ELECTRIC
CAR
The attention on electric cars was focused in the wake of the search for alternative fuel for automobiles. In the electric car, the engine is
replaced by an electric motor which gets electrical energy from a set of
batteries.
The main advantages of an electric car are its noise-free operation,
rapid acceleration and no atmospheric pollution due to the absence of exhaust
fumes. However, there are many disadvantages also:
The range is
limited to about 60-70 km because of the need to recharge the batteries.
The top
speed is quite low (about 60 km per hour)
The life of batteries is quite short, which means very high
replacement costs. Thus it is found that it is much more expensive per
kilometer run compared to the conventional petrol-engine car.
HYBRID
CAR
This is an improvement over the electric car, which uses a petrol
or diesel engine along with an electric motor powered by lead-acid batteries. There
are two types of hybrid systems have been employed.
Series system
In which an engine-driven generator is employed to recharge the
batteries, while the electric motor drives the car. In this way, the range of
the car is extended. However, this system involves significant mechanical–electrical–mechanical conversion losses and is thus very inefficient.
Parallel system
In which the heat engine is directly connected to the electric motor.
Thus not only does it increase the car range nut also supplements the electric
motor to produce increased power when required. This recharging of batteries, however, has to be done only at home when the car is not in use.
Tags
technology