Electric Car Technology
Nidhi Bhat
An electric car has a battery (usually lead-acid), a charger for recharging the battery from an electrical outlet, and a controller (connected to the accelerator pedal) for directing the flow of energy from the battery to the motor. The motor of the car harnesses the battery’s electrical energy through this controller, transfers it to kinetic energy, which makes the car move. Like the internal-combustion engine of today’s cars, the electric car has a system of gears, shafts, and joints (a power train) which transmit motion from the motor to the car’s wheels. But, unlike many conventional cars, electric cars don’t have clutches or multispeed transmissions. In order to go forward or backward, the driver flips a switch and the flow of electricity is reversed. Most electric cars have regenerative braking systems, which conserve the battery’s power by transferring the kinetic energy back to electrical when pressure on the accelerator has been released. This conversion of energy slows the car. Electric cars also have a brake pedal and a traditional braking system, which slows the vehicle by stopping the wheels from turning, for quick and emergency stopping.
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