Has it finally come?
Is the future now?
We’ve got jetpacks, hoverboards, holograms – all the things we only used to see in
old sci-fi movies!
(Well maybe not the jetpacks so much…)
And now: electric cars you plug into the wall like a cellphone!
So who came up with the idea, and how does the technology really work?
Before we rejoice in the future, let’s first take a trip to the past…
Oh, we’ll be going a lot further back than you think.
You’ll probably be as surprised as I was to find out that electric cars aren’t a
21st-century invention.
That is, electric-powered motors came out pretty much at the same time as petroleum-driven
engines (that is, the ones that run on fossil fuels like gas and diesel).
Almost two centuries ago, in 1828, a Hungarian engineer named Ányos Jedlik invented the
first prototype of the electric motor and used it to power a small model car.
And he wasn’t the only one with an interest in that sort of technology.
In 1834, blacksmith Thomas Davenport created a similar device that could be driven at short
distances using an electric track.
Does that ring any bells?
(Think streetcars later on!)
And over in the Netherlands, university professor Sibrandus Stratingh built a tiny electric
car powered with non-rechargeable batteries.
Now, even though the idea of a battery-powered vehicle was to revolutionize people’s lives
for the better, primary cell batteries (that’s the “use once and toss” kind) weren’t
the way to go for obvious reasons.
They needed too many batteries to run the motor over long distances at such low speeds.
It wasn’t until 1859 when French physicist Gaston Plante invented the lead acid battery
that changed the electric engine game for good.
Many countries began producing electric three-wheeled cars until the US made a huge breakthrough.
In 1891, they created the first electric vehicle, and get this: it was a 6-passenger wagon that
could go up to 14 miles per hour.
(Hey, that was major back then!)
After that, people were thrilled, and the electric car market thrived.
In the late 1890s, electric-powered taxis filled the streets of London.
At that time, electric cars had many advantages over steam-powered and gas-guzzling engines.
They didn’t vibrate, they didn’t give off that awful burning gasoline smell that
we’re all familiar with, and, most importantly, they didn’t require much effort to start.
By the early 1900s, almost one-third of cars in the US were electric-powered.
But that wasn’t going to last long…
By the late 1920s, infrastructure in the US had improved significantly, and vehicles needed
to go further more efficiently.
So, fossil-fuel cars took the lead because they got the job done.
You see, the top speed that electric cars could achieve was 15-20 miles per hour.
That’s about how fast you can go pedaling on your bike!
Another problem was that electric-powered engines back then could only travel 30-40
miles on one go, which means they’d need charging every couple of hours.
And things were about to take a turn for the worse along with the improvement in infrastructure.
That’s when the electric starter was invented, and gasoline cars began using it alongside
mufflers, which made their noise a lot more tolerable.
Electric cars took their final hit in 1910 when Henry Ford began his mass production
of gas-powered vehicles, which made them ridiculously cheap whereas electric cars cost a lot more.
Companies then realized that there was no room for electric automobiles on the market,
so they stopped producing them altogether.
Fast-forward to the 21st century.
We now have advancements in technology and a greater concern for the environment.
Add a fear of running out of resources to fuel our vehicles, and it’s no wonder automotive
companies have decided to give electric cars another chance.
The main difference between electric and fossil-fueled cars is that the E-cars can use a variety
of renewable sources to generate their electricity.
In fact, the science behind the electric car is surprisingly simple.
Its basic principle is the alternating current, for which we have Nikola Tesla to thank more
than a century ago.
Before you understand the science behind that, let’s back up and first cover the differences
between direct and alternating currents (that’s DC and AC for short…or AC/DC if you’re
into hard rock!).
An electric current is the movement of an electric charge that carries electrons.
An engine, for example, can be powered by direct current – which means that the electrons
flow in one direction only.
For most things that run on DC, that’s from the battery to whatever it’s powering.
The electrons that move along an alternating current, on the other hand, periodically and
consistently change direction.
It’s pretty much all the electric power in your home, from your microwave to your
game console.
In short, if you could look at the two types of currents on a graph, direct would be a
flat line and alternating would have regular uniform waves going up and down.
Or, to put it even more simply, DC would be like water running out of a bucket with a
hole in the bottom.
AC would be kind of like watching the water swishing around back and forth if you open
the lid of your washer and look inside.
Ok enough of that, so what about electric cars specifically?
Well, most of them convert the direct current electricity from the batteries into an alternating
current.
Since electric cars don’t have an internal combustion engine like gas-powered vehicles
do, they use their space quite differently.
You’d normally expect a big bulky battery to be in the front under the hood, but it’s
completely different in electric cars.
They have 7,000 lithium-ion batteries that sit under the flooring!
This battery pack has a longer lifespan and a higher power density – which makes them
ideal for powering a vehicle.
But one of their vulnerabilities is overheating and thermal breakdown.
That’s why electric cars have coolant running between them to prevent overheating.
And there’s all kinds of interesting stuff at the back of the car.
That’s where you’ll find the inverter, which is what converts that DC into AC and
gives power to the engine.
But it can’t do that without the induction motor.
It’s also in the back, and it takes the alternating current that just came from the
inverter and creates a rotating magnetic field that causes the motor to turn.
Now, electric cars don’t have a gearbox or lever, and all of them are automatic.
They have a single speed transmission that sends power from the induction motor to the
wheels.
This is how the electric motor transforms electrical energy into mechanical energy.
That is, the physical power that turns the wheels and sends you on your way!
But here’s where it gets even more interesting.
When you accelerate while driving, the car uses more energy.
But when you brake, the energy is transformed into electricity through the induction motor.
Then, that electricity travels all the way back to the battery pack and is stored so
that you can use it later!
Now that’s efficient!
An electric car gets “juiced up” by being plugged into an outlet or a charging station,
and they use three main levels of charging.
The first level is the basic charging you can do at home – it uses an outlet of 120
Volts and adds 2-5 miles of charging per hour.
Then, there’s the second level – it uses Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment and has
a higher voltage (220-240 Volts) to add 10-25 miles per hour of charging.
Finally, the third and most efficient one is the Direct Current charging station which
does exactly what it says.
It uses direct current to add up to 80% of the car’s battery charge in less than half
an hour.
The cost of charging an electric car is dirt cheap as well.
It’ll cost you less than $5 to fully charge your electric vehicle at home, and you can
get up to 150 miles on one charge.
That, of course, depends on the size of the battery.
Bigger electric cars with bigger batteries can cost up to $15 to fully charge, but they
can cover up to 300 miles.
So, where do I sign?
Now, electric cars are less expensive to run and maintain if we compare them to fuel-powered
vehicles, but there’s no denying that the car itself comes with a much higher price
tag.
But still, according to a recent study, the average operating cost of an electric car
is $485 a year, whereas a fossil-fuel automobile is $1,117.
So, that higher initial price should pay itself off over time.
But there’s still another problem.
One of the most expensive components of the electric car is its battery pack.
It’ll cost you an arm and a leg to replace if it breaks down – expect anywhere from
$5,000 to $15,000 for replacement!
But most electric car manufacturers give the battery at least an 8-year warranty for up
to 100,000 miles if that makes you feel any better about purchasing.
The good news is that we’re seeing a huge movement toward electric-powered vehicles
as a strategy to tackle fuel emissions and reduce pollution.
The head of automotive research in Europe predicts that by 2025, all cars in Europe
will be totally electric or at least hybrid.
And many countries are setting goals to lower their fuel emissions in the next few years.
So, who knows?
Perhaps sooner than later, we’ll all be zipping around in electric cars, and gas guzzlers
really will be a thing of the past!
What about you – are you interested in getting an electric car?
Let me know down in the comments!
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