Electric Vehicles
What is an electric car?
Electric cars are propelled by electric motors. No other engines are used by the vehicle for propulsion.
Although electric vehicles in general do not require a battery (trains, trams and trolley buses) electric cars do.
How do they work?
The wheels are either powered by an electric motor in each of the wheels themselves or, more commonly, a single central electric motor is connected to the wheels through a transmission. Electric vehicles get all their power from a battery, which is recharged as needed from an external source.
Unlike a conventional engine, an electric motor works efficiently at a wide range of speeds, so an electric car does not need a gearbox. Also electric motors may be used to slow the vehicle and pass the energy back to the battery. When an electric vehicle has its motors in the wheels there is no need for a transmission. This makes more space available and reduces that weight of the car. A lighter car is more fuel efficient and less dangerous when in a collision with a pedestrian.
Where can you buy them?
The main supplier of non-commercial electric vehicles is GoinGreen, who produce the G-Wiz model, and Nice Cars
How can you use them?
Because their power source, a battery, is currently much heavier than the power source of a conventional car, the fuel tank, electric vehicles are more limited in their range (the distance they can travel between recharges of the battery). For example, it takes about one ton of batteries to store as much energy as seven kilos of petrol. Electric cars are well suited to city driving but cannot be used for long distances.
There are a small number of public recharging points, but in general it will help if you have the ability to park them off road and recharge them from a standard power socket in your house.
The EV Network is a resource for electric vehicle (EV) users documenting the locations of all the public charge points in the UK. Additionally members can gain access to an additional pool of privately-owned charge points contributed by other members on a cooperative basis.
Electric vehicles are even more eco-friendly if the electricity used to charge the batteries comes from a sustainable source. People who would consider buying an electric car are bound to have a green electricity supply already.
Advantages
- In environmental terms, probably the best car option around especially if the electricity it uses comes from renewable sources.
- Zero emissions from the car itself makes it a saint in the city.
- Extremely quiet
- Exempt from the London Congestion Charge and has zero road tax.
- Cheap to run at roughly a penny per mile and generally lower maintenance costs than conventional vehicles.
Disadvantages
- Generally low top speed (although electric cars have surprisingly quick acceleration, so they can keep up with city traffic without any difficulty).
- Limited range and lengthy recharging times means they are not suitable for long journeys.
- The batteries cause pollution problems when the time comes to dispose of them.
