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Electric Vehicles

Electric vehicles also called EVs are cars propelled by one or several electric motors. These motors are powered by re-chargeable batteries and they are environmentally friendly. Many people choose to buy electric vehicles instead of regular vehicles, because this way they can contribute to the effort of saving the planet from pollution. The best known and most respected car manufacturers are making increasing efforts to develop newer and better electric car models. At the moment there are about two million electric cars on the roads and around thirty different models available to potential buyers.

But what are the advantages of driving an electric car? The first thing that comes to mind is that EVs don’t pollute the atmosphere although the power plant producing the necessary electricity is likely to me somewhat polluting. More and more power plants are looking for more efficient ways of using solar panels, though. Bottom line is that these cars are environmentally friendly: no exhaust fumes come out of them.

They are also quite energy efficient: electric motors manage to convert around 75% of the chemical energy from their batteries to power the wheels of the car, while internal combustion engines only converted about 20% of the energy that could be provided by the gas. Electric motors are also quiet and they don’t require a lot of maintenance. They can be smoothly operated and allow stronger acceleration. Still the large battery packs take a lot of room inside the car and they can be quite expensive. Fully recharging a battery can take between 4 and 8 hours. Quick recharge option also takes around 30 minutes. Still, research is being made in order to improve that time. Usually, such cars can go about 100 or sometimes, even 200 miles before they need recharge. That is a hundred miles less than the gasoline cars.

 

Read Hybrid Vehicles: Training Programs and Educational Resources 
by Liz Lipton		 Read State Farm Web Cast on Hybrid Vehicles for Emergency Responders
by Liz Lipton