What Exactly are Electric Vehicles?
An electric vehicle, commonly referred to as an EV, is one that’s powered by electric motors that use batteries or fuel cells. While electric cars are naturally the most common form of EVs, electricity-powered vehicles can also include trucks, bikes, jeeps, buses, and even boats and planes. Hybrid vehicles combine the use of an electric motor with a combustion engine, the former recharging when the vehicle is traveling. Similarly, plug-in hybrids combine the two, but the batteries used to power the vehicles can be recharged directly. On the other hand, fuel-cell vehicles generate electricity internally using onboard fuels, most commonly Hydrogen.
How Do They Work?
Electric cars utilize an electric motor that powers their wheels. The motor gets fueled via batteries that are kept in a lower part of the car. Quite often, there is an additional battery that enables the lighting and electrics of the car to work. Electric car batteries are rechargeable and need to be charged from either a wall-mounted electric charger or a fast charger, which is used at service stations. A control unit is used to control the level of power that the electric car needs and it operates via an accelerator, essentially mimicking what a combustion engine does.
Does it Take Long to Charge an Electric Car?
To answer the question, a couple of variables need to be looked into. The type of battery and the form of charging are both primary determinants of how long it may take to charge electric cars. 7kW – the standard home charging point – is relatively slow. Some cars, on the other hand, may use a rapid 150kW battery. An interesting case is the 2019 Tesla Model S, which reportedly took 11 hours to recharge with a 7kW charger, but in stark contrast, a mere hour with a 150kW charger.
Are Electric Cars the Future of Transportation?
It looks very likely that electric cars could indeed be the solution for eco-friendly transportation of the future. In fact, a number of countries today are basing their policies on this very prediction. Some studies have concluded that electric car sales may hit the 50 million per year mark by 2040. This doesn’t mean there aren’t challenges to be addressed in the world of EVs – there are plenty. While battery technology has made leaps in the last few years, the power output needs further development before electric vehicles can become a truly viable alternative. That said, there are several other areas where electric vehicles have more than stepped up to make good on their promise of being the solution for an eco-friendly future of transportation.