How an electric car or EV works

How does an electric car work?

If there is a technology that is taking giant steps in these times, it is that of electric cars. Thanks to brands like Tesla, everything indicates that this type of vehicle will be part of our daily life. To check it, you just have to see how much their sales grew already last year.

For this reason, at Actualidad Motor we want to make it clear how does an electric car work. You may have to decide whether to buy one sooner than you think. And when that time comes, it won't do any good to know what the spark plugs were or what the timing belt was.

When we tell you how a hybrid car works, we are already talking about electric motors, investors y batteries. This case is similar, only without the difficulty of having to coordinate with a traditional heat engine. In return, electric cars have to deal with the blissful autonomy and charging speed based on new developments and materials. A challenge that, for those of us who like cars, leaves us with a whole world of new technologies that were previously only seen in science fiction.

Electric motor

Nissan electric motor. How does an electric car work?

There are electric cars with a single engineand Nissan Leaf or Renault ZOE. there are with two enginesand Tesla Model S, which has one on each axis. There are even those who have four engines such as NextEV Nio EP9, which uses one to move each of its wheels. But, as different as these cars are from each other, they are based on a basic technology: that of move the motor by using magnetism. Furthermore, they all have ability to function as generators and they all have two main parts in common: the rotor and the stator. That as their own names indicate, one is dedicated to rotating while the other remains static.

Starting from this concept, each brand has chosen a type of engine depending on what you wanted to achieve. An engine for a sports car is not the same as for a small urban car that will not exceed certain speeds. Below we are going to describe what each type of engine is like and what cars have it.

Permanent Magnet Synchronous Motor

These types of motors stand out for their good performance to size ratio, the ease with which its speed is controlled, and the low noise and vibration that generate. In return they are somewhat more expensive than other types of electric motors.

Opel Ampera-e. How does an electric car work?

They can be of two types: axial flow or radial flow. The former allow coupling directly to the wheel as the protean engines and the latter are the most used due to their simplicity of implementation. Some of the current electric cars that use permanent magnet synchronous motors are:

  • BMW i3
  • BYD-E6
  • Citroen C-Zero, the Peugeot iON and the Mitsubishi i-MiEV (which are essentially the same car)
  • hyundai ioniq electric
  • kia soul electric
  • kia niro electric
  • Nissan Leaf
  • Opel Ampera-e
  • Porsche Mission E
  • smart electric
  • Volkswagen e-Golf
  • Volkswagen e Up

Switched Reluctance Synchronous Motor

these engines they offer a lot of torque, are robust and cheap to manufacture, but the final power they yield is less than that of others. They work thanks to the fact that the current is commuting in the stator coils, thus forming a magnetic field that rotates and causes the movement of the rotor. Electric cars that use switched reluctance synchronous motors are the Renault ZOE, the Kangoo EV and the Fluence.

Renault ZOE. How does an electric car work?

induction motor

The advantages of these motors are that they have a high efficiency, reliable, low noise and offer constant torque from low revs. Also its manufacturing cost is low for the benefits achieved. They work differently from the previous ones, mainly because the speed of the magnetic field of the stator does not correspond to that of the rotor. Hence they are also called asynchronous. Electric cars that use induction motors are:

  • Mahindra Reva
  • You see Zero
  • Tesla Model 3, Model S, Model X and Roadster

Electric car

Battery

Unlike hybrid cars, the battery is the sole power source for electric cars. Therefore, its size and capacity is much greater than that of those. To give you an idea, just put the numbers on the table. While a hybrid like the Prius It has a battery that does not reach 2 kWh, that of an electric vehicle like the Tesla Model S reaches 100 kWh.

This huge difference is reflected in the architecture change of electric cars. For example, Tesla cars have the battery along the entire floor of their cars. While the Prius has them located under the rear seats. This, added to the lack of a conventional motor, makes electric cars very different.

The elements that are usually used for these batteries are lithium ion (Li-Ion), nickel-cadmium (Ni Cd), nickel metal hydride (Ni-MH) or lead-acid (Pb). Although the latter are no longer commonly used. Energy management is a determining factor for its durability and autonomy, but work is also being done on other materials to improve its capacity. For example, batteries solid electrolyte or those of graphene.

If you want to know more about batteries do not miss the article on batteries and the evolution of these vehicles.

Inverter, charger and transformer

The function of all these components is the same: convert direct current to alternating current, and vice versa. This is because the battery is powered by the former, while the motor and other components such as air conditioning, multimedia equipment and the like are powered by the latter. The conversion between these elements is handled by the inverter.

electric car charger

To this difference in current we must add that plugs that we have in any of our houses is alternating current. For them are the transformer or charger. Its difference is that the first one is housed inside the car, while the second one goes outside it.

Difference Between Alternating Current and Direct Current

Direct Current (DC)

It is the easiest to understand because the electrons move through the wire like a river. That is, always in the same direction. For this reason it is the one that accepts the batteries. Electricity enters them to be stored as in a dam.

Alternating current (AC)

In alternating current the electrons do not go in one direction. They go forward and then backward alternating with a certain frequency. As you can understand, this system would not make much sense to charge a battery. Putting electrons in and then taking them out would not be very efficient. However, it is suitable for moving motors.

Knowing this, one wonders: Why are DC motors not used? The reasons are several, but it is mainly due to the fact that the alternating current ones are cheaper since they tend to work better continuously. There are only a few prototypes from brands like Honda in which DC motors have been used.

computer or controller

To manage all these systems is the controller. It is in charge of ensuring that everything works correctly and would be the equivalent of the car's control unit. In some electric cars the computer is very sophisticated, since it is also in charge of driving aid or autonomous driving systems and other systems such as the browser and multimedia systems. This is the case with Tesla cars.

Since the engine can also work as a generator, this system is also the responsible for managing the bidirectional relationship between the battery and the motor or the engines. In addition to the operation of energy recovery systems such as regenerative braking.

If you want to know more about this type of car, do not miss the article on electric, hybrid and plug-in hybrid cars best sellers in Spain.

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      Ricardo said

    Can someone tell me which car is the one that appears in the first photo? (the white one) because that part of the back does not look like a tesla to me.