Surely you have heard more than ever about electric cars or VE, I do not mean toy cars but those vehicles used to transport people and / or work, which are undoubtedly filling and revolutionizing the automotive market and transport. Electric cars and trucks work with electricity, which as a source of energy is cleaner and cheaper than oil. Even when electricity comes from a dirty source such as coal, electric vehicles (VE) still produce less pollution from global warming than their conventional counterparts, and with fewer tailpipe emissions (or none at all).
What are electric cars?
Cars or electric cars, unlike conventional vehicles that use a gasoline or diesel engine, operate at least partially with electricity using an electric motor powered by batteries or a fuel cell. Depending on the type of engine or the form where you generate energy you will find yourself inside the 3 groups of electric cars.
Plug-in hybrids: those electric vehicles that offer both a gasoline engine or a diesel engine and an electric motor. The engine runs on a battery that can be recharged by plugging it in. Unlike conventional hybrids, these hybrids can be plugged in and recharged from a power outlet, allowing them to drive long distances using only electricity. When the battery is empty, the conventional engine turns on and the vehicle operates like a conventional hybrid that cannot be plugged in.
Electric battery vehicles: These are electric vehicles that completely renounce liquid fuels and operate exclusively with electricity.Kids Ride on Cars from my deal with batteries use electricity stored in a battery pack to power an electric motor and turn the wheels. When they are exhausted, the batteries are recharged using electricity from the network, either from a wall outlet or a dedicated charging unit. Since they do not run on gasoline or diesel and run completely on electricity, electric vehicles and battery trucks are considered “all-electric” vehicles.
Fuel cell vehicles: These are electric cars that use hydrogen gas to power an electric motor. Unlike conventional vehicles that run on gasoline or diesel, vehicles and trucks with fuel cells combine hydrogen and oxygen to produce electricity, which runs on a motor. Since they are powered entirely by electricity, vehicles with fuel cells are considered electric vehicles, but unlike other electric vehicles, their scope and replenishment processes are comparable to conventional cars and trucks.
Advantages of electric cars:
- Economical: the cost of charging is less than the cost of charging a gasoline or diesel vehicle
- Comfort: You can refuel in your home, office … wherever there is plug.
- Environmentalimpact: they generate almost nothing or very few polluting emissions into the air , their impact is focused on how electrical energy is produced, its manufacture and the disposal of its parts with limited useful life.
- Silent: As they do not have an explosion engine, they do not emit any noise when walking.
- Cutting-edge design
- Rapid
- Maintenance: do not need as many adjustments or maintenance in your engine as a conventional one.
- Subsidies and aid: In several countries, the replacement of the automotive fleet to improve air quality is being encouraged.
Disadvantages of VE
Limited autonomy: Currently the batteries of most of these vehicles have a range of between 100 and 300 km, although the advances and current research are already achieving autonomy of 700 km.
Slow loading: the “reposte” of our VE is currently between 20 to 60 min, although new advances are achieving full loads in 1 min.
Few specialized workshops: As its utilization has not yet become so widespread, if you were to have a problem with your vehicle, you would not find a wide range of options like those offered for gasoline vehicles, although that would change over time.
Limited cargo network: There is not a cargo area for these EVs in all gas stations, or in all cities or towns, so we will have to plan our movements well or request a plug very kindly.
Expensive batteries
Are electric cars expensive?
Although electric cars may be more expensive to buy than their conventional counterparts, the higher initial cost is often reduced in some countries thanks to subsidies and tax benefits. The cost of refueling an electric car can also be a fraction of the cost of gasoline, which means that electric cars can have a lower total cost of ownership. In certain circumstances, switching to an electric car can save hundreds of dollars a year in fuel costs, compared to even the most fuel-efficient conventional cars.
Do they pollute electric cars?
In terms of air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions, electric cars and trucks are often cleaner than even the most efficient conventional vehicles. Exactly how clean depends on the type of vehicle and the source of the electricity. When battery electric cars run on networks of electricity produced through oil or coal, the greenhouse gas emissions of electric vehicles are comparable to those of a car that exceeds 100 miles per gallon. When charged exclusively with renewable electricity such as solar or wind, charging and operating an electric car can be almost emission-free.
The main pollution of electric cars is in their disposable components (wheels, batteries and batteries). The batteries of an electric car or VE are mostly made of lithium and other alloys, just as a cell phone or laptop battery is used and time is losing storage capacity and duration. It is estimated that the average battery life of an electric vehicle is 10 years or 150,000 km or 6,000 load cycles, although this value is variable for driving, handling the charging process and car care.
Can a VE battery be recycled?
Currently the same companies in the automotive sector offer two alternatives: reuse and recycling.
The reuse consists of selling 2nd hand batteries, to those people who cannot afford the cost of a new battery for their VE or to be able to use it in energy support for the home.
The recycling would be the culmination of the useful life of the batteries, where their components would be destined to the creation of new products.
What type of electric car suits me?
Plug-in hybrids can offer higher environmental performance and lower replenishment costs compared to conventional vehicles. Because they are rechargeable from an outlet, they replace the miles that would have been driven with gasoline by electricity, using the gasoline engine on longer trips. To use a plug- in hybrid effectively, drivers donot need to have access to a place to park and plug, as a regular electrical source is usually sufficient. Most plug-in hybrids are passenger cars; prospective buyers should not require space for more than five occupants.
Cars with electric batteries use electricity as their only fuel, so it is important to adapt battery life to the intended use of the vehicle. However, recharging away from home is becoming easier as public charging stations and the workplace increase. And since battery cars do not have exhaust emissions and replace gasoline with electricity, they may be some of the greenest cars available, perfect for weather-conscious passengers or multiple-car families who make many short-distance trips.
For drivers interested in the cutting edge, fuel cell vehicles are a small but fast growing segment. These vehicles offer some significant benefits – including fast loading times and long driving autonomy – but they also require hydrogen refueling stations, which are currently not widely available.
