First Step to Electric Vehicles
Basic information about electric vehicles
Hi everyone, I’m Furkan. I will try to write different topics in the electric vehicle industry from my own perspective. I am excited to share my first post on Medium. I hope you find it useful.
Plants convert solar energy into chemical energy through photosynthesis and a nuclear power plant aims to convert the energy in the atom into electrical energy. Energy is constantly changing on Earth, and people have transformed energy and used it for their own purposes in various tools in through human history. Cars are one of the vehicles that aims to convert different energy types into motion energy by using this dynamic of change.
In this article, I’ll be discussing with electric vehicles and fossil fuel vehicles, which are used today and have different advantages, with simple basics.
The fossil fuel vehicles used today obtain motion by burning the molecular energy in the fuel in a certain system. This movement starts in the vertical direction of the pistons and is converted to the rotation movement on the wheel. As a result of all these processes, it is a mandatory requirement that the vehicle can be controlled, reach the desired speed and be safe. In addition, reasons such as noise, vibration and lowering the quality of ride are problems of this type of engine. If we consider the fuel as an energy package, we take only 25% of the energy in this package from the engine.there are also serious losses in the driveline from the engine to the wheel such as the gearbox. 75% loss of energy is spent on problems such as heat and friction. Another problem that arises here is that unused energy must be kept under control with various systems and substances. This causes different energy losses. In addition, extraction, processing, storage and logistics of the fuel used pose different risks.
Although it is thought that it has nothing to do with our subject, the oil crises experienced have a devastating effect on the economies as well.
The most commonly used fuels are obtained from petroleum derivatives from the fossil reserves of the world. U.S. Energy Information data, 69% of the oil used in America in 2018 is used in transportation. Assuming that the fossil fuel vehicles have a 70-year history and although controlled emissions are attempted from every combustion process, it should make us think that the exhaust gases are circulating in the air we breathe now.
Electric vehicles, on the other hand, achieve the rotational movement in the wheels by transmitting the electrical energy stored in the large battery on them to the electric motor. Unlike fossil fuel vehicles, energy is produced outside, processed during charging, and the energy density loaded is low. Therefore, the biggest problem encountered in electric vehicles is the problem of charging time. Fast charging technologies are developing day by day. I would like to talk a little about the principle of fast charging ( I will discuss the details in another article). Mains electricity used in the houses flows as Alternating Current (AC). However, in order for electricity to be stored in batteries, it must be changed and converted to Direct Current (DC). A vehicle that is wanted to be charged at home or in a station without a fast charging feature has to convert the electricity it receives as AC to DC. The speed of this conversion process depends on the charger being charged, electricity in the infrastructure, and the vehicle’s characteristics. This is a bit different with DC charging. The electricity converted into DC is stored outside and transferred to the battery without any operation when the vehicle is connected. This minimizes waste of time. Investment costs of DC charging stations are high. So for now, it is not very common.
Electric vehicles can use the loaded energy with very little loss. Technologies that enable the existing energy of the vehicle to be stored and used again, such as the lack of mechanical parts, the efficiency of the electric motor and regenerative breaking, are the points that make electric vehicles efficient. Also EVs convert over 77% of the electrical energy from the grid to power at the wheels.
Electric vehicles do not have exhaust emissions. Air pollution rates are related to how clean the generated electricity is. Electricity produced from renewable energy sources is very valuable in terms of sustainability. The fact that charging technologies are increasing day by day and big investments in clean electricity production provide information about how the near future will take shape.
