Electric Car Batteries – All You Need To Know

Storage systems for energy, typically batteries, are crucial in Hybrid Electric Vehicles (HEVs) and plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEVs) and all-electric Vehicles (EVs).The electric vehicle market in the world Batteries market is experiencing a massive expansion of that Electric Car Batteries industry.

This article will give you a detailed understanding of the electric car batteries and help you to understand the complete life-cycle.

How Do Electric Car Batteries Work

Electric vehicles draw their energy directly from a huge battery. Electric vehicles don’t have any batteries, they are similar to a larger version of lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries. The pack comprises thousands of Li-ion cells that work together. While the car is charging it uses electricity to trigger chemical reactions within the battery. When the car is on the road the changes reverse to generate electricity, which allows the car to accelerate and capture the momentum.

Image Source: Circuit Digest

Electric Car Battery Technology

The batteries of EVs go through cycles of ‘discharge’ which occur while driving, and ‘charging’ after the car is connected. The repeated process alters how much charge that the battery holds. This can reduce the range as well as the time required between trips to recharge. According to experts in the field the battery in electric cars will last between 10 and 12 years before needing to be replaced.

The way a the electric motor of a car work is quite simple. The battery is connected an electric motor which power the wheels. When you press the accelerator, the car immediately feeds energy to the motor that in turn, consumes battery’s energy.

Electric motors can also function as generators and when the driver’s you take your foot off the throttle, the car slows down by turning its forward motion back to electricity . This occurs more forcefully when the brakes are engaged. Regenerative braking helps to recover energy that could otherwise be lost to thermal heat or stored in the battery, therefore increasing the vehicle’s range.

Image Source: Car Magazine/Volkswagen

Types Of Electric Car Batteries

Different kinds of batteries are readily available on the market. They comprise Lithium Ion batteries, solid state batteries Nickel-Metal Hydride batteries Ultracapacitors and lead-acid batteries.

Of all Lithium-ion battery types, they are the most efficient, reliable and highly sought-after among EV manufacturers. They offer a higher energy density than conventional rechargeable nickel-cadmium or lead-acid batteries.

The battery makers are able to save space, which reduces the dimension of their battery packs.

Electric Car Battery Manufacturers

There are many of battery manufacturers for electric cars. Some are well-known, like Tesla or Nissan however others, such as BYD as well as LG Chem, may not be as well-known throughout the globe but they are important players in the electric automobile battery industry.

Panasonic

Samsung

Hitachi

Boston

Optimum Nano

LG Chem

BYD

Guo Xuan

Lithium Energy Japan

CATL

Battery Capacity Explained

Capacity and Kilowatts (KW)

Kilowatts (kW) is a measure for the power (how many watts of power an gadget needs to function). It is a term that means kilowatt-hour(kWh) refers to a measure of energy (it shows the amount of energy used). For example 100-watt lightbulbs require 0.1 Kilowatt-hours every hour.

What’s the average annual energy use of a typical household as compared to. the energy consumed for charging an electric vehicle at home?

Home: 3,100 kWh a year   Electric car: 2,000 kWh a year

Start. Stop. Start. Stop.

The energy generated through braking typically goes to wasted. Regenerative braking, however, converts and stores the thermal energy generated by the brake pads and tyre’s friction, and then uses that energy for powering the vehicle.

Electric Car Battery Charging

How far can one charge take you?

Electric car batteries come in various sizes. They are measured by kilowatts (kWh). A typical 40kWh battery of a typical electric vehicle could keep it running at least 150 miles. In addition, it can supply power to homes for 4 days!

Image Source: Tesla

How Do You Recharge An Electric Car Battery

You’ll receive the most efficient charge by using a designated charger for electric vehicles. These are rated by kW ranging from 3kW to around 50kW or 120kW, on the Tesla supercharger system. The more powerful the rating, the quicker your EV will be restored to its range.

The most common chargers installed at work or at home are 3kW‘slow models as well as 7kW‘fast chargers that can be capable of charging an electric vehicle within 6 to 12 hours.

Electric Car Battery Life

The battery in electric cars is an established technology that is guaranteed to last for a long time. Indeed, EV manufacturers guarantee it.

Nissan guarantees that its batteries for electric vehicles will last for eight years, or 100,000 miles, as an example . Tesla has a similar promise.

The life of the battery is contingent on the amount of times it has full charged and discharged. it could be hundreds of times during the time. Each of these” charge” cycles is counted against the lifetime of the battery.

Electric Car Battery Replacement Cost

If you are changing an electric car battery, you need not be worried since many manufacturers offer the guarantee of between 8 and 100,000 miles.

That means that even if had to replace it in the event of something went wrong and it was not repaired, it would get covered under this warranty.

Electric Car Battery Recycling

Many companies are studying ways EV batteries might be used again after they reach the age of retirement. One suggestion that’s proven to be effective is the repurposing of the EV batteries to power buildings and homes.

There aren’t absolute answers to what happens to the EV batteries when they’re no longer recycled.

The time batteries are within an EV is typically only an initial phase of life. When they are removed from the car the majority of batteries will be suitable for more demanding tasks like energy storage within the power grid or at home, which is a expanding area of high demand.

Image Source: GE

Electric Car Batteries Environmental Impact

The batteries of EVs are able to be re-introduced to the energy cycle for homes and factories after their time of powering cars has ended.

Repurposing batteries from electric vehicles could result in an open-loop system to recycle. That means that the factories which make the batteries will eventually be powered by recycled batteries after their time providing power to vehicles ends.

The major car manufacturers have started to reuse electric vehicles in different areas. For instance, Nissan plans to use the old EV batteries to supply back-up power for Amsterdam Arena A. Amsterdam Arena A – the famous entertainment venue that is the home of Ajax Football Club.

Image Source: Tesla

Electric Car Battery Disposal

What happens when the battery cells in electric cars fail? Batteries in all shapes can be difficult to dispose of without causing harm to the natural environment. This is especially true for batteries made of EVs.

However the EV battery’s life cycle management aims at eliminating the toxic and costly disposal of batteries. Additionally, as well as being utilized to help support the utilization of renewable energy sources, batteries from EVs can be upgraded to drive larger vehicles in the future.

How Safe Are Electric Car Batteries

Manufacturers of batteries for electric vehicles take great care to ensure that their batteries are safe, with sophisticated management systems to avoid overheating, among other problems. Batteries get warm when they discharge and charge, however, cars are designed to cool them down – high-performance EVs may come with liquid cooling systems to aid.

However it is true that there have been instances of electric vehicles catching fire, but only a none of these fires are caused by battery failures.

If you want to know how electric car works, read here..

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