ELECTRIC CARS : How They Work

On the outside, most electric cars look exactly like gas-powered cars. You will notice that an electric car lacks a tailpipe and gas tank, but the overall structure is basically the same. Once you lift up the hood, however, the difference becomes dramatic. Instead of a huge engine and all of the things you would expect to be under the hood, all you will see is an electric motor and its controller. The electric motor needs no oil, no tune-ups, and since there is no tailpipe emissions, no smog checks.

If you look under the car, and sometimes in the trunk, you will see the Electric Cars power source: the battery pack. This battery pack is just a group of car batteries no different than the one that starts your gas-powered car. These batteries act as a "gas tank" and supply the electric motor with the energy necessary to move the vehicle. The controller acts as a regulator, and controls the amount of power received from the batteries so the motor does not burn out.
Everything else in the electric car is basically the same as its gas-powered equivalent: transmission, brakes, air conditioning, and airbags. In fact, many newer Electric Cars actually have a single battery under the hood in addition to the battery pack. This solitary battery is constantly recharged by the main pack and it powers all of the electronic devices in the car, just like the battery in a gas-powered car.

If you are planning on getting your own electric car, or building one in our Electric Cars Builder, there are a few things you should know about each component of an Electric Cars:
First of all, there are three major types of electric motors in Electric Cars today: DC Brushless, AC Induction, and the Permanent Magnet motor. Each has its advantages and disadvantages. The DC Brushless will offer the highest top speed, but the lowest acceleration. The AC Induction motor has the highest acceleration and an average top speed, but also has a higher price tag. The Permanent Magnet motor falls right in between the other two in both categories.
As far as batteries, Lead Acid are the most popular and the cheapest. They are also 97% recyclable. The Nickel-Metal Hydride batteries are smaller than the Lead Acid and give higher performance, but also cost much more. The Lithium Ion batteries give the best performance and range, not to mention being much smaller in size than the Lead Acid, but also come with the highest price tag. All types of batteries have to be completely replaced every 3 or 4 years.
Electric cars do not require any special tires, but because their range is very limited, it pays to buy the more expensive Low Resistance tires to increase your vehicle's range.

Carmakers have been constantly competing to produce a better charging system for Electric Cars, and there are currently two methods: Conductive charging and inductive charging. Conductive charging requires metal to metal contact and uses the electric current to charge the batteries. The Inductive charging process uses a much safer paddle which creates a magnetic field that charges the batteries. The Inductive charging system is more expensive, but is gaining much more support and may eventually replace Conductive charging completely.

Since Electric Cars use an electric motor, you can take advantage of the motor's momentum when you apply the brakes. Instead of converting all the potential energy in the motor into heat like a gas-powered car does, an electric car uses the forward momentum of the motor to recharge the batteries. This process is called regenerative braking. Although this process can only recover a fraction on the energy used to accelerate the car, it can increase the vehicle's range as much as 15%. You can still use a normal braking system on an Electric Cars, but the regenerative braking is worth the extra cost.

Finally, you must decide on a transmission. This will be mainly based on your preference, but a Manual transmission is more efficient than an automatic transmission.
Now that you have learned about the components of an Electric Cars, take a visit to our Electric Cars Builder where you can build your own Electric Cars in a few minutes.