Does Electric Cars Have Engine?

Polo Lu
on
April 29, 2024

One thing you'll notice about an electric vehicle is that it cruises silently down the street without leaving a trail of exhaust. Quiet performance is one of the reasons EVs are increasingly becoming popular. The other reason is zero emission.…

One thing you’ll notice about an electric vehicle is that it cruises silently down the street without leaving a trail of exhaust. Quiet performance is one of the reasons EVs are increasingly becoming popular. The other reason is zero emission.

The zero-emissions show EVs don’t have an internal combustion engine to burn fossil fuel. So, how do EVs cruise the street silently? EVs use a propulsion technology different from the one of gas-powered vehicles.

This post explores the propulsion system EVs use to drive on the streets. It also looks at the components that make up an EV. You’ll understand electric vehicles and how they operate after reading this post. So, read on for more information.

Electric cars use electricity stored in a battery pack to travel on the road. Since an electric vehicle doesn’t burn fuel, it travels with zero tailpipe exhaust. Many people like to see EVs as new products transforming our daily travels.

In addition to zero-emission, EVs have a lower price tag and consume fewer electrical units. These vehicles have a simplified powertrain that’s cheaper to produce and consumes less energy. The battery technology is also incredible for storing more power for your journey.

Electric Powertrain Basics

The powertrain consists of electric motors. These electric motors convert chemical energy in a battery pack underneath the floorboard to mechanical energy to spin the wheels. Electric motors don’t spin the wheels directly; they rely on transmission and differential to transfer power to the wheel axles.

The transmission optimizes the electric motor’s torque to provide enough power to the wheels. On the other hand, the differential distributes the torque to the wheels to ensure the wheels spin at the required speed.

When a vehicle corners, the differential sends more power to the outer wheels. More power to the outer wheels rotates them fast enough to cover a greater distance in less time! However, some EVs utilize in-wheel motors (a simplified drivetrain) for improved efficiency.

Battery Technology

Electric vehicles have a lithium-ion battery pack placed underneath the floorboard. Placing the usually heavy battery pack underneath the floorboard lowers the center of gravity, making the electric vehicle very stable, especially when cornering.

Also, this placement shields the battery pack from direct collision in an accident. The battery carries the energy that powers the electric motors. If the capacity is large, the battery pack can carry more energy and cover a greater distance on a single charge.

Besides the electric motors and a battery pack, electric vehicles have a few more essential components for their performance:

Power Electronics

With a complex network of electrical wires running throughout the vehicle, an EV needs a brain to know what happens where. The power electronics is the brain; it manages electrical flow from the battery pack to essential components such as:

Inverter

The inverter converts the battery’s DC power to AC for the electric motors.

High DC – Low DC Inverter

It steps down the high-voltage DC power to low-voltage DC power to power lights and your car’s infotainment system.

Battery Pack Charging Inverter

It converts the high-voltage AC power from the charging station to DC power, boosting your EV’s battery power.

Thermal Management System

Electric vehicles have a system of radiators connected to liquid coolant loops to collect heat from the battery pack and motors and dissipate, leaving the vehicle within optimal operating temperature.

Power-Generating Braking System

When you apply the brakes, the electric motors convert the vehicle’s kinetic energy into electrical energy. Instead of the brakes converting the kinetic energy into heat, they convert it into usable electric energy stored in the battery pack.

Electric Motor Role

It converts the battery pack’s chemical energy into mechanical energy to move the vehicle. During a slowdown, it also converts the vehicle’s kinetic energy to electrical energy.

Charging System

The system allows you to charge your battery pack at home or at a public charging station. You’ll hook your charger to this system and let the battery charge!

Electric vehicles and internal combustion engine vehicles are the only options you have for transportation on the road. But how does an electric vehicle stack up against traditional vehicles?

Engine vs. Motor

Traditional vehicles use an internal combustion engine (ICE) for propulsion. The engine has pistons that suck fuel and air into the cylinders; the pistons then compress this mixture to make it highly volatile. Spark plugs in a gasoline engine ignite the mixture, which explodes rapidly in the cylinders. The explosion moves the pistons that then turn a crankshaft driving the wheels.

An electric motor has fewer moving parts; it converts battery energy to mechanical energy that drives the wheels. Electric motors produce more torque at zero RPM, resulting in faster accelerations. However, traditional vehicles have higher horsepower; they take time to achieve high speeds but sustain higher speeds longer.

An electric motor is more energy efficient; it converts up to 85% of battery power into usable mechanical energy. Internal combustion engines only convert 25 – 30% of the fossil energy. Also, electric motors are much quieter than engines.

Fuel vs. Electricity

Fossil fuels such as gasoline and diesel are finite (can be depleted), while electricity is renewable. Fuels also have effects on the environment since they produce exhaust during combustion. The exhaust reacts with elements in the air to produce ozone and methane gasses that trap heat and cause global warming.

Electricity is very renewable as we can generate it from various sources such as solar, wind, and hydro. What’s more, electricity produces no exhaust when the motors use it to drive the wheels. Therefore, it’s a green solution to fossil fuels.

While you’d like to see EVs as the promising path to a greener future, you want to worry about their emissions and sustainability concerns. Also, you want to check their lifecycle.

Emissions and Sustainability

While EVs produce zero emissions, their environmental sustainability depends on the electricity source used to charge the battery pack. If the electricity generator uses fossil fuel, EVs don’t protect the environment but harm it.

Also, manufacturing EV lithium-ion batteries poses environmental concerns. Mining lithium metal used to make EV batteries has enormous energy requirements. What’s more, it requires a lot of water to cool the mining rigs. Already, battery production violates the environment, making us question whether EVs are a solution to exhaust emissions.

Life Cycle Analysis (LCA)

This analysis looks beyond tailpipe emissions since it recognizes that a product might have significant environmental impacts in some stages of its life. And that’s true for EVs; mining raw materials such as lithium metal strains the environment since it requires millions of gallons of water.

Mining lithium and other heavy metals used to make EV batteries requires large amounts of energy. Usually, fossil fuels provide this energy. While EVs boast zero tailpipe emissions, they contribute to environmental degradation at the initial stages.

Lithium-ion batteries have a lifecycle; they end up in landfills at the end of the cycle. In addition to lithium, these batteries contain more heavy metals, such as cobalt and nickel. These metals leach out of the EV batteries and contaminate the soil and water bed.

Electric vehicles don’t have an engine for anyone who asks: does electric cars have engine? These vehicles use electric motors to spin the wheels. Usually, an inverter converts the DC battery power to AC to power the electric motor. A transmission transfers the motor spinning to the wheel axle, thus moving the car.

EVs emit zero exhaust and consume less kWh, making driving cheaper. Also, EVs cruise quietly and accelerate faster than traditional vehicles. However, their horsepower is lower, affecting top-speed sustainability.

EVs might seem to be eco-friendly. Unfortunately, they affect the environment during manufacturing; producing key components like lithium-ion batteries devastates the environment. But still, they’re better vehicles since they’re quiet and have zero emissions. Buy an EV and cruise the streets quietly with zero emissions!

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Polo Lu

General Manager Jiangsu Lutong Electric Co.,Ltd