An article summarizing the difference in operating principle between gasoline and electric cars.
How do classic gasoline cars work?
Internal combustion engines used in classic cars simply operate through small explosions caused by fuel mixing with air and igniting. These small explosions push the pistons. The crankshaft converts the resulting linear movements into circular movements, that is, rotation. This is what makes the wheels turn.
How do electric cars work?
An electric car has an inverter. Lithium ion batteries come into play here and produce direct current and send it to the inverter. The number of batteries in electric cars reaches several thousand. The purpose of having so many is to provide the required amount of energy to the vehicle and to provide healthy cooling by expanding the surface area. The heat produced by batteries is high. For this purpose, a radiator acts as a cooler.
Specially speaking for cars using induction motors
The inverter converts the direct current from the batteries into alternating current. 3-phase alternating current is applied to the induction motor consisting of stator and rotor. The rotor is a moving part. Alternating current produces a rotating magnetic field through the coils in the induction motor (the number of poles will vary depending on the design). This field allows the rotor to rotate around its own axis. By changing the amplitude and frequency of the alternating current, it is possible to increase or decrease the number of revolutions of the rotor, which is the mechanism that controls the speed of the vehicle. If the phase of the current is changed, the rotor starts to rotate in the other direction. This makes the job of reverse gear easier.
The power produced by the induction motor is transmitted to the wheels from here. Again, as in classic vehicles, this is mediated by the differential and transmission, but an open differential is used to withstand the torque of the rotational movement.
A typical electric car operates with a single pedal. These vehicles, which normally have 2 pedals, do not have a clutch and the number of pedals to be used can be reduced to 1 via a button. This pedal only works as an accelerator pedal. To slow down, simply take your foot off the pedal. In this way, the vehicle gradually slows down and eventually stops, but it would be more logical to use both pedals because in cases where sudden braking is required, a single pedal does not provide the required quickness and you may crash into anything.
The part that operates the single pedal system is the rotor. When the vehicle is driving, the speed of the rotor is lower than the speed of the magnetic field. When you want to slow down by taking your foot off one pedal, the inverter is activated and the speed of the rotor is increased to exceed the speed of the rotating magnetic field. During this time, extra energy is produced and this is sent to the battery compartment and stored there.
The biggest obstacles to the widespread use of these vehicles are currently the number of charging stations, the energy the batteries will provide, and the time it takes to charge them. While the charging time can be up to 1 hour in fast charging mode, the charging time of vehicles without fast charging may take up to 10 hours or longer. Moreover, it is generally not possible for the charge to last longer than a few hours.
In general, the lifespan of lithium-ion batteries can last the vehicle for up to 20 years.