Types of electric vehicles

Electric vehicles (EVs) are types of vehicles that use electricity as their primary source of energy, rather than gasoline or diesel. This type of vehicle is becoming increasingly popular due to its environmental benefits, as they produce zero carbon dioxide emissions while driving and can help reduce dependence on fossil fuels.

An electric vehicle is powered by a battery that produces electricity during use, which is used to power the electric motor that drives the vehicle. Electric vehicles can be charged simply by connecting to an electrical outlet or charging station (charger), and the range of the EV depends on the size of its battery, the efficiency of its electric motor, as well as the type of car.

Electric vehicles are available in a variety of forms, including passenger cars, buses and even planes and are becoming increasingly available as technology improves and reduces production costs.

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What electric vehicles are there?

When we say electric vehicles, the first thing that comes to mind is 100% electric vehicles, which get all their energy from the electricity stored in the battery. However, there are several types of electric vehicles (electric motor vehicles):

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Battery Electric Vehicle (BEV)

Or only electric vehicles are powered exclusively by an electric motor, and all the energy they get from an electric battery. They do not have an internal combustion engine and do not produce any harmful gases.

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Hybrid Electric Vehicle (HEV)

These vehicles also have an electric motor and an internal combustion engine. They can be powered by an electric motor, an internal combustion engine, or a combination of both. An electric motor is usually used to drive at low speeds, or to provide extra power when needed (usually when moving uphill).

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Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle (PHEV)

These vehicles are similar to "classic" hybrid electric vehicles, but they have a larger battery that can be charged by connecting the vehicle to a source of electricity. This allows the vehicle to drive long distances using only an electric motor.

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Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle (FCEV)

This type of vehicle uses fuel cells to generate electricity, which is then used to power the electric motor. A fuel cell usually uses hydrogen as fuel, and the only byproduct of a chemical reaction is water.

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Which vehicles can be charged with electric car chargers?

The only two types of vehicles with an electric motor, which have the ability to charge on chargers for electric cars, are pureelectric cars and plug-in hybrid electric cars. As noted above, plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEvs) have both a battery and an internal combustion engine (ICE).

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The battery capacity determines the range of the vehicle

The battery stores electricity that powers the electric motor in the vehicle, and the battery size determines the fully electric range of the vehicle, that is, how many kilometers it can travel only to electricity before the internal combustion engine needs to be switched on. The charging power of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles is the speed at which the battery can be charged and measured in kilowatts (kW).

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Charging power and how chargers affect charging power

The charging power of the PHEV may vary depending on the type of charging equipment used (type of charger, or socket) and the possibility of a built-in charger (onboard charger). For example, a PHEV with a built-in 3.3 kW charger can be charged at a maximum speed of 3.3 kW when connected to an AC charger with a type 2S (type 2S) connector, although the power of the AC charger itself is for example 22kW. Also, the charging speed can be lower when using a regular socket (more about charging modes, types of charging cables and the chargers themselves can be viewed here – let it be hyperlink to another blog).

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Smaller battery for less consumption

Generally speaking, plug-in hybrid electric vehicles have less battery and less charging power compared to all-electric vehicles (BEVs) and there are several reasons why this is so. Certainly one of the reasons is that a smaller battery makes the vehicle lighter which can improve fuel consumption, but also driving performance.

A smaller battery is cheaper to manufacture, and when you add that the vehicle also needs to be equipped with a classic internal combustion engine (mainly a gasoline engine) it can all make the vehicle more affordable for consumers.

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Who are plug-in hybrid vehicles for?

Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles are often designed to be used primarily for short trips, or as a secondary vehicle, and therefore it does not require as much battery capacity as for an all-electric vehicle.

However, the size and charging power of the PHEV can vary considerably depending on the manufacturer and model and it is important to take into account the size of the battery and the charging power when deciding which PHEV is right for you, as this will affect the fully electric range of the vehicle and how long it takes to charge the battery.

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Battery capacity - how is it calculated?

The battery capacity is expressed in kilowatt hours (kWh), and the most popular models on the market of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles have a capacity between 8 kWh and 16 kWh. If we consider that the average consumption in electric mode is about 20kWh for every 100km, we come to the conclusion that the average distance you can travel with a full battery is between 40km and 80km.

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Advantages and disadvantages of fully electric vehicles?

The disadvantage compared to THE PHEV is certainly the lack of an alternative if you stay on the road with an empty battery, because with PHEV you can continue driving with your petrol engine. The advantage is certainly a longer ride on electricity, because according to eu data from 2020, the average battery capacity is 50kWh, which means that full batteries can cover an average of 250km.

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Battery anatomy?

Of course, electric vehicles are mostly made with batteries with a capacity of between 20 and 100kWh and above, which can give you an autonomy of more than 500km. In order not to turn out that a larger amount of these lithium components is the only advantage, the power, or charging speed of electric vehicles, was taken care of.

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Charging electric vehicles

When an electric vehicle is connected to an AC charger with a type 2S (type 2S) connector, the charging speed can be between 3.7 and 22kW depending on the type of car, the type of charger, the available power at that point, etc. (you can see more about the charging speed of the electric vehicle here).

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Electric vehicle chargers and average charging speed

The average charging speed on the AC charger for your electric vehicle will probably be around 11 kW, which means that you will need just under 2 hours of charging for 100 km with an average consumption of 20kWh/100km. As you can afford this time only on special occasions (at home, at work, in the hotel...) it is necessary to charge faster, which dc chargers allow us.

These chargers are made for charging power between 30kW and 360kW (see our offer – Electric car chargers) which allows you to return to the road in a much shorter time interval. For example, charging on a 150kW charger can provide yourself with an additional 100km of driving in just 8 minutes.

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Conclusion

As you can see, this topic in the text above is just started, and already provides a lot of information, but also a lot of new questions that every customer asks himself when he decides to buy an electric vehicle. Although electric vehicles, despite government subsidies, are still more expensive than classic ones with internal combustion, they give you the opportunity to melt the price difference when buying while using the vehicle, primarily because of the price of the kilometer traveled. Last but not least, using these vehicles ensures cleaner air and a greener future for all of us and our descendants.

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