, what should they go for? Well, let’s go through the pros and cons of each. Single-Phase Dedicated EV Charger If you...

  Electric cars could help to power millions of households in the coming years, simply by harnessing their battery power. The electricity in the vehicle’s battery could be plugged back into the grid, instead of being stored. The technique was pioneered   in Japan   and our research will help understand how best to use it in the UK. Many electric vehicles (EVs) are being produced with the ability to use their onboard battery to send power back to the electricity supply they are connected to. Whether that is the owner’s house, or the electricity grid more generally, these technologies have been led by governments and electric car manufacturers mainly in order to  balance the demand  on the power transmission network, or grid. The ability to use these huge connected batteries complies with the future management and provision of cleaner grids — instead of burning fossil fuels to generate electricity, we should harness clean renewable sources such as wind and so...

  If you’re investing in a life-changing product such as an electric vehicle, it’s good to  know exactly how it works. The technology behind electric and hybrid cars can be  a bit baffling, but we think it’s worth understanding the details so you can drive  away confident, knowing that you’ve made the right decision. Essentially, an electric vehicle (EV) has a battery instead of a petrol tank, and an electric motor instead of an internal combustion engine. The electricity stored in its battery powers the electric motor. When too low, the car’s battery needs to be recharged by plugging it in to use grid electricity, like when your phone needs charging. Similarly, Plug-in hybrids (PHEVs) come with a plug socket and charging leads so that you can charge the battery via the mains. Although they have a smaller capacity, these models are able to run in electric-only mode for 20-30 miles. An amazing perk of EVs is that they can be charged at home if you have a home charging...

  Battery Electric Vehicles (BEVs) Battery Electric Vehicles, also called BEVs and more frequently called EVs, are fully electric vehicles with rechargeable batteries and no gasoline engine. All energy to run the vehicle comes from the battery pack which is recharged from the grid. BEVs are zero emissions vehicles, as they do not generate any harmful tailpipe emissions or air pollution hazards caused by traditional gasoline-powered vehicles. Some popular EV models are pictured here and a full list of available fast charging EV models is available in the chart above. Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEVs) Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles, or PHEVs, have both an engine and electric motor to drive the car. Like regular hybrids, they can recharge their battery through regenerative braking. They differ from regular hybrids by having a much larger battery, and being able to plug into the grid to recharge. While regular hybrids can (at low speed) travel 1-2 miles before the gasoline eng...

I think electric cars—EVs—are very relevant to today’s society in giving us a more sustainable direction for humans to choose. IMO, This is more important in the USA than perhaps anywhere else. I think many of us are as yet unwilling to realize the damage we have done to the Earth’s eco-systems. As long as we do not see it in our back yards…. As a US Navy pilot for a decade, I flew all over the globe, and I saw the damage first hand. I am concerned for the coming generations, and I am concerned about the level of denial that is still common in my country. I think that the availability of clear positive steps—like buying an EV—are very important to help individual people take meaningful action, and to help groups of people align and get even bigger things done. Here are some very relevant improvements that EVs can help to usher in: We are running out of cheap fossil fuels, especially oil, and we will need oil for a long time for reasons other than energy production. EVs can help us cons...

We shouldn’t. Ideally, we should walk everywhere, scavenging for naturally growing vegetable food to nourish ourselves. This is ultimately the way to minimize our impact on the planet and the rest of life on it. But let’s face it, such an extreme measure is not compatible with modern society. Some of us may be able to get by with bicycles (although even those have an environmental impact), or use public transportation which helps minimize our impact on the environment as well as easing traffic congestion. But for many people, it’s expected that we own a personal vehicle of some sort to get us and our goods around. So the question is: if we do truly need a personal vehicle to move us around, is there a particular type of vehicle that is “better” to own? And “better” is a subjective quantity that is going to be different for everyone. However, if we adopt the opinion that one characteristic of “better” is that our choice of vehicle benefits (or rather minimizes harm to) the environment a...

Essentially yes. There are exceptions though. In some places where coal is the primary source of electricity, a hybrid vehicle may be better. The following data is current as of 2018: The MPG ratings determine what MPG a gas powered car would have to get to be equivalent to an EV. The regions correspond to power grids. In parts of Hawaii, all you need is a car capable of 35mpg which is not to hard to do. In Florida, it would be 58mpg. Offhand, I can’t think of an ICEV that gets that kind of mileage. And while the numbers are current for 2018, they are changing. The grid continues to get cleaner as old coal plants are closed in favor of green energy like solar or especially wind. This is the same chart from 2015: As you can see, in 3 years, quite a few states got much cleaner and this trend is expected to continue. So a fuel sipping hybrid that is superior to an EV this year may not be next year. One other caveat. Currently EVs cost a bit more CO2 to produce because the batteries are so...

  Remember landline phones? When mobile phones first appeared in the 1980’s, they were bulky, expensive, had limited range and battery life. (Sound familiar?) But over the next couple decades, mobile phones became small and inexpensive as coverage improved. Then smart phones happened. And people began to realize they didn’t need a mobile phone and a separate landline at home. Mobile phones took over the market simply because they were better. We also saw digital cameras change an industry. After a century of film manufacturing and developing, digital cameras quickly disrupted an established industry because they were better. Once quality improved and prices fell, there was no more reason to buy a film camera, especially when you could instantly view your photos and retake as many as needed. Electric cars appeared to be similarly destined to take over the automotive industry. They were initially expensive and limited in their capabilities, but the gaps are shrinking. Electricity is ...

  They are certainly much better for the environment than internal combustion engine (ICE) cars, both due to dramatically-reduced local emissions, and due to much higher efficiency, which when combined with either a low-enough grid carbon intensity, or your own clean (e.g. rooftop PV) power, makes for greatly reduce emissions from transport. Another advantage is that the grid intensity can improve over time and thus the vehicle emissions fall after purchase, unlike an ICE vehicle. Other answers go into much more detail about what grid intensity produces a better overall result, so I won’t repeat that here. Of course electric cars are nothing like as good for the environment as walking or cycling or using the bus, tram or train. EVs do not solve any of the problems of congestion, road danger, urban sprawl, noise (well a bit, but surprisingly little - it’s nearly all tyre/wind noise), resource use and inefficient use of space. So, yes stop selling fossil cars pretty-much immediately ...

  Older children have faced unique challenges since March 2020, and several research teams are focusing on how these challenges may affect immunity for this age group. A survey that researchers conducted in Canada and published in the  International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity  analyzed the changes in movement and play behaviors in children immediately following the COVID-19 outbreak. The results showed that only 4.8% of children and 0.6% of youths were meeting the combined movement behavior guidelines during this time. Both children and youths had lower physical activity levels, spent less outside time, had higher leisure screen time, and got more sleep overall during the survey period. The researchers note that healthy movement behaviors positively contribute to both the physical and mental health of young people, including the development of stronger immune systems. Therefore, these initial findings present some cause for concern. The authors ...