HOW AN ELECTRIC VEHICLE WORKS?

WORKING PRINCIPLES OF AN ELECTRIC VEHICLE

Internal Combustion Engine Vehicles (ICEVs) have continuously developed our society for years, but in the year 2020 Electric vehicles are the new evolution of vehicles in the technological era. In this article, we will share the working principle of electric vehicles and how they work.

Electric vehicles have a motor instead of Combustion Engines which are powered automatically by batteries, solar panels, or by converting fuel into electricity using fuel cells or by a generator also.

A simplified diagram of Electric vehicle

Electric vehicles have been re-evolving due to the development of technology and the increased focus on renewable energies are the potential reduction of transportation, which impacts environmental issues and climate change. 

Electric Vehicles (EVs) function by plugging into a charging point and taking electricity from the socket and storing the electricity in chargeable batteries that power an electric motor that moves the wheels forward or backward. The electric car accelerates faster than vehicles with an Internal Combustion engine or Fuel Engine. 

Electric Vehicles are just like automatic Internal Combustion Engines (normal cars) modes like D, N, P, and R, that move forward and backward without any gear system. When you place the vehicle in 'D' mode/ Drive mode and press on the accelerator paddle, the vehicle moves forward. 'Drive' mode is divided into two more modes, Sports mode, and Eco mode. 'N' is for neutral, 'P' is for parking, and 'R' is for Reverse mode which moves the vehicle backward.

For Electric Vehicle, electric motor power is converted from Direct current to Alternate current. The accelerator paddle sends a signal to the controller which is the speed of vehicles by changing the frequency of AC power from the inverter to the motor. The motor connects and turns the wheels accordingly, when the brakes are applied or while the vehicle is de-accelerating, the motor becomes an alternator and produces power, and is sent back to the battery, then it gets recharged and the cycle continues.

Block diagram of how Electric vehicle works

If you want to know how an electric motor works, you have to know about some of the physical elements. 

COMPONENTS OF ELECTRIC VEHICLE

INDUCTION MOTOR

Stator and Rotor are the powerhouses of the induction motor, the motor works with a physical process, that is using a current to create a magnetic field known as a stator and whose displacement sets of rotating parts known as a rotor, stator helps the rotor to move. Both the names themselves define their work. The stator is static and the rotor keeps rotating.

In a motor, the stator uses energy to create a magnetic field and then turns the rotor. A motor converts energy into mechanical energy while in Internal Combustion Engine thermal energy is converted into mechanical energy.

Inside view of an Induction motor

BATTERY

You will be surprised to know in the battery pack or the batteries which are used in EVs, is our daily use of lithium-ion batteries, which are placed in cell series or parallel connected to each other and produce the right amount of electricity to drive the electric vehicle. 

With the help of glycosheet, the tubes are placed in between cells/batteries. Instead of a big battery, the cell batteries are used to keep the cell cool. They reduce the thermal hotspot and get the temperature distribution also, which extends the battery life, these batteries are placed like that, so they can be replaceable if needed. 

In the battery pack, there are 16 modules with which 7000 battery cells are there. Batteries are placed below the car so that the gravity of the EVs remains downwards, due to which the car stays stable. 

The lithium-ion battery used in an electric car

  

POWER INVERTER

The power inverter functions to change the Direct current in the battery to an Alternative current, then AC is used by the electric motor. The inverter of an electric vehicle also has a function to change the AC current to DC current by a regenerative braking system to recharge the battery pack. Some electric vehicles use the bi-directional inverter category.

ELECTRIC TRACTION MOTOR

An electric traction motor helps in turning, the transmission and wheels using power from the traction battery pack while some vehicles use a motor generator that performs both drive and regenerative braking functions. A Brushless DC motor is generally used in electric vehicles.

POWER ELECTRONICS CONTROLLER

A Power Electronics Controller unit is a combination of a converter and inverter that recharges the traction battery pack and an Electric Vehicle during a regenerative braking system that develops kinetic energy. The flow of energy from the traction battery pack is controlled using a controller unit.

DC motor control system is used today in Electric vehicles to keep the cars down. Many electric vehicles use AC motor controller systems because of their improved motor efficiency and lightweight. 

DC-DC CONVERTER

DC-DC converter converts higher-voltage DC power from the traction battery to lower-voltage DC power that needs to run the accessories of the vehicle and recharge the auxiliary battery pack.

TRANSMISSION (Electric)

The Electric transmission transfers mechanical power from the electric traction motor to move the wheels forward.

  

 An Electric Vehicle and its parts

CONCLUSION

These are some of the important components that are being used in different types of electric vehicles. I hope this article has helped you to find the main components of electric vehicles. Please feel free to share your feedback in the comment section below.