Electric Cars refers to cars that are propelled by electric motors using battery power only. These types of cars don’t have internal combustion engines such as the petrol and diesel powered engines.
Some electric cars still come fitted with internal combustion engines, but only for emergency use.
Electric cars are growing in popularity as these types of cars now enjoy about 9% of the market share in car sales.
Electric cars are Green,but are still more expensive than their internal combustion counterparts, although they are expected to be much cheaper in the long run due to lesser maintenance costs.
Some facts to know about Electric cars.
Car Weight
Electric cars generally weigh more than their internal combustion counterparts, this is due to their large battery sizes. Electric car batteries weigh more than 25% the total car Weight.
Battery
Electric car batteries are large and powerful. These batteries can hold about 60kWh of energy, enough to power a whole house for 2 days, in fact they can be connected to the power grid to provide extra power during peak periods.
Recharging
Recharging time for electric cars to reach full charge can be up to 2 hours using charging stations. although it can take 15 minutes to reach 80% of full charge . If you are charging at home, charging overnight can bring your car from 0 to full charge using it’s standard charging device. You can also charge your electric car with an ordinary wall socket but charging will be very slow.
Mile range
Most modern electric cars can travel over 200 miles ( 321 km) on a single full charge. The Tesla model S long range plus can travel up to 390 miles that is 627km on a single full charge!
Control
The car control and gear structure is similar to that found in petrol/ diesel powered cars although the electric car does not necessarily need to adopt this structure.
Cost
Price of electric cars starts from around $30,000. Much costlier than it’s internal combustion engine counterparts.The battery is part of what makes electric cars expensive. As the batteries become cheaper, so will be the cost of these cars.
Environmental impact
Electric cars do not emit dangerous and volatile gases that harm the environment as internal combustion cars do, these cars also have very quiet operation, meaning no or minimal noise pollution.
Safety
Electric cars are very safe to drive. They have a heavier body structure which is an advantage. During accident situations they are likely to receive less damage and protect the occupants of the car.
However, they can catch fire like their internal combustion counterparts. This can happen in event of an accident or fault or a problem with the battery.
Forecast
The electric car is the future type of car that will dominate and eventually face out internal combustion engine cars.It has been predicted that by 2030, more than 30% of car driven around the world will be electric.