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...