Electric Cars
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Electric Cars
Electric vehicles (like the Ford Ranger Electric Vehicle above on the left) don't burn gasoline in an engine. They use electricity stored on the car in batteries. Sometimes, 12 or 24 batteries, or more, are needed to power the car. Just like a remote-controlled, model electric car, EVs have an electric motor that turns the wheels and a battery to run that motor.
One of the first modern EVs was the General Motors Impact. GM changed its name and started selling the GM "EV1" in 1997. This sleek looking car even set a World Record of more than 180 miles per hour!
The EV1 is very aerodynamic. This means that air slides around the body of the car very easily. The less air resistance or drag, the less energy is needed to power the car at freeway speeds. The EV1 is as aerodynamic as some jet fighter aircraft! To charge an EV's batteries, the car is usually plugged in at night. In the picture to the left, an Impact test vehicle is plugged into a special charging unit attached to a house. The Impact is not yet available for sale. Some EVs can plug right into a regular electrical wall outlet. Others need a larger outlet, like the kind that a stove or electric clothes dryer plug into. Electricity, the same energy that lights your lamps and runs your TV, is stored in batteries on an EV. The batteries can be lead acid batteries, like the batteries you find in our flashlight or in regular gasoline cars. Or they can be ni-cad (nickel-cadmium) like the kind that run portable video recorders or a portable video game player -- only much larger. Better batteries that hold more energy and last longer are being developed. In 2001, by the time today's fifth graders are ready to drive, electric vehicles should be able to go 150 to 200 miles before recharging.
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