Thursday, August 8, 2013

Are pure electric cars and plug-in hybrid electric cars easier and cost less to maintain? Do they still have?

best all electric cars 2012
 on Apreli: Exotic Sports Cars
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Edward


radiators, spark plugs, motor oil? When the battery in a plug-in hybrid electric car runs low, does the car automatically start the onboard generator without the driver doing anything? How long does it take to recharge a electric car to travel 15 miles roundtrip to work?


Answer
Electric cars are operated by electric motors. This is a fundamentally different engine than the heat producing internal combustion engine. They are essentially permanently lubricated and therefore don't require oil changes for the engine. Electric motors do not burn a fuel so do not require spark plugs. They are rotary engines so operate virtually vibration free and silent so do not need tune ups or mufflers. Commercial vehicles like the Nissan Leaf have regenerative braking so they are very light on the traditional brake system causing far less maintenance. One owner of a RAV4ev said that he did not have to perform any vehicle maintenance for over 5 years.

"Pure electric cars" as the term is used are battery electric cars that do not have a traditional engine or a generator. The power is transmitted to the vehicle and stored in batteries. Some electric vehicles may have a radiator that is used for liquid cooling of the battery system. The volt does but the Leaf has an air cooled battery system.

Some vehicles like the Volt are closer to series hybrids than a pure electric car. They have an electric motor that is the primary mover for the vehicle. They also have the traditional engine with all its associated maintenance. They never require charging to operate but the batteries will only last about 40 miles. After this the engine starts a generator automatically to continue the operation of the electric motor.

Parallel hybrids like the Prius are never plugged in and charge the vehicle when less energy is needed to power the vehicle. All energy comes from the fuel. (although the 2012 version can be plugged in for some fuel savings.)

Electric cars economy and charge times will vary. The Nissan Leaf EPA rating is 34 KW-hr to travel 100 miles or .34 kWh /mile. A 15 mile journey would then require (15 x .34=) 5.1 kW hr. You need to add about 5% for charger inefficiency so the total charge required would be approximately 5.36 kWh. If charging from a standard wall outlet (15 amp {1} x 120 volt power supply = 1800 watts or 1.8kW ) then the total charge time should be (5.36/1.8=) approximately 3 hours. If charging from a single phase 220volt x 22.5 {1} amp power supply = 5400 watts or 5.4kW ) then the total charge time should be (5.36/5.4=) approximately 1 hours.

What are we going to do with all of the batteries generated from electric cars?




Pied Husse


From the article:

"the industry has not figured out how to dispose of 500 plus pounds of the highly hazardous lithum batteries per car."

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/01/09/electric-car-subsidies-transferring-wealth-from-poor-to-rich/



Answer
First of all, of course, any valuable elements of batteries will be recycled. Automotive batteries are currently the most consistently recycled product on earth.
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Secondly, lithium batteries simply do not contain anything very toxic. Below quote from http://www.myelectriccar.com.au/batteryeco.html
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QUOTE: "Lithium ion batteries are made from nontoxic lithium carbonate (often used in ovenware), nontoxic cobalt oxide (used as a pottery glaze), nontoxic graphite (used in pencils), and a polymer (plastic) membrane. The most toxic components in the final product are the electrolyte and lithium cobalt oxide, neither of which are persistant in the environment and both of which are increasingly being replaced by more benign compounds. "
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Unfortunately, the alternative - petroleum - is indeed quite toxic.




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