How Does an Electric Car Work?

The Basics

An electric car is different from a traditional internal combustion engine because it does not require the combustion of fuel to power movement. Instead, an electric car utilizes electricity that’s housed in battery packs. These packs are made up of groups of lithium-ion batteries, or cells. Generally, they’re located at the bottom of the vehicle and commonly referred to as a traction battery.

To get moving, an electric car takes that stored energy and puts it through its electric motor. Inside the electric motor are two sets of magnets that generate rotational force by repelling each other. In order to keep them moving, their polarity has to constantly change. The energy stored in the traction battery is Direct Current (DC), but the motor needs an Alternate Current (AC) to work. This is achieved by a piece of equipment that transforms DC to AC called an inverter.

There is an additional DC converter that powers other features, like heating, infotainment systems, and lighting for a few examples. A driver can change the frequency that the AC is delivered to the electric motor: the higher it goes, the more torque is produced.

Charging

Now that we’ve gotten the basics out of the way, let’s look at how charging works. There are three levels of chargers that can be accessed. Let’s take a look at them now:

• Level 1: This level is your typical 120-volt wall plug found at home. It’s a slower charge, as an 8-hour charge adds about 40 miles to its range, while a full charge can take up to 20 hours or more.
• Level 2: These chargers go up to 240 volts and can usually complete a full charge within 8 hours. These can be used at home or abroad like at a hotel for overnight charging. If your house doesn't have the correct plugs, then this level must be professionally installed.
• Level 3: These DC fast charging stations are the most powerful. They’re able to charge an electric car to 80% in about a half hour. You can find these stations listed online.

With an electric car, you have options for how and when you’d like to charge.

Battery Tips

Keeping your battery in top condition will help keep your electric car on the road for the long haul. To help prevent the loss of range, we encourage you to be mindful of a few things. Continuous highway driving, frequent quick accelerations, abusing fast charging, natural aging, and extreme weather all have an impact on the health of your battery.

While some of these cannot be avoided, like aging or the weather, for example, the majority can. Keep a level head when using your electric car, like any vehicle you’ve driven before it, and you’ll be just fine.