You Might Never Own an Electric Car?

Will you ever own an electric vehicle? a question has been asked recently to the customers and the answer seems like it’s “no” or, generously, “maybe.” Out of all the answers only few answered “yes”. There are many factors that make people mentioned not to buy an Electric vehicle.

Nowadays, more automakers are dropping EVs into the market, which is obviously great for the environment. But we’re in the early days, and a car you have to plug in won’t be practical for everyone. Let’s break down why you should or shouldn’t get an EV.

Pro’s

• An electric car will save you money in the long run.
• lower maintenance – There’s no oil change required, brakes last almost forever if you use regenerative braking, and spark plugs, clutches and distributor caps are vestiges of the past.
• The electric instant-on torque alone should convince even the most die-hard petrolhead that an electric car is at least worth considering.
• Of course, the biggest advantage is becoming a greener individual.

Con’s

• Charge Infrastructure – That’s the biggest hindrance to purchasing an EV. If you don’t have access to a charger at home or at work, you’re going to be relying on public charging which are not deployed yet.
• Charge time – Charging up the battery of an electric car can take up to 2 hours, and a typical Quick charge takes a minimum of 15 minutes which is a greater disadvantage.
• Cost – EVs cost more than regular cars. There are tax credits, but those may go away in future as government officials focus on cutting taxes.
• Range (Km) – most cars right now get around 100 miles. If you have a 70-mile round-trip commute, you’re fine, but anything more than that and you’ll start feeling that range anxiety.

Who should buy an Electric Car:

EV’s can suit you if you have access to an overnight charger or one at work and your overall round trip is less than 70 miles a day. This is especially true if you live in an urban area or a suburb. Rural locations would also work, but it might be tough to find chargers in a pinch.

By the middle of the next decade, it’ll be tough to find a car that isn’t electrified in some way. Right now, though, the entire industry is in something of a transition period. Battery and electric motor technology will improve over time. But even now, there are some great electrified cars on the road like Tesla roadster etc., However driving an EV just feels great.

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.