What is an Electric Vehicle?

What makes an electric car go?

All-electric vehicles (EVs) do not have an internal combustion engine therefore they do not have any requirement for liquid fuel and do not have a fuel line, or a fuel tank. They can also be known as "zero-emission" vehicles because they do not emit any exhaust fumes at all and do not even have a tailpipe!

These vehicle are powered by a large battery pack linked to an electric motor. To make them work you need to plug them in to a charging station, that you could have had installed at your home or one that you find when out and about. And then you have wait for it to "charge up" in the same way that you do for other rechargeable powered items.

There is also an "on board" charger on the vehicle which takes the energy from the charge port and converts it to power for charging the battery. And some vehicles have "regenerative" charging capability, which means that you can charge the battery whilst you are driving, depending on the way you drive the vehicle.

The purpose of the EV is to reduce emissions and to make owning and driving a vehicle as cost effective as possible, by making the most of technology advancements and improvements in efficiency and effectiveness in modern vehicles.

Is driving an EV different to driving a conventional car?

Yes.

Driving an electric car certainly feels different when you try it for the first time! The first thing you may notice is that it is almost silent, with engine noise only apparent when you are going fast and you get the wind and tyre sounds you are used to.

And no.

Apart from that, EVs drive in a similar way to cars you may be used to. They usually have an automatic transmission, and are therefore very easy to drive. But what is exciting about them, is that they have lots of "grunt" or "torque" from a standing start, which means that when you want to accelerate quickly, you really can feel the power and performance.

Are electric cars safe to drive?

EVs have to adhere to the same safety regulations as conventional vehicles and if they are tested by the independent safety body EuroNCAP they undergo all the same tests as any other vehicle. The Audi e-tron and the Jaguar I-pace both have a 5 star NCAP rating.

Can you recharge your vehicle when you are on the move?

Yes you can, but the time it takes to charge an electric car depends on the model, how full you want the battery to be, and what kind of charger you are using. It can be less than an hour or as much as eight hours to charge an electric car fully. Some charging points, such as those at supermarkets, can be free to use. But the rapid charging points you can use at service stations usually charge for the electricity you use for a battery charge. It is possible to join a network such as Polar Plus, for which you pay a small monthly fee and then you can access many of their charging points for free.

How far can you go before you need to re-charge?

Each model can be different, so you do need to choose a model that is going to suit how you like to drive. But a driver can affect how far they can go with the use of heating or air-conditioning for long periods of time. Also driving really quickly for long spells or really fast acceleration can cut down how many miles a battery will last for. Some models include re-generative braking, which can make the battery last a bit longer. And the weather can have an impact - batteries do better in warm conditions!

What is regenerative breaking?

Regenerative braking captures energy that would otherwise be lost through braking and uses the motor (that continues to spin as the car slows down) as a generator to create electricity which recharges the battery. Hybrids and plug-ins tend to use regenerative braking too.

So what are the pros and cons of buying an electric car?