EV COMPONENTS

Electric vehicles are becoming increasingly popular because of the progressively fuel crisis. They are known to be very efficient and they consume less energy thus bolster its existence over IECs besides being environmental friendly automobile as well. But did you ever wondered, what are the components of electric vehicles that able them to run?

Electric vehicles uses electricity as their fuel to run. Due to this phenomenon their function is totally different as compared to internal combustion engines vehicles. Nowadays, the common masses are adopting EVs over IECs as it mitigate air pollution air as well as noise pollution. Besides it offer a better and stable riding experience and its elements occupied far less space in comparison to tradition conventional fueled power car it gives more room and comfort to the passengers.

The electricity powered cars comprises of five main components. Each element plays a unique role to enhance the performance of the vehicle.

1) Motor: Unlike a gasoline engine that consist of lots of moving/dynamics parts, a 3-phase power motor also called inductive motor has only one moving part. This certainly make it a very reliable source of motive power. This inductive motor converts the electric energy of battery into kinetic energy that rotates the wheel using a transmission system known as reducer. This motor also act as a generator as it convert the wheel’s kinetic energy and send this energy back to the battery in the form of electric energy when the vehicle decelerated using the brake and thus utilizing the power by recharging the battery pack whereas in case of IECs this energy gets wasted by transforming into heat energy. This mechanism of energizing the cells is called regenerative braking system.

2) Reducer: The reducer in an electric car acts as a transmission system as it convey the power generated by the motor to the wheel. But in order to do so, the RPM of the motor must tone in with the driving circumstance. The reducer must reduce the RPM to an appropriate level.

3) Battery: The battery pack consist of 5k to 10k Li-ion cells that stores electrical energy to drive the car. Each car have a different capacity of storing the energy defending on the battery size. The higher the capacity, the higher the driving distance. These batteries can be charged through the of ordinary grid electricity at a specialized power station. The battery has two main parts i) BMS and ii) BHS

i) BMS: BMS or the battery management system manages the battery’s cell such that they can operates as if they are a single entity. As I already mention that battery contain thousands of mini cells and each cell needs to be in a homogenous condition to the others in order to optimize the battery’s durability and performance. So it oversees the cells charge/discharge status, but when it sees a malfunctioning cell, it automatically adjusts the power status of the cell (ON/OFF) through a relay mechanism.

ii) BHS: BHS or battery heating system bolster the charging capacity and increases the speed because in lower temperature the battery sees a decrease in both charging capacity and speed. The battery heater exists to keep the battery within the ideal temperature range.

4) On board charger: OBC transform the grid AC power to DC. The function of OBC look similar to tradition inverter but they differ crucially in function. OBC is for charging while inverter is for acceleration and deceleration. However, in case of fast charging it is not required since they already supply the electricity in DC.

5) Electric power control unit: This unit is the control system of the electric supply as it almost manages entire power flow of the vehicle.

i) Inverter: The inverter’s function is to translate Battery’s DC into AC which then is used to control motor speed. It is responsible for executing acceleration and deceleration.

ii) DC-DC converter: The battery pack has very high voltage but majority of car’s electrical parts run on low voltage (12 V) thus it convert battery’s high voltage into lower value and supplies it to the vehicle’s various electronic system.

iii) Vehicle control unit: It oversees nearly all the vehicle’s power control mechanisms, including motor control, regenerative braking control, AC load management and power supply for the electronic system.