Cars that fully runs on electricity! No sound of an engine, no need to stop by a gas station. It is happening, electric vehicles are the new revolution, Obama’s goal is to have one million electric cars on the road by 2015. The main goal of producing gas-free cars is to rely less on gasoline. GM has started it back in 2010 by producing Chevy volt. However, it takes a lot of effort and engineering processes to start up a new electric car company, such as Tesla Motors. Although some electric cars companies have gone bankrupt such as Green Cars in England. Electric cars basically work by powering the electric motor which is provided by a rechargeable battery pack, an onboard gasoline-engine generator, or hydrogen fuel cell.
Electric cars are special and there are many reasons for continuing the interest in these vehicles:
– They definitely create less pollution than gasoline-powered cars.
– It does not require a lot of maintenance.
– They run on electric motor rather than gasoline engine, so no oil change.
– It helps the country’s economy to grow.
You can never tell from the exterior design that the car is electric, the only difference is that its silent. But if you look under the hood you will see a lot of differences between gasoline and electric cars:
- The gasoline engine is replaced by an electric motor.
- The electric motor gets its power from a controller.
- The controller gets its power from an array of rechargeable batteries.
Fisker & Tesla
Two start ups founded to make cars run on batteries. But for some reasons Tesla Motors are selling their cars faster the it was expected. However Fisker Automotive has became very close to bankruptcy. There are many factors differe the two companies, Tesla has also came close to failing and been forced to scramble for funds. Tesla Motors has developed its own core technology, the batteries, the electric motor, and the systems for controlling them. On the other hand Fisker focused more on the look of the automobile, relying instead on technology developed by its suppliers.
“Fisker tried to be innovative with the design. Fisker seemed to think if you designed a beautiful car, people would buy it,” says Brett Smith, codirector for manufacturing, engineering, and technology at the Center for Automotive Research. “The Tesla vehicles are good looking, but Tesla focused more on the technology, not the sheet metal.”
Tesla’s development out passed Fisker in cost and performance. One example is Tesla’s battery technology. “Tesla’s lithium-ion battery pack technology is five to 10 years ahead of competitors when it comes to a passenger electric vehicle application, as measured by performance and cost to manufacture,” says Andrea James, an analyst for Dougherty. “Tesla’s battery lead allows it to produce a better vehicle at more affordable price.”
Tesla
When you save money to buy an expensive car you expect certain things: high acceleration that pushes you back into the seat, high quality sound stereo equipped, and a powerful engine. Thankfully all those features are installed in the new Tesla Roadster. Tesla is virtually silent and there is not a single drop of fuel burned. Tesla also the first high-performance electric car. Unlike gasoline cars the Tesla is powered by just four main systems:
- Energy Storage System (ESS)
- Power Electronics Module (PEM)
- Electric motor
- Sequential manual transmission
The Energy Storage System is placed in the rear of the vehicle.
In the Energy storage system, the Tesla Roadster has rechargeable lithium-ion batteries. They weigh about 1,000 pounds in total, Tesla also claim that they provide “four to five times the energy-density stores of other batteries”. The batteries are divided into 11 sectors and in each sector there are 621 batteries. A dependent computer processor controls every battery sector to make sure the charging goes smoothly. The power Electronics Module (PEM) is an inverter and charging system that handles the conversion from DC to AC power using around 72 bipolar transistors. This process helped to increase the power unlike previous generation electric cars. The batteries provides around 200 kW which can light up to 2,000 light bulbs. Power Electronics Module also control the voltage levels, motor’s RPM, and the regenerative braking system.
The Roadster’s charging port
There are multiple ways to recharge the Roadster. First way is to have someone install a recharging station at your house, which is a 220-volt with 70 amp outlet that makes the recharged within 3.5 hours. There’s also a portable kit that allows you to charge the car using any outlet, and the length of time depends on the voltage of that outlet.
There are many sensors installed in order to detect temperature, acceleration, deceleration, tilt and smoke. If the sensor detects an a crash it shuts down everything automatically.
References:
http://www.departures.com/articles/tesla-roadster-versus-fisker-karma
http://www.motortrend.com/features/consumer/1306_fisker_vs_tesla/?__federated=1
http://www.technologyreview.com/news/513151/why-tesla-survived-and-fisker-wont/