Electric car: everything you need to know

Fossil fuels are already going down in history. The energy transition requires directing our future to a world where renewables prevail. Therefore, vehicles must be fully sustainable and non-polluting. The electric car is a vehicle that is powered by one or more motors that use the electricity stored in rechargeable batteries and transform it into kinetic energy. There are a multitude of motors and types of electric cars.

If you want to know everything related to electric cars, this is your post. You will learn from how an electric car works to what advantages it has.

History of the electric car

Did you know that the first vehicle that was invented was electric? Its manufacture dates back to the years 1832-1839 when Robert Anderson designed the first electric motor vehicle. It was powered by a non-rechargeable battery and reached 6 km / hour.

Seeing that the efficiency of the vehicle was not a great thing (walking you can go faster) the project was abandoned. Until the most advanced technology of electric vehicles is found today. There are lithium ion batteries capable of providing quite a considerable autonomy. Cars can reach high speeds.

Thanks to rechargeable batteries, electric cars are mass-produced and are becoming more economical and profitable.

Electric Vehicle Features

The main characteristics of this vehicle is its ability to run on electricity. This means that we have to do without fossil fuels such as gasoline and diesel and, in addition, let's not pollute the atmosphere. Environmental pollution is a serious global problem that is triggering climate change. In addition, it is responsible for millions of premature deaths per year from respiratory and cardiovascular diseases.

Today you can find different types of electric motors of all performances and sizes. There are some that gain in their little weight and are simpler.

It is very normal to think that if they are so good why not all cars are electric. Well, firstly, they are affected by their little autonomy compared to gasoline or diesel. They are not that cheap either, since the technology is still developing and there is not so much competitiveness. There are also not enough recharges in all places and the batteries need several hours to be fully charged.

Despite everything mentioned, electric cars are gradually getting closer to conventional ones.

Parts of an electric car

If we start to compare the parts of the interior of an electric vehicle with a conventional one, they are not so different. Its operation is quite similar. These are the main elements that make up an electric car:

• Electric motor. It is in charge of transforming the electrical energy stored in the batteries into kinetic energy. With this, the car can move. Motors can also do the opposite, that is, on the downhill slopes they take advantage of the kinetic energy gained and store it in the form of electricity.
• Drums. It is what stores the electrical energy that is used to make the motor work. There are some vehicles that have an auxiliary battery to avoid being stranded on the ground.
• Loading port. What has been a plug where the car is connected to a power source that recharges the battery.
• Transformers. They are responsible for converting the parameters of electricity into what is necessary to recharge the batteries. There are vehicles that work with alternating current and others with direct current. They also serve to cool the car, avoiding spills and explosions.
• Controllers. They regulate the energy input to the battery. In this way you can balance the recharge in a suitable way to extend the useful life and not deteriorate it.

Advantages

Autonomous cars have some advantages over other types of vehicle. They are as follows:

• Since they are quieter, reduce noise pollution in the cities. If all the vehicles in circulation in an urban center were electric, there would be no such level of noise. Surely an electric taxi has passed by your side today and you haven't even heard about it. Noise also affects people's health. Therefore, it is important to reduce it.
• They do not pollute, which improves air quality in cities. During their use they are not emitting greenhouse gases that pollute the air in cities and increase the effects of climate change and global warming. Thousands of people die each year from respiratory diseases caused by air pollution.
• Zero emission capability. To generate electrical energy, if we use fossil fuels, we will not be emitting gases in use, but in manufacturing. Therefore, electric cars have the ability to be zero emissions. This occurs if renewable energies such as solar and wind are used to generate electricity.
• The engine is just as powerful and cheaper. They usually have almost the same power as a conventional one and are more compact and reliable. The problem lies in the autonomy of the battery. The engine does not have elements that cause it to fail.
• More efficiency and less consumption. The efficiency of electric cars reaches 90% compared to 30% of conventional ones. They consume less and we save more. They require less energy to perform the same effort, only that batteries provide that energy for a short time.

Drawbacks

At present, and although they are evolving a lot, they still have many disadvantages. These are some of them:

• Little autonomy. As has been mentioned several times throughout the post, the limited autonomy of these vehicles slows its progress. There is no way you can take long trips without spending hours recharging the battery. For example, on a journey from Seville to Madrid, you would have to stop about five times to recharge. Each recharge is several hours of waiting. Therefore, a relatively short trip would be very long.
• Not enough charging points. There are still no charging points in enough places to be totally independent.
• Low power. The power of the vehicle is very limited. It is being studied on how to increase it, since it is harmful to the car. Drivers cannot reach speeds or close to conventional vehicles.
• The price of batteries is very high and they do not last more than 7 years.

With all this information you can learn more about electric cars and prepare for the future that awaits us.