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Details of Battery Electric Vehicle

The battery electric vehicle, or BEV, is a type of all-electric vehicle that uses chemical energy stored in rechargeable battery packs. As electric vehicle, it employs electric motors and motor controllers instead of internal combustion engines (ICEs). Some confusion arises because the industry often refers to BEVs when it means electric cars.

All-electric and hybrid electric vehicles
Vehicles using both electric motors and ICEs are examples of hybrid electric vehicles, and are not considered pure (or all) EVs because they operate in a charge-sustaining mode.
* Regular hybrid electric vehicles cannot be externally charged.
* Hybrid vehicles with batteries that can be charged externally to displace some or all of their ICE power and gasoline fuel are called plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV), and are BEVs during their charge-depleting mode.

All-electric and plug-in hybrids are off-vehicle charge capable (“OVCC” or pluginable), what means having the capability to charge a battery from an off-vehicle electric energy source that cannot be connected or coupled to the vehicle in any manner while the vehicle is being driven .

Vehicles
The concept of battery electric vehicles is to charge batteries on board vehicles for propulsion using the electric grid.
The main advantages of battery electric vehicles are that:
1. No pollutants are emitted directly by the vehicle potentially reducing urban pollution. This does not take into account additional pollutants that are emitted if any fossil fuel power plant is used to create the electricity.

2. Gasoline is indirectly replaced by whatever is being used to generate domestic electricity, reducing dependence on foreign commodities. The electricity stored within the battery can be generated by any source, including renewable, nuclear, natural gas, coal and petroleum.

Battery electric cars are becoming more and more attractive with the advancement of new battery technology (Lithium Ion) that have higher power and energy density (i.e. greater possible acceleration and more range with less batteries) and higher oil prices.

BEVs include automobiles, light trucks, and neighborhood electric vehicles.

Electric bus
Milk float
A common example of the battery electric vehicle is the milk float. Since it makes many stops in delivering milk it is more practical to use an electric vehicle than an ICE, which would be idling much of the time.

Garbage truck
With a similar driving pattern of a delivery vehicle like the milk float above, garbage trucks are excellent candidates for electric drive. Most of their time is spent stopping, starting or idling. These activities are where internal combustion engines are their least efficient. In preparation for the 2008 Olympic Games, 3,000 of the internal combustion engine garbage trucks in Beijing were replaced with lithium ion polymer battery pack electric drive trucks.

Pickup trucks
In early 2009, Phoenix Motorcars will be making both their SUT and SUV available for public purchase. One of the surviving electric vehicles from the late 1990s is the Chevy S-10 electric pickup truck. Many other vehicles from this era, such as the General Motors EV1 were recalled and destroyed. A newcomer is the Miles Electric Vehicles ZX40ST electric truck now available in the United States. Miles Electric Vehicles is based in Santa Monica, California.

Motors
Electric cars have traditionally used series wound DC motors, a form of Brushed DC electric motor. More recent electric vehicles have made use of a variety of AC motor types, as these are simpler to build and have no brushes that can wear out. These are usually Induction motors or Permanent Magnet AC motors. There are several variations of the permanent magnet motor which offer simpler drive schemes and / or lower cost including the Brushless DC Electric Motor, which despite its name is not actually driven with a DC supply.

Type: Glossary & Dictionary