Electric vehiclesElectric vehicles
Electric carriages were first invented in the late 1820s and 1830s. Practical, commercially available electric vehicles appeared during the 1890s. An electric vehicle held the speed record until around 1900. In the early 20th century, the high cost, low top speed, and short-range of battery electric vehicles, compared to internal combustion engine vehicles, led to a worldwide decline in their use as private motor vehicles. Electric vehicles have continued to be used for loading and freight equipment and for public transport – especially rail vehicles.
At the beginning of the 21st century, interest in electric and alternative fuel vehicles in private motor vehicles increased due to: growing concern over the problems associated with hydrocarbon-fueled vehicles, including damage to the environment caused by their emissions; the sustainability of the current hydrocarbon-based transportation infrastructure; and improvements in electric vehicle technology.
Since 2010, combined sales of all-electric cars and utility vans achieved 1 million units delivered globally in September 2016, 4.8 million electric cars in use at the end of 2019,and cumulative sales of light-duty plug-in electric cars reached the 10 million unit milestone by the end of 2020. The global ratio between annual sales of battery electric cars and plug-in hybrids went from 56:44 in 2012 to 74:26 in 2019, and fell to 69:31 in 2020. As of August 2020, the fully electric Tesla Model 3 is the world's all-time best selling plug-in electric passenger car, with around 645,000 units.
Electric vehicle manufacturing
There are a number of companies producing electric vehicles, from mainstream producers to small businesses creating made-to-order vehicles. Tesla, by market value and vehicle output, is the largest electric-only car maker; however, a number of car manufacturing incumbents known for gasoline and diesel engines have made their way into the electric vehicle market.
Electric vehicle batteries
Electric vehicles rely on batteries that are capable of driving long distances, and as a result, there is healthy competition to create better batteries. Lithium-ion batteries make up the majority of the marketplace, due to larger charging banks that allow further distance between charges. As of 2018, commercially available electric vehicles were capable of driving 250 miles per charge, with the battery needing to be replaced, at a minimum, every eight years or 100,000 miles
Electric charging
As electric vehicles enter the market at an increasing rate, there is a greater public need for electric charging stations. These stations, similar to conventional gas stations, offer electrical power for a fee to recharge the vehicle during trips away from a home charger. The charging station market has been growing at an unprecedented rate due to private and public investment and is projected to reach USD$27.7 billion by 2027, compared with USD$2.5 billion in 2019.
Lower running costs
The running cost of an electric vehicle is much lower than an equivalent petrol or diesel vehicle. Electric vehicles use electricity to charge their batteries instead of using fossil fuels like petrol or diesel. Electric vehicles are more efficient, and that combined with the electricity cost means that charging an electric vehicle is cheaper than filling petrol or diesel for your travel requirements. Using renewable energy sources can make the use of electric vehicles more eco-friendly. The electricity cost can be reduced further if charging is done with the help of renewable energy sources installed at home, such as solar panels.
Low maintenance cost
Electric vehicles have very low maintenance costs because they don’t have as many moving parts as an internal combustion vehicle. The servicing requirements for electric vehicles are lesser than the conventional petrol or diesel vehicles. Therefore, the yearly cost of running an electric vehicle is significantly low.
No noise pollution
Electric vehicles have the silent functioning capability as there is no engine under the hood. No engine means no noise. The electric motor functions so silently that you need to peek into your instrument panel to check if it is ON. Electric vehicles are so silent that manufacturers have to add false sounds in order to make them safe for pedestrians.
Convenience of charging at home
Imagine being at a busy fuel station during peak hours, and you are getting late to reach your workplace. These problems can easily be overcome with an electric vehicle. Simply plug your vehicle in at your home charger for 4-5 hours before you plan to go. If you are able to get a charger where you park at home, it is very convenient to plan your journeys in advance. What if you forget to plug in your machine someday? Then you can easily take the help of fast chargers or even battery swapping services if you are on a two-wheeler on the road.
Petrol and diesel use is destroying our planet
The availability of fossil fuels is limited, and their use is destroying our planet. Toxic emissions from petrol and diesel vehicles lead to long-term, adverse effects on public health. The emissions impact of electric vehicles is much lower than petrol or diesel vehicles. From an efficiency perspective, electric vehicles can covert around 60% of the electrical energy from the grid to power the wheels, but petrol or diesel cars can only convert 17%-21% of the energy stored in the fuel to the wheels. That is a waste of around 80%. Fully electric vehicles have zero tailpipe emissions, but even when electricity production is taken into account, petrol or diesel vehicles emit almost 3 times more carbon dioxide than the average EV. To reduce the impact of charging electric vehicles, India is ambitious to achieve about 40 percent cumulative electric power installed capacity from non-fossil fuel-based energy resources by the year 2030. Therefore, electric vehicles are the way forward for Indian transport, and we must switch to them now.
Electric vehicles 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.
reference
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electric_vehicle
https://e-amrit.niti.gov.in/benefits-of-electric-vehiclesz
https://www.nissanusa.com/experience-nissan/news-and-events/how-do-electric-cars-work.html
Editor
titiwut petchkarn m.5/3 no.7
The major benefit of electric cars is the contribution that they can make towards improving air quality in towns and cities. With no tailpipe, pure electric cars produce no carbon dioxide or other harmful emissions when driving. This reduces air pollution considerably.
Put simply, electric cars give us cleaner streets making our towns and cities a better place to be for pedestrians and cyclists. In over a year, just one electric car on the roads can save an average 1.5 million grams of CO2. That’s the equivalent of four return flights from London to Barcelona.
Research by the International Energy Agency (IEA) shows that electric vehicles come with a significantly lower total carbon output per vehicle lifetime than a typical Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) powered vehicle. As electricity generation continues to get cleaner, this position can only improve over time.
Research by the European Energy Agency found that, even with electricity generation, the carbon emissions of an electric car are around 17 – 30% lower than driving a petrol or diesel car. The emissions from electricity generation are also dramatically improved when low carbon electricity is used.
That’s good news for our customers. Here at EDF we produce more low-carbon electricity than any other supplier in the UK. The GoElectric tariff is also 100% zero carbon, helping electric car drivers to make more informed choices about how they charge up, maximising their environmental impact whilst driving.