With the introduction of different types of internal combustion engines, the pollution level started to increase. From late 1980s to early 2010s the main source of this pollution were industries as well as automobile exhausts. To tackle the problem of pollution caused by automobiles the concept of hybrid systems was introduced which eventually evolved into the concept of electric vehicles.
What does it consist of?
These vehicles consist of a drivetrain which is solely driven by an electric motor. Different components are required in an electric drivetrain. These components vary with the type of motor used in the car. Battery packs are present inside the vehicle which store energy and then drive the electric motor. These battery packs come in different storage capacities based on the usage and options chosen by the consumer. A charging port is present instead of a fuel lid for electric vehicles. The commercial advent of electric vehicles was started by TESLA which is currently owned by Elon Musk.
The never-ending race:
Nowadays almost every automobile company is working or is planning to work on the production of their own electric car. The ones who have launched their products for the consumers are Ford, BMW, Nissan, Chevrolet, Ferrari, Volkswagen and KIA. You can also check our articles on the fake identity 2021
Motors used:
Now moving to the motors used in the vehicles, different companies use different systems. The major types of motors used are 3-Phase AC Induction Motor, Multi-Phase AC Induction Motor, AC Permanent Magnet Synchronous Motor and BLDC Motors. Now every company is using any of the above mentioned systems which are modified slightly according to their specific needs. There is one exception though which can be seen in Ferrari’s LaFerrari which uses Formula1 based HY-KERS system. This system is considered more towards a hybrid rather than a fully electric system but it is still worth mentioning.
Working:
Now moving towards the working of electric vehicles. The battery packs are charged using external chargers. Batteries then provide power to the motor. If the motor installed is AC based then there is also a DC to AC inverter present. The power is provided to the electric motor which in turn with the help of the transmission system drives the wheel. The system can be both front wheel drive and rear wheel drive varying from company to company. There is an electric controller present in electric vehicles which controls the flow of charge and a cooling system is also present for dissipation of heat produced. The major difference in the performance of IC engine based vehicles and electric vehicles is the abrupt power gained in electric vehicles. The system, being based on electricity, provides power much faster than an IC engine. That’s why nowadays hypercars and supercars are designed having both variants, electric as well as engine based.
Positioning of electric motors:
Now let’s move to the positioning of the electric motor. Electric motors can be used in two different setups, one where the motor is mounted between two front wheels and rear wheels and second where the motors are designed to be mounted inside wheel hubs. Most electric bikes use wheel mounted motors. McLaren is also working on a car having four motors which will be mounted behind each wheel of the car.