ELECTRIC CAR - AND - HYBRID CAR

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.