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.

Diesel Hybrid Vehicles – Explained

An old car with diesel engine got Its rattling engine can be heard from a mile away as the driver must downshift to climb a hill with clouds of black smoke in atmosphere. A diesel engine we say its Noisy, dirty, unreliable and often under powered.

But, Modern diesel engines are cleaner, more powerful, and more reliable than ever before. In fact, some offer incredible mileage.

Can automakers make diesel-hybrid?

A diesel engine and a gasoline engine are both are internal combustion engines. They both burn fuel to drive pistons, and they both have the same result. They provide the power that eventually turns the vehicle’s wheels.

However, diesel engines are typically more efficient than gasoline. There are a few mechanical differences between the two. Firstly, diesel engines do not have spark plugs, they got air compressed within the combustion chamber at high pressure. Today’s diesel engines use direct injection which means the fuel is injected directly into the cylinder.

Compared to gasoline, diesels are more fuel efficient, produce more torque and they tend to be more durable. On the other hand, they are often noisier, harder to start in cold weather and are more expensive than gasoline engines.

Hybrid vehicles, which is the combination of the attributes of a gasoline vehicle with an electric vehicle to achieve higher levels of fuel economy than a combustion engine.

The two power sources in a hybrid car come together in different ways.

Series hybrid: Gasoline engine is responsible only for charging the batteries. It is not directly responsible for turning the wheels of the vehicle. The engine turns a generator, the generator charges the batteries and the batteries power the vehicle’s electric motor to make the wheels turn.

Parallel hybrid: The vehicle can be powered by either one of the two power sources. The power source uses either the gas-powered engine or the electric powered motor and is dependent upon the current conditions, or rather what the driver is asking the vehicle to do.

If you want more information on Hybrid vehicles, you will get more data of hybrid technology in my upcoming articles.

“Hybrid technology can be applied to any sort of powertrain. From the perspective of a hybrid, it makes no difference.” – Dave Buchko from BMW.

A Hybrid with a diesel engine wouldn’t be all that different from one with a gasoline engine. Although diesel engines have higher compression ratios and generate more torque than gasoline engines. However, cost may be a discouraging factor. Both hybrid cars and diesel cars are more expensive than the same vehicles with gas engines.

since many diesel engines get similar fuel economy to some hybrids, a clean diesel makes a hybrid unnecessary. Few automakers say “If you got a diesel with a particulate filter, why would you need a hybrid?”.

Diesel – Hybrid Working:

A diesel already achieves fuel economy superior to a gasoline engine. Also, it is easy to see that adding a hybrid component to it can significantly boost mileage. Both diesel engines and electric motors have reputations for generating enormous amounts of torque.

The electric motor provides enough power to get the vehicle moving from a standing start. Once the vehicle is in motion, the diesel engine will only engage at higher speeds, or if extra acceleration is required. To further improve fuel economy.

All things considered, this concept provide excellent performance, durability of Diesel-Hybrids, and great fuel economy. However, automakers are not ready to produce diesel-hybrid vehicles because of their higher cost factor, but as fuel prices climb, a diesel hybrid just may be in your future.

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.