What is Electric car: Definition and 42 Discussions

An electric car is a car that is propelled by one or more electric motors, using energy stored in rechargeable batteries. Compared to internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles, electric cars are quieter, have no exhaust emissions, and lower emissions overall. In the United States, as of 2020, the total cost of ownership of recent EVs is cheaper than that of equivalent ICE cars, due to lower fueling and maintenance costs. Charging an electric car can be done at a variety of charging stations; these charging stations can be installed in both houses and public areas.Several countries have established government incentives for plug-in electric vehicles, tax credits, subsidies, and other non-monetary incentives. Several countries have established a phase-out of fossil fuel vehicles, and California, which is one of the largest vehicle markets, has an executive order to ban sales of new gasoline powered vehicles by 2035.The Tesla Model 3, which has a maximum range of 570 km (353 miles) according to the EPA, has been the world's best-selling electric vehicle (EV) on an annual basis since 2018, and became the world's all-time best-selling electric car in early 2020. Earlier models with widespread adoption include the Japanese Mitsubishi i-MiEV and the Nissan Leaf.
As of December 2019, the global stock of pure electric passenger cars totaled 4.8 million units, representing two-thirds of all plug-in passenger cars in use. In 2019, over half (54%) of the world’s all-electric car fleet was in China. Despite rapid growth, the global stock of fully electric and plug-in hybrid cars represented about 1 out of every 200 vehicles (0.48%) on the world's roads by the end of 2019, of which pure electrics comprised 0.32%. By the end of 2020 there were more than 10 million electric cars sold, an increase of 41% from prior year, according to an International Energy Agency report.

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  1. Algr

    Subzero Cold & Electric Cars

    So there is lots of news this year about electric car owners getting stuck in the cold. There was a highway where people were stuck for hours. Emergency services could deliver gasoline to trapped cars, but electric vehicles had to be abandoned at the side of the road. Commentators are calling...
  2. Khataro

    Automotive  Wheel + Trans diff + Torsion bar?

    I have a crazy idea to make a 4 motor EV, but ran into an issue: the motors I want to use have a gear reduction (transmission?) That has a differential built into it. I only need to use one side of each, but I don't want to weld or otherwise destroy the other side of it. (That way I can...
  3. S

    Does ECO mode in electric cars make sense?

    I just saw a video about an electric car which has an ECO mode. In ECO mode the car has less power. So let's say in normal mode the car has 100 kW and in ECO mode 60 kW. But why should the range of the car be greater if it has less power? Because as far as I know to reach a speed of v it...
  4. A

    Most efficient way to drive an electric car and why?

    Hello, I wanted to get a physics analysis of the best way to drive an electric car for maximum range. For example, would it be more efficient to drive on side streets at a slower speed of say 30 mph, or would it be better to get on the freeway and drive 60. Should I be accelerating as slowly as...
  5. hagopbul

    A question about how to protect a battery of an electric car?

    Hello all: I have a question about electric car battery ? What is the best charging method for the battery ? Is it high ampere charging or high voltage charging ? Thanks in advance H
  6. D

    Electric car and battery problem

    Homework Statement An electric car (mass 1560 kg) draws power from a set of 24 batteries. Each battery supplies 12 V, with storage 95 A·h. During a test of the vehicle, it is driven at exactly 45 km/h on a level road while experiencing a friction force of 240 N. (a) What is the horsepower...
  7. P

    Perpetually driven electric car

    I would think that using every bit of energy that a moving electric car produces, it would be able to sustain itself. Geared alternators on each wheel, pinwheels to use wind energy to power the interior electronics, plus solar panels. Even putting stators on the rims with a coil in the hub...
  8. J

    Automotive Wind Turbine on the grill of the car

    Hi, I'm currently in High school so I'm uncertain whether this could be feasibly possible. I read on another thread that Wind Turbine's produce too much drag to actually be beneficial to your car and energy. BUT, they all discussed the wind turbine being on the top of the car. I was thinking...
  9. jedishrfu

    News The Pros of Driving An Electric Car

    https://www.wired.com/story/even-more-evidence-that-electric-cars-could-save-the-planet/ There's a cool map showing mpg for electrics by state in the US based on how the electricity is being generated.
  10. Domenico94

    Electric cars -- Does periodic coasting help efficiency?

    Hi. I'm a student of electrical engineering, and I've always been interested in the idea of electrical cars, so I came up with a question: let's suppose we want to have a normal trip with car, and then we're not interested in going so fast with it. When we are driving in this condition, it isn't...
  11. R

    Automotive Towards the *fully* 3D-printed electric car

    An article from 2015: 3-D-printed car could hit streets next year. Chris Woodyard, USA TODAY 4:48 p.m. EST November 12, 2015 http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/cars/2015/11/10/3d-printed-car-local-motors-swim/75530830/ Several companies have come out with what they call "3D-printed" cars, but...
  12. Z

    Automotive Calculation of energy storage system for PEV

    Hi, My teacher asked that i should design a efficient energy storage system for a plug-in electric vehicle. I have no idea how i can use some equations for designing this type of car. The requirements are in below; Test cycle range: 140 miles Test cycle energy: 260Wh/mile at the output of the...
  13. Algr

    Gas Trailer for Electric Cars?

    So I was reading about Tesla's plan for battery swapping. I didn't think that was such a great idea, since you would be leaving behind something that was a good fraction of the cost of the car. Might there be a better way?: So, it's the future: You've been driving around town, and used up...
  14. Tom1211

    How much electricity can be produced from 3000 rpm?

    If your axel in you car was magnetic with copper wire casing would that produce electricity? If so how much? If there is no resistance in that process then there wouldn't be a detrimental effect on the performance (bar added weight of the wire) With the raising popularity of electric cars it...
  15. J

    Electric Car Advances: TSLA Here to Stay?

    A lot of people have been arguing that TSLA's stock/the company in general won't take off because the demand is above the battery technology at this time. I'm a junior in college studying physics but will probably either switch to finance and do stocks because i like it more or i was double...
  16. A

    Relation between Torque, Speed, power etc. respect to a electric car

    hey guys, I am building an electric go kart for a final project, and I'm just trying to get my initial justifications correct, with respect to the classical physics involved. SPECS: i was the car to be able to reach 15km/h, The total weight of the car will be approx 200kgs. the size of...
  17. ptownbro

    How much energy do batteries pass through an electric car

    I’m trying to figure out how to track the energy production from a battery to a motor as in an electric car. For example, the basic and primary components of an electric car are as follows: battery > controller > electric motor > driveline ====> car moves What I’m trying to figure out is...
  18. C

    Could a Tesla turbine recharge electric car battery?

    Assuming you have an electric car that can go 100miles at 70mph on a single charge, what kind of range could you get with the following configuration? An electric car that runs off the main battery bank. Vents on the outside of the car funnel air to a Tesla turbine while the car is in motion...
  19. S

    Motor Torque required for 4 wheel drive electric car

    Homework Statement There is 14 kg of mass kept on a chassis (consider chassis weightless). Chassis is having 2 identical rear wheels and 2 Steel caster ball wheels at front. Consider the weight distribution to be equal on each of the wheel. All wheels are coupled to a DC motor-gearbox (1:1)...
  20. P

    Electric car and its battery.

    Hello, (1) Is the below equation for calculating the maximum velocity for attaining the alleged maximum distance correct, i.e. at what speed should an electric car travel for it to cover the maximum distance? E of battery - (F rolling friction + F air drag)*(alleged maximum distance) =...
  21. J

    Kinetic Energy and Electric Car Power

    If we consider the kinetic energy of say a car like Nissan Leaf moving at its top speed we have : K.E. = 0.5 x M x V2 Given that M = 1521 kg, V (top speed) = 150 km/h ≈ 42 m/s K.E. (@ top speed) = 1,341,522 ≈ 1.34 x 106 J ... (1) [1?] What connection does this value have with the battery...
  22. C

    Homebuilt electric car Battery conundrum.

    Hi all. I planning to build an electric car at home. I have no expierence with electric vehicles but I studied physics at high school and know a fair amount about cars. After seeing homebuilt electric cars on you tube and elswhere I've been inspired to try bulid one also. I am going to try...
  23. B

    The probability of an electric car charging station being available

    Hi there, I'm just wondering if anybody would know of a way of determining the probability of an event. I trying to figure out how I could calculate the probability of a charging station for an electric car being available when a person arrives at their destination. I have the...
  24. A

    Automotive Electric car with the wind mill

    I am mechanical engineer and working on a project of electric car havin a wind mill on the top. i am using 7 lead acid batteries and a DC series wound motor. The car has a wind mill for the recharging of the batteries. I have read other thread on this forum which states that the wind mill on...
  25. D

    Hybrid/ Electric Car Wind turbine - REimagined

    I was reading an earlier post about having a wind turbine embedded in a vehicle to generate electricity as it moved. I came to this site after having this thought last night. But I realized immediately that drag and weight would be counterproductive. However, I did ponder an alternative...
  26. R

    Project on electric car to increase the battery back up

    hi friends i am working on project that is to generate electricity by using turbine which is integrated in the front portion of an electric car to charge the battery in turn which is used to propel the car. may i know how much efficient it is and what are the problems may occur to implement this...
  27. S

    Can an Electric Car Run Forever on a Slope with Rollover Power Generators?

    Hi, (Firstly, This is not a perpetual motion discussion. Nor am I suggesting anything of the sort. I'm just wondering where the energy losses enough to stall the system creep in.) ok, I was having a discussion at lunchtime which I didn't have an answer to , so I'll post it here: A...
  28. J

    EV1 vs Volt: Electric Car Range

    The EV1 was produced in 1996 and could get up to 150 miles on a single charge, "The NiMH batteries, rated at 77 amp-hours (26.4 kWh) at 343 volts, gave the cars a range of 75 to 150 miles (120 to 240 km) per charge, more than twice what the original Gen I cars could muster."...
  29. M

    Charge electric car from dryer plug?

    Hello, I was surprised to read today that one of the bigger impediments to electric cars coming to market is the fact that the 'quick' chargers require installation of a separate power line. Why? Every house, apartment, condo, etc in America pretty much has a 220 plug for the dryer. Why can't...
  30. W

    Electric Cars: Savings on Gas & Electric Bills?

    There's a lot of hype about saving money by buying a hybrid but what I want to know is if you save money in general and not just gas? I understand that you can get 100 or 200 extra miles per gallon but you still have to plug your hybrid into a power outlet. Are you saving money by paying more...
  31. G

    Fully Electric car with wind generators

    I'm pretty sure someone somewhere has already built one, I've gone over the concepts involved and it does seem both practical and possible. The idea is this: electric-powered car that is recharged by several wind-generators(essentially fans on the roof) that recharge the batteries once the car...
  32. M

    The electric car and the standard battery

    in fact, i want to ask, What do prevent the car companies to produce Standard Battery , and all companies use this SB in their cars, where the number of used SB will depend on the car specifications , by this method we can easily go to replace the batteries instead of stop the electric car and...
  33. N

    Auto/Motor Are my DIY Electric Car Conversions Correct?

    Ok, I am not sure if this is the right category to post this in but I am a mechanical engineering "sophomore" student and I want to try my own project, so here goes: I want to build a Go-Kart/Electric Car, I don't need everything to be perfect yet but I just want to make sure the calculations...
  34. Cyrus

    News Calculating the Oil Equivalent of Solar Energy Collected for a Hot Water System

    Interesting little video: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2548496593303272917&ei=a9DqSPGUMImwrQKw3cmZAQ&q=WHO+KILLED+THE+ELECTRIC+CAR
  35. S

    Revolutionizing Electric Cars: A New Innovative Idea

    new? electric car idea...! Hey guys, I don't have any formal education in engineering (yet :D) but i think i have had a reasonable (and original??) idea for powering electric cars and I was wondering if it could possibly work. Here goes... My idea is to have some sort of magnets in an...
  36. X

    Electric Car Internal Design & Engines

    Anyone with any idea about the basic internal design & engines in an electric car?
  37. C

    What is the typical weight difference between gas and electric car engines?

    Hello everyone. Currently my brother and I are considering converting a gas engine car into an electric engine car. I'm still not exactly sure how well the vehicle we have chosen for this project will work. The main issue I'm worried about is weight. So, I was wondering if, in general, a...
  38. G

    Electric Car Help: Calculating Horsepower Needed

    electric car help :) A projected electric vehicle makes use of storage batteries as its source of energy. Its mass is 1560 kg and it is powered by 24 batteries, each 12 V, 95 A hr. Assume that the car is driven on level roads at an average speed of 32.4 km/hr and the average friction force is...
  39. S

    News How Can Waste Heat from Power Plants be Used to Produce Hydrogen?

    I had the pleasure of watching "Who Killed the Electric Car" in a speak easy theatre yesterday. I highly recommend it. The lengths that GM went to to make sure none of the EV-1's survived are incredible. If you haven't seen the movie go do so. If you have seen it let's talk about the...
  40. B

    Take care of the environment and buy an electric car

    I am concerned about our environment, and do my best to keep it clean as much as possible. I am going to buy a car soon, and I am looking for an electric car. When I was doing my O'levels, I learned about electromagnetic induction, producing an electric current from changing magnetic field...
  41. S

    Tesla's Electric Car: Can it Run Forever?

    I just read an article about Tesla's Electric CarLink The Car supposedly can run forever and does not need charging. It in effect runs on free energy. The article seems absurd but I thought that considering Tesla made this, there might be some substance to it. What do you think? Is it...
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