Self-Parking System

Parking a car in parallel is a nightmare for many drivers, but with limited parking space, pulling off a car into a tiny space is a vital skill. A new technology arises that cars can park themselves. Instead of struggling to maneuver your car back and forth, you simply press a button, sit back, and relax, the car can park itself. This technology is used for collision avoidance systems and ultimately in self-driving cars.

Most automakers had started marketing in self-parking technology. Parallel parking is often the most feared part of the driver’s test, people who live in big cities may have to do it every day. Removing the difficulty, stress and uncertainty of this chore is very appealing.

The difficulty of parallel parking leads to a lot of minor dents and scratches to the car. Self-parking technology would prevent many of these mishaps. It can also save money, since you won’t have to worry about insurance claims for parking-related damage.

Self-parking Technology – Working

Self-parking cars currently on the market are not completely autonomous, but they do make parallel parking much easier. The driver still regulates the speed of the vehicle by pressing and releasing the brake pedal. Once the process begins, the on-board computer system take over the steering wheel.

The car moves forward into position beside the front car, and a signal lets the driver know when he should stop. Then the driver shifts the car into reverse and releases the brake slightly to begin moving backward. Using the power steering system, the computer turns the wheel and perfectly maneuvers the car into the parking space. When the car has backed far enough into the space, another signal lets the driver know that he should stop and shift the car into drive. The car pulls forward as the wheels adjust to maneuver it into the space. A signal tells the driver when parking is complete.

These self-parking systems have different ways of sensing the objects around the car. Some have sensors distributed around the front and rear bumpers of the car, these sensors transmit signals, which bounce back from objects around the car. Other sensors uses the amount of time that those signals to return back which depicts the location of the objects. Others systems have cameras mounted onto the bumpers or use radar to detect objects. However, The end result is the same.

To conclude, self-parking system seems luxury at the moment. A car that can take control of the wheel to park itself was actually the next step in the evolution of automotive technology.

Electric Cars – Batteries

Many people think that electric vehicles are the future of automotive, But the fact is they aren’t futuristic at all. Electric vehicles have been around since the first half of the 19th century. However, even now in the 21st century, internal combustion engines still rule. The reason behind this fact is the batteries.

Battery is the heart of an electric car. Unlike the other batteries in all cars which serve to start the engine and run accessories like music players and air conditioners, the battery in an electric car runs everything. Primarily the electric powertrain and controller which in turn runs the electric motor. so it is required to be powerful and long-lasting enough to take drivers where they need to go with a minimum of recharging.

Till date, There is no reliable, mass-producible batteries manufactured, that could make electric cars competitive with conventional cars. Though these cars are not feasible, they’re now expected to start rolling off the assembly lines of major automakers.

Battery – Working

Battery is a device for storing chemical energy and converting that chemical energy into electricity. Battery is made up of more electrochemical cells, each consists of electrodes. One is the negative which has an more number of the tiny, negatively charged subatomic particles called electrons. The other, called the positive electrode, has a deficit of electrons. When the two halves are connected by a cable, electrons will flow from the negative electrode to the positive electrode. We call this flow of electrons electricity. The energy of these moving electrons can be harnessed to run a electric motor.

Eventually, when there are as many electrons on the positive side as on the negative side, the battery is considered ‘dead’ and is no longer capable of producing an electric flow. If the battery was rechargeable one, then there are few chemical reactions that generates electrons. And there are many different chemical reactions that are used in commercially available batteries.

Types of Batteries used:

Automakers have identified three types of rechargeable batteries suitable for electric cars.

• Lead-acid batteries – (128.7 km) per charge
• Nickel metal hydride (NiMH) batteries – (193.1 km) per charge
• Lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries – (354.1 km) per charge

Lead-acid batteries are the oldest form of rechargeable battery still in use. They’ve been used in all types of cars since the 19th century. The name comes from the combination of lead electrodes and acid used to generate electricity in these batteries. The major advantage of lead-acid batteries is that they are cheaper to manufacture. However, they produce dangerous gases while being used. Also, if the battery is overcharged there’s a risk of explosion.

Nickel metal hydride batteries have a high energy density that is, a great amount of energy can be packed into a relatively small battery and don’t contain any toxic metals, so they’re easy to recycle.

Lithium-ion batteries have a very high energy density and are less likely to self discharge (batteries to lose their charge when not being used). Because of their light weight and low maintenance requirements, These batteries are widely used in electronic devices such as laptop computers. This type of battery is the best suits for powering the electric cars of the near future. A variation on lithium-ion batteries, called lithium-ion polymer batteries, may also prove valuable to the future of EVs. These batteries may eventually cost less to build than lithium-ion batteries; however, at the present time, lithium-ion polymer batteries are prohibitively expensive.

Recharging the Batteries:

If you’re running out of charge in your electric car, you can’t just make a stop at the local petrol bunks, unless they have a provision of electric plug in recharge. Recharging the large array of batteries in an electric car can take several hours, and most petrol bunks would prefer that you didn’t block their area for that long.

The best solution is to take the car home in the evening and plug it in, similar to the way we might plug in our mobile or music player, so that it can recharge overnight. Now all electric cars comes with charging system that allows to recharge from a standard electric socket. So that You can hit the road in the morning after the charge.

Disadvantages:

• The electricity used to recharge EV batteries has to come from somewhere, and right now, most electricity is generated by burning fossil fuels which produces pollution.
• Unlike fuel powered cars, a battery drained electric car will be no use for several hours until it is recharged.

In conclusion, faster recharging technology may become available in future. However, electric cars are not the better choice for long trips. Most driving is done relatively close to home. A possible solution to the recharging situation is battery-replacement stations, where instead of charging your EV you can simply swap your drained battery for a fully charged one. This system allows batteries to be recharged outside of vehicles and would greatly reduce the amount of time.

Electric Cars – Conversion

Electric car is one of the interested and most popular thing nowadays. Though there are hybrid cars, Electric power train have become popular for the users wanting to save money for the fuel. Also, to support government in reducing their emissions.

Idea of Conversion:

Daily reports about auto industry shows its transformation to cope with new and alternative technologies to pick up their sales, but still electric vehicles only exist as prototypes and concepts. It is not about the idea that doesn’t work. In fact, electric cars have a long history. For instance, Edison worked on plans to make an efficient, long-lasting battery that could power vehicles, but he eventually abandoned it.

In recent times, there are few examples of electric vehicles, Toyota Rav4 and the Tesla Roadster for example, but they are too expensive and tough for mass-production.

Few people who are passionate about electric cars and the technology behind it have taken the matter into their own hands. Instead of waiting around for the companies to produce electric cars, some people converted their conventional cars (Powered by a gasoline engine) into electric ones. The rest who don’t have the technical knowledge and want to pull off such conversion, can do a little search on the Internet, might come across advertisements for special electric car conversion kits.

Difference between Conventional car and Electric car:

Before conversion, it is important to know the differences between Electric cars and Conventional cars. Firstly, the conventional ones possess internal combustion engine uses many moving parts in it. These parts are set into motion when fuel burns, creating energy that moves a series of pistons and rods. The linear motion provided by the pistons and rods is converted into rotary motion at the crankshaft. The rotary motion is transferred through the transmission, driveshaft, differential, axle and eventually the wheels, which moves the car.

An electric car, on the other hand, has three key elements as discussed in the previous article “Electric Cars- Internal Working”,

• Electric motor
• DC Controller
• Batteries

An electric motor is entirely different from a combustion engine. It doesn’t burn fuel and it has only one rotating element. The motor runs with the help of a controller, which gets its power from a set of batteries. If vehicle is hybrid, which operates with both an electric motor and combustion engine. But pure electric cars are plug-in vehicles and use extension cords to take power.

Installing a Conversion Kit:

A Combustion engine is built of pipes and hoses, whereas an electric motor relies on a complex connection of wires. Installing an electric car conversion kit often involves ripping out that pipes and hoses, which includes the engine, transmission, gas tank and exhaust system and replacing it with an electric motor, controller and battery array.

Most people don’t have the experience to perform this task, few companies are offering various kinds of conversion kits that put everything into one neat package.

Types of Conversion kits:

Different types of electric conversion kits are available. Some are meant for specific automakers. For instance, A recent firm offered the first mass-produced aftermarket electric conversion kit. Which is a device they call a range extender module turns the popular hybrid car into a plug-in hybrid. Instead of generating electric power with the help of the combustion engine, the module can plug in to any 120-volt house current and fully charge within just four hours. The Kit also adds a bigger battery carries 5,000 watt-hours of electric power.

Despite the benefits, few other drawbacks to be considered. As this is an initiative, the kit was a bit expensive. Also need to visit the nearest authorized dealer for a proper installation, whom are low count in the market which also costs extra charges for installation.

Most of the Automakers are not convinced about these conversions because they are uncertain how truly they are working in the normal cars. Few parts from conversions could interfere with parts on the conventional vehicle and cause related systems to fail.

Before thinking of electric car conversion, it would be best to talk to car mechanic to know if the conversion is possible for the vehicle. Unfortunately, many conversion kits come with guides. Also, some interesting stuff in Internet shows step by step procedures to do manual.