How Do Electric Vehicles Work?| Working Principles of EV in 3 Hrs | Certified EV Crash Course

[Music] thank you electric vehicles are revolutionizing the automobile industry as we speak from two wheelers to cars and even buses to aircrafts EVS are the inevitable future of Transportation by 2025 it is estimated that about 20 percent of all new cars sold worldwide will be electric and by 2030 this number is expected to rise to 40 percent although they are taking over the market right now there were times in history when EVS were the preferred mode of transportation but lost out to Conventional internal combustion engines or IC engine cars for their poor range and heightened

costs so let's take a step back and look at the evolution of the EV and how it came to be going back a few centuries it all started in 1828 when annyo's jedlink developed a small electric car with an electric motor even though his model was nothing like the EVS we have today it definitely set the foundation for future Innovations moving on to the 1830s Thomas Davenport experimented with a DC electric motor and invented a locomotive to run on an electrified track but it was not until later on in the decade that Focus shifted to

batteries when professor cebrandis stratting of groeningen developed a small-scale electrical car operating on non-rechargeable batteries in addition to this Robert Davidson built an electric locomotive that worked on batteries only about 20 years later in 1859 did rechargeable batteries come into play after the invention of the lead acid battery by Gaston plant picking up where plant left off Camille Foie improved battery capacity which initiated the manufacturing of batteries on a larger scale towards the end of the 19th century William Morrison developed a functional EV during this period many car manufacturers began dabbling in the field of

EVS as it appealed to them for having overcome limitations of the IC engine car like unpleasant sounds smells and vibrations as well as the hand cranking mechanism it is these very limitations that drove the IC car to make strides in development and this did not take long as the launch of the Model T by Henry Ford in the beginning of the 20th century brought the hype over EVS to a grinding halt the mass production of these gasoline-powered cars outshined the EVS with increased ranges easy availability of fuel overall affordable pricing and the introduction of an

electrical starter that no longer needed manual hand cranking as the ownership of EVS exponentially decreased gasoline-powered cars rained for the next 30 Years but all good things must come to an end and this is exactly what happened in the 1970s when the oil crisis came in like a wrecking ball fuel costs rocketed and concerns about pollution filled the air although these concerns put the spotlight back on EVS the gasoline-powered cars were so popular by then that it would take a good decade or two for the EV to emerge again fast forward a few years to

the 1990s when GM released the ev1 and Toyota released the Prius nearly a decade later Tesla released its Roadster in 2008 the first EV with the ability to travel greater than 320 kilometers on a single charge and this is when the EV made a strong comeback car manufacturers started focusing on EVS more than ever with releases like the Nissan Leaf and the Chevrolet Volt taking Center Stage the rule of EVS was intensified by the plummeting cost of EV batteries by 50 percent in 2010 with EVS like the Tesla Model S in 2012 and model 3

in 2017 EV sales continued to soar luxury car manufacturer Porsche released the Panamera SE hybrid for 2013. in 2014 BMW released the BMW i3 and I8 in 2014. a few years later in 2018 Jaguar released the i-pace the increasing sales of EVS was clearly demonstrated in 2021 when the worldwide sales of the Tesla Model 3 crossed a whopping 1 million units now if this isn't what you call in demand I don't know what is the development of EVS over time has led us to three different types now available in the market the battery EV hybrid

EV and the plug-in hybrid EV all of these run on varying extensive electricity battery EVS have rechargeable batteries that are solely powered by electricity since they do not emit greenhouse gases they are not equipped with a tailpipe on the other hand plug-in hybrid EVS run on electricity and gasoline and have the ability to shift between the two as needed within their mechanism is a battery to drive the electric motor and a fuel tank to fill gasoline and run an IC engine so in the case that the battery runs out of charge you can continue to

drive on just Fuel and vice versa similar to these hybrid vehicles are also powered by gasoline and electricity but unlike the plug-in hybrid EV the battery cannot be charged directly instead the battery gets charged through a mechanism called regenerative braking as well as by the IC engine in both plug-in hybrid EV and hybrid EV the battery and IC engine work together to maximize performance bring down fuel economy and reduce CO2 emissions and as you can see the electric vehicle has been through quite a ride but the ride is just getting started so stay with us

to find out more behind the working of an EV our three main parts connected together the battery controller and motor since it is an electric vehicle all these parts have electricity flowing through them unlike their IC engine counterparts and just like any other electrical or electronic device EVS need a source of power for the EV this happens to be an EV charging station but forget cars for a second what do you do when any of your smart devices are about to run out of juice probably plug in the charger to charge the battery right well

the same goes for EVS too EV charging stations can be likened to the USB charging stations for mobile phones available at airports if your battery is running low at the airport and you don't have your charger on you you find a charging station to charge your device EVS can either be charged at commercial charging stations or at the one you have installed at home before we continue let's recap alternating and direct current or AC DC in DC the electrons travel in One Direction but in AC the electrons regularly change direction and move back and forth

so if we look at this on a graph DC would be a straight line and AC would be a sinusoidal wave that shifts between positive and negative phases EVS receive alternating current from charging stations the same way our household appliances are powered and as with any device electricity has to be converted from AC to DC before it can be stored and used in the EV this conversion is taken care of by the onboard charger smaller EVS like scooters have off-board charges similar to your mobile phone and laptop EVS also use a Lithium-Ion battery pack for

its rechargeable Edge but unlike your device that has only one lithium ion battery EVS have more than hundreds of Lithium-ion batteries packed together under the hood for EVS these battery packs boost overall efficiency and offer high energy density power to weight ratio and temperature performance in other words the lithium-ion battery stores an ample amount of energy for its weight all these put together allow the car to travel greater ranges on one charge when your battery is charged and you are ready to get going again you turn the vehicle on and press the accelerator pedal now

the cool thing here is that depending on how hard you press down on the pedal the amount of electricity sent to the motor controller varies So the faster you go the more electricity is consumed okay let's back up a bit so if you remember power from the grid is AC and gets converted to DC for storage in the battery before it can be fed to the motor it needs to be converted to AC again and once this is done the AC is fed to the electric traction motor which then rotates the axles it is here

that the electrical energy is converted to mechanical energy that drives the wheels forward EVS may have AC or DC motors depending on their application larger vehicles are more likely to have AC Motors while smaller Vehicles tend to have DC motors the type of motor used also varies across car manufacturers and models for instance Tesla produced the model S with an AC motor and the model 3 with a DC motor charging stations are not the only means of charging your battery when you hit the brakes in an EV not only does the car stop the regenerative

braking system kicks in this charges the battery by converting kinetic energy from the rotation of the wheels to electrical energy needed to charge the battery so when you're moving the motor focuses on rotating the wheels and when you press the brakes it shifts its focus to restoring energy in the battery but at times all the kinetic energy may not get converted into electrical energy because the battery may be completely charged with all of these parts working together there is obviously going to be a lot of heat generated oftentimes the battery motor and controller May overheat

due to Peak loads of current and outside temperatures and this is why a battery thermal management system is in place to ensure optimal temperature is maintained for proper functioning a glycol coolant flows through the pumps inside the circuitry absorbs heat and releases it into the atmosphere as the coolant has high specific thermal capacity it is able to absorb heat in a small space when all said and done the EV is an efficient machine that is more than just about saving the environment the Modern Electric Vehicle is about to buy out the conventional IC engine car

so much so that roads may be fully electric in a decade or two although the IC engine car and EV looks similar on the outside their inner workings are anything but the same and it is these very differences that this video is here to take you through it all starts with their source of energy when driving an IC engine car you would pull up to a gas station to fill petrol or diesel but for an EV you would have to stop at a charging station to charge the lithium-ion battery pack with electricity as the name

suggests for an internal combustion engine car to run combustion has to take place and with any internal combustion system is the release of greenhouse gases and noise pollution on the other hand EVS are powered by a battery pack and electricity because of which there is minimal greenhouse gas emission and noise pollution even though hybrid and plug-in hybrid EVS are partially powered by Fuel the overall CO2 emission of these is relatively less than that of an IC engine car which is fully powered by gasoline now hold on we can't ignore the elephant in the room yes

EVS indirectly emit greenhouse gases because the electricity they run on is generated from burning fossil fuels but at the same time this amount of CO2 emission does not come close to that released by IC engine cars although this difference in energy source sounds like it gives the EVS an edge over the IC engine car it does come at a cost while the IC engine car can be filled with fuel in less than five minutes the EV takes an hour or more to fully charge and in our fast-paced world the EV definitely takes a hit on

this one the high energy density of fuel in ic engine cars also overshadows the energy density of lithium-ion battery packs these batteries are packed together and evenly distributed on the floor of the vehicle because of this design the EV center of gravity is lower than that of an ordinary cars this in turn provides reinforced stability during collisions and makes the EV a tad safer however the regular charging and discharging of these batteries generates a lot of heat which if not controlled can interfere with the operation and safety of the EV to prevent overheating a battery

thermal management system is in place to ensure optimal temperature and remove excess heat via the radiator their IC engine counterparts instead have a cooling mechanism to manage the heat of their engine this difference in heat generation can be attributed to their distinct working principles in ic engine cars combustion gives rise to the temperature and pressure needed to move the Pistons this transmission translates to the drive wheel which in turn turns the tires all of this mechanical action often causes uneven force and power but in an Eevee the motors turn the drive Wheel by a simple

three-phase AC input as the AC power input gets linearly scaled and fed to the motor the speed and power output is uniform this also means they have more torque right off the bat when compared to the IC engine car these conventional Vehicles also have a complex transmission system which means that they require gear shifts to function across different ranges of speed however EVS have a single speed transmission that allows them to work across different ranges of speed this is because the speed at which you travel is determined by the extent to which the accelerator pedal

is pressed when you take your foot off the accelerator pedal and press the brake the kinetic energy is transformed into electricity that the battery can then store as charge but for the IC engine car to be able to do this it needs a battery and brushless DC motor and if it isn't obvious by now the IC engine car has way more moving Parts than an EV as the eev has less parts and just one moving part which is the motor maintenance costs are significantly lower regardless of EVS coming with a hefty price tag at the

time of purchase they are actually a third cheaper than the IC engine when considering maintenance and travel per mile costs now that we have covered the basic differences between EVs and the IC engine car let's take a look at the pros and cons of EVS a few advantages of the EV are that they do not require gasoline and as a result have minimal CO2 emissions they are also cost effective in the long run easy to drive and reduce noise pollution although minimal noise is supposed to be a good thing silently moving around on the road

may be a safety hazard on a similar note let's look at the cons of EVs and as good as they sound they do have a few EVS may not have a strong presence in countries with poor electricity sources as their usage May hinder electricity needed for daily life Essentials charging points are also not as easily accessible or available at this point in time and even when you find one charging an EV takes more time than filling gas in an IC engine car and unfortunately EVS cannot be fully deemed eco-friendly as their source of electricity may

be generated from non-renewable fossil fuels when deciding whether or not to buy an EV it may appear to be a luxury investment for many due to the initial price tag now here's our question which vehicle would you buy we'll let you sleep on that for now electric vehicles are supposedly powered by electricity right they are electric vehicles after all but what if we told you that some EVS are partially powered by an IC engine while battery EVS are fully electric there are two other partially powered by an IC engine the hybrid EV and the plug-in

hybrid EV each type of electric vehicle has its own set of features that appeal to Consumers and give them the flexibility to choose which is best suited for them here's a look at how each type of EV works battery EVS are all electric and solely run on electrical energy from a battery pack as these EVs do not have an IC engine drivers do not need to stop at gas stations instead you would have to stop at charging stations to charge the battery pack by plugging it into an external power source when you're ready to go

pressing on the accelerator will signal the motor to rotate which in turn makes the wheels go round battery EVS being all electric have minimal reciprocating parts that reduce their overall cost of maintenance a few battery EVS you may have come across are the Tesla Model 3 Chevy bolt and the Nissan Leaf unlike the battery EV that just has a battery pack hybrid EVS have an electric motor and an IC engine while the electric motor runs on the battery pack the IC engine runs on fuel both the IC engine and the electric motor work together to

propel the car forward even though the hybrid EV has a battery pack it can't be charged by plugging into an external power source at the charging station so how would you charge the battery of a hybrid EV if it runs out of charge well this is where the IC engine steps in hybrid EVS can charge their battery pack with the IC engine or by means of regenerative braking there are two further types of hybrid EVS the fully hybrid and the mild hybrid EVS fully hybrid EVS can operate on just the electric motor IC engine or

a combination of both the mild hybrid EV on the other hand can only operate when the IC engine and electric motor work together however the motor can only help out during acceleration because it has a lower power rating than the engine common models of hybrid EVS are the Toyota Prius Toyota Camry Hybrid and the Honda Civic Hybrid similar to hybrid EVS are the plug-in hybrid EVS which also have an IC engine and electric motor responsible for propulsion but unlike hybrid EVS the battery pack of plug-in hybrids can be charged at a charging station and the

fuel tank can be filled at a fuel station this gives drivers the flexibility of choosing between a charging or fuel station when on the go so the battery pack of a plug-in hybrid EV can be charged with an external power source by the IC engine or regenerative braking the cool thing about plug-in hybrid EVS is that they can run on two modes an all-electric mode and a hybrid mode in the all-electric mode the EV is fully powered by the battery pack and in the hybrid mode it can be powered by both Fuel and battery pack

so if you drive a plug-in hybrid EV It generally starts out as all electric but changes to the hybrid mode depending on speed and range of travel it also switches between these modes depending on the charge or fuel available if the battery runs out of charge the IC engine will take over and vice versa these EVS have a smaller IC engine and larger battery pack when compared to the hybrid EV because the electric motor is the prime source of propulsion this allows plug-in hybrids to run for longer ranges and is preferred by consumers for this

very reason the Chevy Volt Porsche Cayenne SE hybrid and Mercedes s550e are a few plug-in hybrid EV models when set against the IC engine car hybrid and plug-in hybrid EVS bring more fuel economy less greenhouse gas emissions and fuel costs to the table all of which when put together reduce the carbon footprint of the EV electric vehicles are the Confluence of many components working together each of these components must individually function efficiently to optimize EV performance which is measured in terms of vehicle efficiency in ic engine cars this is measured in terms of the distance

a vehicle is able to travel per liter of fuel vehicle efficiency also focuses on reducing greenhouse gas emissions and fuel consumption but as EVs do not use fuel their efficiency is measured by distance per unit of charge modifying an EV to maximize performance and efficiency is basically what optimization is this can also be achieved through reducing their weight and drag let's start with vehicle weight the weight of a vehicle influences the amount of fuel or charge it consumes here's a quick look at how this works a heavy car like an SUV weighs more than a

small City car so it would take the SUV more fuel to move one kilometer than it would take the smaller City Car to move the same distance and the same applies for EVS the heavier the car the more charge it needs for propulsion in fact by reducing the weight of a vehicle it will have an improved horsepower to weight ratio that will enhance handling acceleration and lower braking time efficiency in terms of weight reduction for EVS boils down to having lightweight cars with smaller battery packs that can power the vehicle to travel greater ranges sounds

simple right well it's easier said than done because car manufacturers need to strike a fine balance between vehicle weight energy consumption and efficiency without affecting safety so if we take the Tata Nexon an IC engine car weighing 1315 kilograms and its electric counterpart the Tata Nexon EV weighing around 1400 kilograms we can see that the EV weighs more and even heavier than all electric vehicles are hybrid vehicles with weight from both the battery pack and engine this ultimately increases the amount of energy required to propel them forward heavier Vehicles also experience more rolling resistance otherwise

known as the force that resists forward motion car manufacturers have therefore started testing out different lightweight materials While most car parties are made from steel for their strength and durability this actually adds a lot more weight to the car to reduce this weight without taking a toll on the strength and durability of an EV combinations of Steel and aluminum magnesium Alloys and advanced Composites can be used instead for this purpose carbon fibers and fiberglass are also used in the design of bonnets although the weight of EV battery packs come under Fire it actually reduces their

center of gravity and makes the vehicle easier to handle at higher speeds this design also reduces imbalances during travel and provides stability when making sharp turns IC engine cars have heavy engines located in the front middle or back of the vehicle which may make handling relatively harder than the EV and now coming to drag the force that resists motion when an object is moving through a fluid medium so when a car is moving through the air drag Force resists its forward motion for instance if we look at race cars they have an overall Sleek design

with a small nose to improve their penetration through the air even more so they have an aerodynamically designed windshield that reduces the resistance of the vehicle when moving forward the vehicle also has less ground clearance which limits the amount of air flowing below it to keep the vehicle streamlined through the air there are minimal to no protruding parts and in the same way EVS have a streamlined design with minimal protrusions to allow air to pass around its body this is unlike an IC engine car which have to allow air into the frame to cool down

the engine for instance the front bumper of the Tata Nexon has air vents whereas the Tata Nexon EV does not this difference in design reduces the drag in the EV variant EVS are also designed with low drag tires that lower the loss of energy as the vehicle moves in turn improving their range having fewer moving Parts in the IC engine car the EV loses less energy to friction and heat between parts and is able to convert the majority of its electrical energy into mechanical energy that moves the car this makes the EV far more efficient

than its IC engine counterpart aren't EVS just the epitome of lean mean electric machines at the core of an electric vehicle's functioning is the electric motor that rotates the wheels in fact electrifying a vehicle primarily involves replacing the average IC Engine with an electric motor this makes the electric motor just as important as the battery pack that powers it using an electric motor actually minimizes the amount of mechanical parts and movement that goes on inside a vehicle so when an IC engine creates traction with cylinders pistons and a crankshaft all it takes in EVS is

just a signal to the electric motor but how do electric motors develop the traction needed to turn the wheels of an EV to answer this we need to understand what a motor is and how it works electric motors are machines that convert electrical energy into mechanical energy EV manufacturers choose the ideal motor for their models by considering its efficiency power density acceleration torque and cost they come in two main types DC and AC Motors DC motors are powered by direct current and include brushed and brushless DC motors AC Motors are powered by alternating current and

include synchronous and asynchronous motors while the electrical energy is derived from a power source like a battery pack the resulting mechanical energy is what gives us rotational motion behind this rotation is the underlying concept that when you pass a current through a rectangular coil inside a magnetic field the coil rotates because of the forces acting on it all magnets have a North and South Pole and while opposite poles attract each other like poles repel each other a magnet that naturally displays these properties is called a permanent magnet but an average iron nail can also be

made to display these properties if it is turned into an electromagnet for instance if we take an iron nail or Rod wrap a coil around it and pass electricity through it by connecting a battery to it it will turn into an electromagnet and display magnetic properties this means that it will have a North and South Pole till it stays connected to a power source when it disconnects from the power source it loses the magnetic properties to understand how this fits into the context of electric motors here's a look at the workings of a brushed DC

motor it has a cylindrical metal casing with a shaft where the drive wheels of the EV will be attached inside this metal casing are two main parts Central to its working a rotor that rotates and a stator that remains stationary in this case the rotor is the electromagnet with an Armature of windings that have electricity flowing through them and the stator is the permanent magnet surrounding the motor there are two permanent magnets with opposite poles facing the electromagnet by passing current through the coils a magnetic field is developed the polarity of the magnet depends on

the direction of current flowing through it when the North Pole of the electromagnet aligns with the North Pole of the permanent magnet they repel each other and the electromagnet moves towards the other permanent magnet with an opposite polarity but when the North Pole of the electromagnet meets the South Pole of the permanent magnet it stops rotating now in order for the electromagnet to rotate again the poles of the electromagnet and permanent magnet have to be the same since we're working with an electromagnet its poles can be switched by reversing the direction of current flowing through

the wires this process of switching the polarity of electricity to keep the rotor rotating continues for as long as the battery has power to let it do so but switching the polarity of electricity by flipping the wires each time would be a tedious task and this is why brushed DC series motors have a commutator and brush the endings of the coils from the rotor are each connected to a separate commutator which is responsible for switching the polarity of electricity two brushes act as conductors and provide the commutator with electrical energy so the flow of electricity

in the motor would look something like this DC series motors have a high starting torque which makes them ideal for use as traction Motors this gives EVS with DC Siri Motors effortless speed control and a tolerance to sudden rise and loads but as good as they sound they do come at a cost that is a high maintenance cost and low efficiency because of mechanical Parts like the commutator and brush as the brush and commutator continuously rub against each other they wear out generates Sparks and reduce the service life of the motor this is why many

car manufacturers prefer the brushless DC motor commonly known as the bldc motor over the brushed DC motor in the bldc motor the brush and commutator get replaced by an electronic system which reduces the number of mechanical parts this leaves us with just the rotor and stator bldc motors have a rotor with permanent magnets on opposite ends and a stator that is an arrangement of coils inside it when a DC current is given to the coils of the stator it generates a magnetic field here we have three different sets of coils when coil a gets energized

it generates a magnetic field that gets attracted to the opposite pole of the permanent magnet but right when the permanent magnet is about to get to coil a the current coil a is turned off and coil B is energized this now makes the opposite pole on the permanent magnet move towards coil B and just like with coil a coil B will now get turned off and coil C gets energized it is this process that repeats itself to keep the motor rotating and turning the wheels of an EV bldcs dominate the EV industry with their high

efficiency starting torque and power density they are used in the Tesla Model 3. similar to the power density and efficiency of the bldc motor is that of the AC permanent magnet synchronous motor this rotation of the motor is in sync with the frequency of alternating current it receives making it asynchronous motor in this motor the rotor receives a DC input and has a constant magnetic field while the stator gets a three-phase AC input and has a revolving magnetic field as opposite poles of the stator and rotor get attracted to each other the magnetic field of

the stator rotates while attracting the rotor these motors are equipped with a squirrel cage surrounding the rotor to rotate at the frequency of alternating current running through the stator in these motors the rotor can either be a permanent magnet or an electromagnet depending on their application when a permanent magnet is used this motor can function as an alternator in EVS this means that it can be a motor that propels the vehicle and also an alternator when it comes to regenerative braking permanent magnet synchronous motors come with a high power rating making them ideal for use

in high performance cars it is because of this that car manufacturers like Chevrolet Toyota Nissan and BMW use these motors in their hybrid and all electric vehicles while the permanent magnet synchronous motor rotates at the same speed as the frequency of current the rotor of the induction motor rotates at a speed less than the frequency of current this makes it an asynchronous motor the stator receives an AC input and generates a rotating magnetic field also known as RMF this RMF makes the rotor which is surrounded by a squirrel cage rotate in a DC motor the

power would be given to the rotor but in this AC motor a three-phase AC input is given to the stator the speed at which the rotor rotates is determined by the frequency of AC fed to the stator because of differences in the phases of AC input the magnetic field will have different orientations and when these orientations are aligned a uniformly rotating magnetic field is developed since the rotor rotates because of the generated RMF there is no contact between rotor and stator this mechanism reduces the friction and wear on the system in order for three-phase AC

induction Motors to have high starting torque like the DC motors they must undergo a series of control methods that alter the frequency once these changes have been made it offers more torque for longer ranges Tesla uses this model in its Model S and xevs for the robust and efficient nature at the end of the day it all comes down to using the motor that provides maximum efficiency torque and propulsion for an EV we've all heard that electric vehicles run on electric motors and battery packs but behind the electric motor is the motor controller that manages

the amount of electrical energy sent to the electric motor from the battery pack in an IC engine car this function is taken care of by the carburetor that manages the amount of air fuel mixture that is let into the combustion chamber but just as it looks this process involves a lot of heavy gear mechanism that is avoided in EVS by just using the motor controller through proper coordination with the motor controller the electric motor can produce good starting torque that gets the gear to top speeds in just a matter of seconds underlying this is the

power converter and microcontroller the way this works is quite similar to the human brain when you look up motor controllers and EVS on the internet you're bound to find them likened to the human brain and this is because the same way the brain receives sensory input from the surroundings the motor control it does too a microprocessor in the EV receives signals from the brakes and throttle these signals get processed to produce an output that controls the electricity sent to the motor with the help of a power electronic converter this interface links the electronic components of

the EVs and its output generally manages the speed direction torque and horsepower of the vehicle inputs coming from the battery are sent to the motor controller which then forwards a corresponding signal to the motor a cable connects the pedal to two potentiometers when you press down on the pedal it sends a corresponding signal to the controller which determines how much power to send to the electric motor the controller then reads the values on the potentiometers and ensures that both signals are the same this is why there are two potentiometers for safety reasons if the potentiometers

do not have the same value the controller will not work not only does the motor controller receive energy from the battery but it also sends it back during regenerative braking EVS use both AC and DC motors in the case that an AC motor is used the motor controller is also responsible for converting direct current from the battery to alternating current that can be used by the motor based on the type of motor used a motor controller can be a DC DC converter or a DC AC converter and as there are obviously many electronic components working

together in an EV the motor controller monitors and measures parameters such as current motor speed and voltage if errors are sensed data related to it will be sent to external systems that alert the driver the motor controller will then trigger a response focused on maximizing the safety of the EV and passengers inside it for instance if a short circuit happens within the circuitry the motor controller steps in and stops the flow of electricity from the battery in addition to this the motor controller also brings down the speed at which the electric motor rotates when the

battery is low on charge this is done in an attempt to get as much juice out of the battery as possible and to maximize range without motor controllers it's safe to say that EVS might just be out of control if batteries weren't a thing mobile phones laptops and electric vehicles would probably not be around as a matter of fact we wouldn't even be able to start conventional IC engine cars without batteries and as technology focuses on enhancing and simplifying the way we live batteries have become an essential part of achieving this goal but how do

batteries do this well that is what this video is here to tell you batteries provide electrical energy through electrochemical reactions that take place within them here's how this happens in every battery are two metal rods an anode and a cathode called electrodes they are immersed in a chemical medium called an electrolyte that provides a conductive path for the movement of ions to and from the electrodes when a circuit with a battery is complete chemical reactions take place and prompt the flow of electrons through the circuit negatively charged electrons travel across the external circuit and the

positively charged ions move across the electrolyte and it is this flow of charges that provides electrical energy and Powers devices in its path before we move on let's clear up a common confusion while you may have heard batteries and cells being used synonymously they are actually not the same while a cell is a single unit of a battery pack a group of cells connected together is what we call a battery pack now coming to the two main types of cells primary and secondary cells primary cells are non-rechargeable and secondary cells are rechargeable common examples of

primary cells include dry and alkaline cells used in flashlights remote controls and toys if these primary cells were used in Mobile phones we'd be replacing them each time the charge drained out and it is to overcome this hassle that secondary cells were developed secondary cells are used in Mobile phones laptops and electric vehicles over the course of their lifetime rechargeable cells go through multiple charge cycles a charge cycle is the process of completely charging and discharging rechargeable cells examples of secondary cells in order of their development are the lead acid battery nickel cadmium battery nickel

metal hydride battery and the lithium ion battery [Music] while major manufacturers use Lithium-ion batteries to power the motor due to their high energy density the nickel metal hydride batteries are used in hybrid EVS to make use of the stored energy the external circuit has to be completed in EVS a starter motor acts as the electrical load and is connected across the two terminals of the battery as this completes the circuit the battery begins to discharge during discharge the anode is the negatively charged electrode because it is where the electrons are generated and since the cathode

receives electrons it is a positively charged electrode when all the charge gets used up the battery needs to be recharged again using an external power source which for EVS is primarily a charging station by recharging the battery the chemical reactions within it get reversed and restore the electrodes back to their charge state this is done by reversing the polarities of the two electrodes the external power source redirects the electrons back to the anode and the positive ions to the cathode as charging an EV battery at a charging station takes around 30 minutes or more drivers

May opt to go to a battery swapping station where they can physically swap out their drained battery pack for a fully charged one there are two types of battery packs used in EVS the traction and auxiliary battery packs the traction battery pack Powers the motor that propels the EV and the auxiliary battery pack Powers various components like the headlights and infotainment systems although lead acid batteries are rechargeable their low capacity is not sufficient to power the traction battery pack instead these batteries are used to power auxiliary systems in the EV an ideal EV battery should

have high power to rate ratio greater capacity for a longer range and high specific energy at the moment the lithium-ion battery tops the list when compared to the lead acid battery and nickel metal hydride battery while they all provide electrical energy to power the EV each rechargeable battery uses its own material and medium in fact the same type of battery can even have different chemistries for instance the lithium ion battery has six unique chemistries with unique properties suited for different uses EVS commonly make use of lithium nickel manganese Cobalt oxide and lithium metal phosphate batteries

most EV battery packs have thousands of lithium-ion cells covered by a plastic casing with an insulating lid the casing is divided into many compartments with insulating partitions in between them each compartment has cells connected in series or parallel cells in a battery are connected in series or parallel depending on the output power required a series connection is used to improve the voltage range of batteries and a parallel connection increases battery capacity in some cases a combination of series and parallel connections can improve battery efficiency by combining many cells together the voltages increase to the level

needed to power the EV it takes approximately 400 to 800 volts and sometimes even more to power an EV so while a single cell may be sufficient to power your electronic devices it is definitely not enough to power an EV in today's day and age lithium ion batteries are everywhere they dominate the electric vehicle industry with their high power density fast charging potential high temperature performance and long lifespan being secondary batteries lithium-ion cells can be recharged multiple times making them ideal for use in smartphones laptops and EVS but while there is just one lithium ion

cell in your electronic device there are more than thousands of lithium-ion cells packed together in EVS to store a greater amount of energy as EVS obviously require more power than electronic devices the lithium ion batteries are connected in series or parallel to increase power but what about these batteries makes them ideal for use in EVS well if we find lithium on the periodic table it is a group one element and similar to other group 1 elements lithium has just one electron in its outer shell this makes it reactive as the electron can easily be knocked

out of the atom combining lithium with other elements has given rise to six main lithium-ion battery chemistries each of these chemistries vary in terms of their specific energy specific power safety lifespan performance and cost EV manufacturers use these parameters to choose the lithium-ion chemistry that is best suited for their models out of all of the chemistries there are two main types commonly used in the market while some chemistries offer more range others are safer and cheaper playing the chemistry behind the lithium-ion battery we will use the construction and working principle of a lithium Cobalt oxide

battery this battery has an anode made of lithium and a cathode made of cobalt in its oxide state the lithium in the anode is held in a stable State between the layers of carbon in the form of lithium carbide the Cobalt oxide in the cathode lacks one electron and makes it unstable when the circuit is closed the electron from lithium in the anode is pulled towards the Cobalt oxide in the cathode to make it stable in an EV the external circuit is completed when the starter motor is connected across the battery when the EV turns

on electrons from the lithium atoms will continue to accumulate at the Cobalt electrode as more electrons accumulate they begin to resist the flow of electrons from the anode this prevents the flow of electricity at the anode the positively charged lithium ions get knocked out of the carbon layers and flow across the electrolyte to the cathode and once they reach there they join with the electrons and the charge at the cathode balances out so when all the electrons and lithium ions have migrated the battery gets exhausted and the cell drains out but as the lithium-ion battery

pack is rechargeable you can charge it at the nearest charging station by plugging the charging cable into the charging port of your EV the external current energizes the electrons on the Cobalt electrode to direct them back to the anode and here the lithium ions also go back through the electrolyte to get trapped in the carbon layers this replenishes the charge of the electrodes and the battery is ready to power your vehicle again and now you know why lithium ion batteries are the perfect choice for EVS lead acid batteries have been around since the 19th century

and are in fact the first ever rechargeable batteries known to mankind it was only after the lead acid battery that the nickel metal cadium battery was developed however due to environmental concerns caused by the cadmium electrode it was taken over by the nickel metal hydride battery in the late 20th century and shortly after this the lithium-ion battery was introduced in the market despite the lead acid battery no longer being used as the primary source of power in EVS due to its poor capacity and efficiency the nickel metal hydrides are still used in hybrid EVS like

the Toyota Prius and all electric vehicles like the Toyota RAV4 EV they are either used on their own or in combination with Lithium-ion batteries in this video you will learn about the construction and working of the lead acid and nickel metal hydride batteries first off is the lead acid battery which is primarily used in ic engine cars to start the engine lead acid batteries are used in situations that require intermittent supplies of electricity and they are preferred for their inexpensive yet safe and reliable nature electrical energy is produced by the lead acid battery when a

chemical reaction takes place between the two electrodes one electrode is made of pure lead which is spongy and the other is made of lead peroxide which is rigid these electrodes are dipped in a sulfuric acid solution which acts as the electrolyte if these two electrodes come in contact with each other they may short-circuit the system to prevent this separators made of rubber wood or glass are placed in between the electrodes for insulation during the discharge phase lead peroxide acts as an anode and Lead as a cathode when the circuit is closed the acid molecules split

into positively charged hydrogen ions and negatively charged sulfate ions the hydrogen ions which are missing an electron move towards the lead peroxide to gain electrons and become neutral this electrode now becomes positively charged as it has lost electrons to the hydrogen ions when this happens the negatively charged sulfate ions in the electrolyte move towards the lead and transfer their electrons to the plate as a result of these reactions lead sulfate is formed on both the anode and cathode leaving white deposits so if you pull out the electrodes and find white deposits on them you will

know that the battery was used now there is an imbalance of charges at the two electrodes to neutralize the charges the excessive negative charges on the lead plate move along the external circuit to the lead peroxide plate thus generating electricity reactions that happen during the recharge phase are the exact opposite of those that happen during the discharge phase when recharging the lead acid battery the connections are reversed and this causes the hydrogen and sulfate atoms to get ionized again they move towards the opposite electrodes and the battery is ready to supply electricity lead acid batteries

are classified as either flooded or sealed batteries flooded lead acid batteries are widely used in the automotive industry today they are called flooded batteries because the acidic electrolyte solution is free to flow around the battery casing oxygen and hydrogen gases produced during the discharge phase are released via openings in the casing since there's a chance that the acid can leak from these openings they have to be positioned strategically moreover water can evaporate from the electrolyte solution due to the heat generated from the chemical reactions this is why distilled water needs to be refilled in the

battery at regular intervals [Music] sealed lead acid batteries on the other hand have a completely enclosed casing the electrolyte is in a gel State rather than a liquid state to prevent leakages the oxygen and hydrogen gases produce combine to form water this water is used to keep the gel from drying up however a cleverly designed vent is installed for the excess hydrogen to be released if this hydrogen gets trapped within the housing it may ignite due to high temperatures and for this very reason it is called a valve regulated lead acid battery or vrla lead

acid batteries lose out to lithium-ion batteries because of their poor performance in cold temperatures low energy density lifespan and range it is these very limitations that put the nickel metal hydride battery in the lead and the automobile industry nickel metal hydrides have a cylindrical casing with a metal hydride anode on one side a nickel cathode on the other side and a potassium hydroxide electrolyte when the anode and cathode are dipped in the electrolyte solution electrons are lost and gained at the respective electrodes via the external circuit during the recharge phase the reactions are reversed and

the charges get restored when the ions recombine to form the metal hydride and nickel [Music] why do some car manufacturers still opt for the nickel metal hydride battery when the lithium-ion battery is around well when compared to the lithium-ion battery the nickel metal hydride battery can actually withstand extreme ranges of weather conditions making it all the more resilient so there you have it the basics of the lead acid and nickel metal hydride batteries while they may be considered archaic battery technologies they are still around and serving their purpose in the EV industry with the single

speed transmission system electric vehicles can go from 0 to 100 kilometers per hour in just a matter of seconds EVS have a transmission system just like other vehicles that uses power to turn the drive Wheels but unlike IC engine cars that have a multiple speed transmission system EVS have a single speed transmission system that gives maximum torque right from the start this makes it a high revving giving it up to 20 000 RPM while EVS are powerful from the get-go IC engine cars require frequent gear shifting to convert narrow ranges of usable torque and power

to much higher ranges needed on the road in fact this transmission system only gets the IC engine car up to around 7000 RPM and has a complex and heavy gearbox that brings high maintenance costs to users the multiple gears in ic engine Vehicles work on the concept of specific ratios but this is not the case in the single speed transmission system in EVS which has a single fixed reduction gear this basically means that the motor runs at speeds higher than that of the wheels let's take a look at how the single speed transmission system works

from the time you press the accelerator pedal when you press down on the pedal a corresponding amount of current is set to the motor controller the motor controller feeds this current to the electric motor that draws power from the battery to rotate as the shaft of the electric motor is connected to the drive gear in the gear system it rotates along with the electric motor when the drive gear rotates it also rotates The Driven gear the drive gear in the gear system is connected to the differential that drives both wheels and lets them rotate at

different speeds when needed for instance when turning a corner the wheel on the outside has to rotate faster than the other EVS can move forward or backwards with just the Press of a button this is because the electric motor can rotate both clockwise and anti-clockwise depending on the direction of current in order to reverse the direction of current the driver just has to press the reverse button when the direction of current gets reversed the polarity of the electromagnet in the motor also changes this makes the motor rotate in the opposite direction which in turn reverses

the direction that the car travels when it comes to EVS there are four different Drive Wheel Systems used in front wheel drive the electric motor is at the front of the vehicle and in rear-wheel drive the electric motor is located at the rear end of the vehicle EVS also come in four-wheel drive and all-wheel drive systems both systems require the placement of an electric motor at the front and back axles of the vehicle although they may seem similar they differ in the way they power the wheels all-wheel drives power the front and rear wheels simultaneously

the main difference between all-wheel and four-wheel drive system is that the latter can choose to send power to either the rear or front wheels it can also decide whether it sends power to all four wheels this allows the driver to choose which Wheels the power was sent to with just a switch or lever as the single speed transmission system has a single fixed reduction gear it is relatively simple and user friendly the inner mechanical workings and movement of the parts in the gearbox often wear out and may break down all of this is avoided in

the single speed transmission system as construction is simpler and ultimately cuts down the overall maintenance costs so with electric vehicles you can say goodbye to the Prindle system and shift gears to single speed [Music] batteries Motors and converters are all things we hear about when it comes to the electric vehicle but it is the chassis of the electric vehicle that actually brings these parts to life while the chassis supports the load of structures passengers and systems in all vehicles the role of the EV chassis goes a step further this is because all the components are

built in and integrated into the chassis making it a self-contained platform if you've ever seen what the chassis looks like it's pretty much similar to a skateboard with a platform and wheels on four corners and this is why the chassis used in electric vehicles is called a skateboard chassis this platform offers a base structure for the motor batteries wiring and other electrical components to be mounted on for instance models of Tesla as well as the Mahindra e2o are designed with a skateboard chassis to efficiently accommodate the power components in fact the skateboard chassis is a

universal chassis configuration adopted by EV manufacturers that lets them build their own variation with the base design the chassis can be scaled to fit different sizes and be fitted with a range of vehicle bodies this saves the time manufacturers spend developing a chassis for each model from Square One there are however a few Vehicles like the Tata Nexon that do not use the skateboard chassis because they swap out the conventional IC Engine with EV components instead this does not change the mechanical structure or chassis of the EV but by using a skateboard chassis space efficiency

can be improved because having the components mounted on the platform minimizes the amount of space they take up this offers more room for passenger space in the vehicle while the battery pack is equally distributed along the chassis of the vehicle the electric motor is placed at either or both ends of the vehicle depending on the drive configuration this distribution of the EV battery pack along the platform of the chassis lowers the vehicle's center of gravity improves handling and provides more stability during collisions placing the battery pack at either front or rear ends of the vehicle

will increase the load in one specific location of the chassis and shift the center of gravity towards that location among other factors the shift in center of gravity is one that can cause understeering or oversteering if the center of gravity is closer to the front end of the vehicle it is prone to understeering and if the center of gravity is closer to the rear end of the vehicle it is prone to over steering having the battery pack at either end of the vehicle puts it at risk of direct impact during a collision and poses a

safety hazard for the passengers although the EV battery pack contributes to the majority of the vehicle's weight the platform of the skateboard chassis provides much scope for reducing weight to improve fuel efficiency and handling when designing the chassis and selecting the material to use the primary focus is on supporting the load of the vehicle and passengers within it both Advanced high strength Steels and aluminum find themselves competing to be used as materials for Ev chassis in the automotive industry even though steel is preferred for its strength crash worthiness performance durability and low cost it does

happen to be relatively heavier than aluminum as aluminum weighs relatively less it is a preferred choice for use in EV chassis but when the steel industry developed high-strength Steels with strengths up to 2 000 megapascals it took the lead in recent EV models such as the Tesla Model 3. as Research into optimizing designs for skateboard chassis continues it will definitely pave the way forward for the future of electric vehicle design electric vehicles are a combination of electronic and electrical components working together they have a constant flow of electrical energy and information through the many wires

that connect these components you just don't see all the wires because they are bound together by a wiring harness that is a collection of wires their Terminals and connectors held together by a durable and insulating material the wiring harness is designed in such a way that multiple wires are organized into several bunches that follow specific routes along the body of the vehicle not only does this simplify handling but it also reduces the chance of short circuits in the system it also optimizes the way space is used in the electric vehicle and protects the wires from

external damage EVS have wires that run on for miles on end and having them Loosely lying around the vehicle would prove to be an inconvenience but it isn't as simple as just taking the wires and putting them together before wiring harness is developed it is vital to model and simulate the positioning of components and the route of wires it has to be designed in a way that efficiently uses a space in the EV while making sure that all necessary components are connected behind the design of a wiring harness are four main steps these include selecting

the components and their placement the wiring diagram selecting the right harness and electrical routing before the path of wires can be designed the components along its way needs to be selected these include high voltage components like the battery pack motor and inverter as well as low voltage components like lights fuses relays tubes and sensors next comes the placement of these vehicles in a circuit to develop a wiring diagram the components are laid out and connected together after the components and wires are positioned appropriately the wiring harness is designed specific design requirements are taken because the

harness passes through parts of the vehicle that are exposed to heat and moisture the 3D design of the wiring harness gets converted to a 2d diagram through a process called flattening flattening provides accurate measurements and Manufacturing specifications that can be used by manufacturers and last is electrical routing where the course of the wiring harness through the EV is visualized the flattened diagram tells us the path the wires run through the vehicle and the length of the harness needed this is called routing and makes sure that all components are connected without interfering with each other it

also assembles the path in which electricity will flow through the components to minimize complexity caused by the wiring harness running through the vehicle the design of a wiring harness takes the difference between high and low voltage systems into account high voltage wiring harnesses are used for DC voltages Beyond 250 to 750 volts and low voltage wiring harnesses are used for DC voltages less than 250 volts a high voltage wiring harness connects components that work on high voltages like the battery motor and inverter of an electric vehicle together as they are a part of the high

voltage system the battery and inverter are connected together by an underfloor wiring harness which is longer in length than the power cable connecting the battery and motor together in order to prevent interference caused by electromagnetic noise both harnesses require shielding as the underfloor harness has protectors to Shield wires from external damage each component is connected by two wiring harnesses to split the load in the electric vehicle the wiring harness begins at the charging port where you plug it into the charger it then goes on to the on-board charger that converts AC to DC and from

here the wiring harness goes to the rapid splitter the rapid splitter plugs into the battery pack and is also the point where the connection splits into two routes while one road goes to the motor supply the other goes to the high power distribution module as the motor is responsible for acceleration and deceleration the Motor Supply Route is connected to the transmission the high power distribution model is connected to the air compressor battery heater unit DC DC converter and the positive temperature coefficient cabin heater while the high voltage system connects these components a cell or module

from the high voltage battery pack Powers the components of the low voltage system the DC to DC converter brings down the high voltage from the battery pack to a lower voltage level that can be supplied to the auxiliary electronic systems this converter connects to a 12 volt lead acid battery the total load is shared between the lead acid battery and the DC to DC converter from here electrical energy flows to each individual component of the low voltage system such as the headlights tail lights and wipers a primary difference in the wiring harness of EVs and

IC engines is that the EV has a high voltage system with many wires each vehicle model has its own wiring harness configuration since the wiring harness system is made by hand it comes at a high cost they also prevent safety hazards caused by exposed wires and disorganized circuits so having an organized wiring harness keeps the electrical energy flowing through the system in a safe and efficient manner if the temperature of the human body increases or decreases beyond the ideal range it might lead to unpleasant effects that affect your overall health and performance for example if

you're running a temperature you may experience sweating headaches weakness and shivering that hamper body functions and the same goes for when you're cold but instead of sweating the body Shivers in an attempt to increase temperature back up to the normal range unwanted effects of temperature fluctuations are not limited to just the functions of the human body the performance of an electric vehicle is also put to test when the temperature of the battery pack electric motor and motor controller go beyond their normal operating range similar to the way the human body monitors and manages temperature EVS

are equipped with a thermal management system or TMS that is designed to Monitor and control the temperature of the battery motor and motor controller when electricity flows through batteries during charge and discharge it generates heat because of electrical losses if this heat is not managed and eliminated appropriately it may limit the performance of the EV or pose a safety hazard to passengers inside it and just like how our bodies need an ideal temperature range to feel and function well batteries also have a range at which they demonstrate Optimal Performance in fact if their temperature goes

above or Beyond this range it may lead to cell degradation the battery pack may also be prone to Thermal runaway where the amount of heat developed inside the battery crosses the amount of heat released to the surroundings over time this heat accumulation can damage the battery when the temperature of the battery is managed the overall health of the battery can be preserved this in turn helps the EV achieve maximum range and performance while thermal management is essential for the battery pack the TMS also ensures that the temperature of the electric motor and motor controller are

maintained within the optimal range if the temperature of these parts rise they are prone to catching on fire which stops the working of the system and if the motor even in electric vehicle stops working the EV ceases to move in order to prevent issues in the electric vehicle because of overheating the TMS cools the parts using one of three methods liquid coolants air cooling or cooling fins here's a quick look at each one circulating a liquid glycol coolant through the internal circuitry is the most dominant method of cooling used in EVS many car manufacturers like

Tesla BMW Chevrolet Audi and jaguar employ this method the entire cooling Lube is connected in series it starts off cooling the battery pack moves on to the motor and then the electronic systems when going through the battery pack glycol from the reservoir passes through the tube surrounding each of the cells the tube snakes between the cells to maximize the amount of contact between them as it moves along the cells it absorbs the heat generated by them and dissipates it to the air through the radiator for cooling the motor and motor controller a coolant to oil

heat exchanger passes oil through the grooves in the stator of the motor this system also absorbs the Heat and releases it via a radiator into the air coolants like glycol are used for their low freezing points High thermal conductivity and high heat capacity used to a lesser extent is the air cooling method which involves circulating air over the top of the parts it will absorb the heat move it away from them and into the air however this is not a preferred method as air has poor heat conductivity cooling fins are also used to cool the

system as they increase the surface area needed for heat transfer to take place when the heat gets transferred to the cooling fins from the battery pack through conduction it is transferred to the air via convection but as they add more weight to the EV it's not a preferred method of cooling but thermal Management in an EV goes beyond just cooling the battery pack as it also involves heating the battery pack at low temperature conditions this is because battery capacity is greatly reduced under low temperature effects do you know that temperature control is just as important

in electric vehicles as it is to the human body we've all heard this at one point or another energy can neither be created nor destroyed but it can be transformed from one form to another and it is this very law that the regenerative braking system in electric vehicles exploits when the brake is pressed the regenerative braking system converts kinetic energy generated by the movement of the car into electrical energy that can be stored in the battery let's break it down for you it takes a certain amount of kinetic energy to get the car going when

you press the accelerator pedal but when you press the brakes this energy has to go somewhere so it can't be lost it can only be transformed into another form in the average vehicle without regenerative braking pressing the brakes converts the kinetic energy into heat energy and as heat cannot be put to good use in these vehicles the energy eventually gets wasted but in EVS this energy is used to recharge the batteries releasing the accelerator pedal decelerates the electric car and when the car decelerates the motor also slows down until it stops since the drive wheel

is attached to the motor it continues to be in motion before gradually coming to a stop at this stage the motor acts like a generator during which it takes the kinetic energy of the wheels and converts it into electrical energy that can charge the battery as the vehicle decelerates a back electromotive force or back EMF develops the electricity that comes from this is what gets stored as electrical energy in the battery so in EVS the electric motor happens to be an energy recovery device that acts as a generator when braking the regenerative braking system can

be used in battery EVS as well as hybrid and plug-in hybrid EVS in all vehicles the amount of energy returned to the battery during regenerative braking depends on how the driver operates the vehicle more energy is reaped when drivers gradually decelerate the vehicle as it gives the EV time to capture and transform the kinetic energy drivers who abruptly hit the brakes find regenerative braking to be less efficient and not enough time is given for the system to convert energy [Music] regenerative braking is also more effective when drivers are on the roads that require them to

press the brakes more often this is because it gives the electric motor more opportunities to capture and transform energy now that we have covered how regenerative braking Works here's a look at its pros and cons by being able to top up energy when on the go the regenerative braking system saves energy and maximizes driving range by extending battery life the amount of energy the regenerative braking system can capture depends on factors like braking Force braking power charge left in the battery and how the EV is being driven but generally anywhere between 16 to 70 percent

of the kinetic energy can be captured and stored as electrical energy another limitation is that not enough kinetic energy is generated at lower speeds for the regenerative braking system to capture and convert into electrical energy at higher speeds the system may not always bring the EV to an immediate halt which in certain cases May jeopardize safety of passengers in the EV in some cases drivers used to the conventional braking system have expressed discomfort in the pedal of vehicles with regenerative braking systems until they get accustomed to it they may not be comfortable working the brakes

nonetheless the regenerative braking system is breaking the Norms of how we break from analog watches to smart watches and IC engine cars to electric vehicles advancements in technology are endless technology has found its way into almost all aspects of modern life making it just that much faster and smoother in the automobile industry technology is changing the way we accelerate brake and steer cars the conventional drive by cable system using mechanical linkages and hydraulic pressure to manage the functions of a car is now being replaced with the drive by wire system that operates a car with

just Electronics in place of the mechanical connections found in drive-by-cable systems the drive by wire system brings in an electronic unit to manage acceleration braking and steering and as their name suggests acceleration is handled by the accelerate by wire system braking by the brake by wire system and you guessed it staring by the steer by wire system petrol engines were first to be equipped with drive-by-wire technology replacing the traditional drive by cable system in a drive-by-cable system the accelerator pedal is connected to a cable and the other end of the cable is attached to a

valve that opens or closes to draw fuel in depending on how much you push the accelerator pedal the corresponding amount of fuel is taken in and ignition is initiated upon release of the accelerator a spring mechanism shuts the valve but since this involves more mechanical movement it takes relatively more time for the valve to respond to user input the same job when performed by drive-by-wire systems uses sensors and actuators while sensors provide inputs actuators provide outputs so when you push the pedal a sensor beneath the accelerator gets activated and signals how much the valve should

open at the end of this setup is an actuator that activates the mechanical system this makes the input and output process mechanical with an electronic system in between while many cars still use the drive by cable system the accelerate by wire system is extensively used in electric vehicles these days in EVS pressing the pedal activates the sensor which then sends a corresponding voltage to the motor control unit or MCU voltage sent to the MCU increases as you press harder on the pedal since the extent to which the pedal is pressed is proportional to the electricity

supplied to the motor there is greater Harmony between the accelerator and the torque produced when we hit the brakes in the drive by cable system pressure gets magnified by a hydraulic brake booster which then sends it to the brake calipers the break by wire system removes the direct connection between master cylinder and brake pedal in vehicles with Electro hydraulic brake by wire systems the hydraulic calipers are activated through sensors based on how much the brake is pushed the MCU decides how much braking force is needed at each wheel this then triggers the hydraulic calipers accordingly

electromechanical brake systems further remove connection between driver and brakes as they do not have a hydraulic component they solely rely on sensors to determine how much braking force is needed in place of the force being transmitted by Hydraulics the actuators trigger the brakes in each wheel in brake by wire electrical systems are coupled with hydraulic and mechanical systems because regulatory constraints do not allow the production of fully drive-by-wire systems as other linkages must be present to take over in the case that electric systems fail so far we've covered how the drive by wire system accelerates

and breaks a car now let's go over how it steers a car in traditional drive by cable designs a rack and pinion steering gear system is used so when the driver turns the wheel a proportional turn reflects in the steering wheels vehicles with the stair by wire system have no connection between tires and the steering wheel instead when the driver turns the steering wheel a corresponding signal is sent to the MCU that then conveys the message to the electric motors now you may wonder why we need an alternative to the traditional drive by cable system

well the drive by cable system with many mechanical linkages starts to wear off over time and becomes less responsive it requires more maintenance and makes the car heavy by activating mechanical parts of a car with a drive-by-wire system we can reduce the number of moving Parts in the vehicle making it easier to maintain even more so drive-by-wire facilitates uniformity between driver input and vehicle output providing us with a smooth user experience now the cool thing here is that depending on how hard you press down on the pedal the amount of current sent to the motor

controller varies so if you put the pedal to the metal more current is sent to the motor controller and the faster you go as the drive-by-wire system is simple to use it is considered a reliable system when compared to drive by cable it is these very advantages that drove Automotive companies like Tesla Fiat Volkswagen and BMW to implement parts of the drive by wire technology for their vehicles imagine charging your electric vehicle Beyond its limit and later finding out that the battery pack has been damaged and if the battery pack gets damaged it poses a

safety thread to all those in and around the vehicle it is to prevent hazards like this that electric vehicles have a battery management system or BMS to keep them in check the BMS oversees the workings and performance of the rechargeable lithium-ion battery pack and EVS to make sure they function efficiently within safety limits the BMS does this by monitoring the temperature and environment of the battery flow of coolant through the circuitry and estimating and managing state of charge and state of health by doing this battery performance and life can be maximized through cell balancing an

EV battery pack is made up of many lithium-ion cells connected together in a series or parallel each cell has its own state of charge and capacities because no two cells are like each other even if one of the cells in the battery pack drains out the entire pack stops working cells that drain out first curb the energy potential of the entire battery pack and this is why the energy has to be equally distributed or balanced among the cells cell balancing redistributes the energy available in a battery pack consisting of many cells in a circuit by

doing so the energy and lifespan of the cells is improved cell balancing is also required to prevent issues that may arise within the battery system like thermal Runaway cell degradation or incomplete cell pack charging since Lithium-ion batteries are sensitive to overcharging and discharging they are prone to Thermal runaway where the amount of heat generated within the battery crosses the amount of heat that can be released as time goes on Lithium-ion batteries also undergo cell degradation that is marked by a reduction in their lifespan efficiency and capacity by balancing the charges of cells within the battery

their condition can be preserved to delay the effects of cell degradation similar to how some cells drain out before others some also reach their full capacity faster because of this cells that are not fully charged may be mistaken as fully charged this results in incomplete cell pack charging but how does cell balancing actually work there are two methods active and passive balancing imagine you have a barbell with 16 kilograms of weight on one side and 20 kilograms of weight on the other side if we apply the concept of active balancing two kilograms from the side

with 20 kilograms would be taken and added to the side with 16 kilograms this would equally distribute the weight across the barbell giving us 18 kilograms on both sides now if we apply the concept of passive balancing four kilograms would be removed from the side with 20 kilograms giving us 16 kilograms on both sides in both active and passive balancing we have equally distributed the weights so in terms of cells active balancing transfers energy from a cell with more charge to a cell with less charge in order to equalize the charge within the battery pack

this can be achieved through charge shuttling which involves transporting energy from one cell to another or by energy converters which use capacitors Transformers or inductors to facilitate the movement of energy across cells on the other hand passive balancing is when charge is drained from the cell with more charge and dissipated in the form of heat this is done by adding a resistor to the Circuit active and passive cell balancing have their own set of pros and cons active balancing does enhance the performance of the cell passive cell balancing is cheaper than active cell balancing but

this method has poor efficiency in transferring energy since cell balancing equally distributes the state of charge across cells here is a quick overview of what it is on every mobile phone is a battery symbol with a percentage next to it and this percentage actually represents your phone's state of charge which is nothing but the amount of energy left in your phone's battery EVS also have a battery gauge which indicates how much charge is left in it parallel to the battery gauge in an IC engine car is the fuel gauge that indicates how much fuel is

left in the tank it is important to note that the maximum your battery can be charged is always less than its full capacity cells are configured this way to improve the lifetime and performance of the battery batteries just like humans age and deteriorate over time and just like we monitor our health it is important to monitor a battery state of health however through repeated cycles of charge and discharge their condition declines over time the state of health of a battery is determined through comparing its current condition with its Optimal Performance Lithium-ion batteries used in EVS

are no exception to the effects of degradation Ergo the BMS evaluates the state of health of the battery pack and reports on its status to prevent pitfalls in EV performance as Lithium-ion batteries generate a lot of heat the BMS monitors temperature fluctuations to ensure they stay within the optimal range if the temperature goes below or above this range EV performance is likely to be affected during intervals of high temperature the BMS activates the cooling system monitoring the temperature of an EV battery pack is also essential for the safety and comfort of passengers within the vehicle

so in a nutshell we can't have a battery pack without a BMS just like the battery symbol and percentage on your mobile phone is one on your electric vehicle's display this lets you know how much charge is left in your EVS battery pack which in other words is the state of charge as batteries go through multiple charge cycles over the course of their lifetime their condition declines because of the constant flow of current through them the more current flowing through them the more heat generation and a faster reduction in battery capacity this is why the

battery on your mobile phone can't store charge for long durations as it ages because of which you end up charging it more often the same goes for the battery and electric vehicles as well this makes it vital to monitor the battery state of health which is its condition at a given time compared to its performance under ideal conditions evaluating and Reporting on the state of charge and health of an electric vehicle's battery is taken care of by the battery management system but how do we measure the state of charge and health of a battery pack

well since there are no direct methods of determining the soc and Soh of a battery we use methods of estimation instead for this factors that can be measured such as the current voltage temperature and model of the battery are taken into consideration in order to arrive at an SOC and Soh estimation estimating the soc of an EV battery pack lets the driver know how long the battery can run for before they need to change it again it also protects the battery from overheating due to overcharge or discharge which if not controlled can affect battery health

while there are a series of methods used to estimate the soc of a battery pack there are three main methods used when it comes to EVS these include the column counting method open circuit voltage method and the Kalman filter algorithm here's a look at how they work the column counting method or the current integration method determines the soc of a battery pack by integrating the amount of current entering and exiting the pack with time this is done with a column counter that is connected across the battery the results then get displayed as the SOC next

is the open voltage method which is a direct measurement of battery SOC open circuit voltage is the difference in potential between the two terminals of a battery when no load is connected across the soc of a battery is related to its open circuit voltage for instance in a lead acid battery the relationship between the soc and open circuit voltage is almost linear but the only drawback of this method is that this relationship is not linear for All Battery types and this mainly holds true for Lithium-ion batteries new adaptive systems have been developed with advancements in

artificial intelligence one commonly used adaptive system is the Kalman filter this is an estimation algorithm using real-time data on Terminal voltage which is the difference in potential between the two terminals of the load when the circuit is on the Kalman filter algorithm is used because it limits noise interference from sensors and provides more accurate readings once the sensors measure electric charge and voltage they display it for the driver to see as the battery and percentage icon on the display panel when aware of the battery state of charge they can monitor its performance and optimize it

for use on the road the usable capacity of a battery is influenced by factors such as the age of the battery its internal and external temperature and charge and discharge rates their effects are not limited to just SOC but also extend into the battery's Soh because over time they affect parameters such as internal resistance capacity and battery voltage the relationship between state of charge and state of health is defined by the equation with a rate of change in state of charge is the difference between the rate at which state of health and depth of discharge

change here depth of discharge is just how much charge has left the battery this is the inverse of the soc so if your electric vehicle has 60 percent charge left 60 percent corresponds to the SOC and the 40 that left the battery corresponds to the depth of discharge unlike SOC which has methods of estimation the Soh of a battery does not instead the battery management system in EVS makes use of a series of physical parameters such as internal resistance voltage and capacity to determine the health of the battery pack in a brand new EV the

state of health should ideally be one hundred percent but with usage over time this percentage is inclined to decrease the battery of an average electric vehicle offers 300 kilometers of range on one charge and is expected to last a good 10 to 20 years before needing replacement so getting the most out of your battery is about more than just charging it electric vehicles are electrifying the automobile industry as we speak by minimizing the use of fossil fuels in the industry the EV is on the road to reducing pollution and saving the world like all things

electric EVS get their energy from an external power source that provides the electrical energy needed to charge their batteries and as fuel stations are to IC engine cars EVS R2 charging stations so if you want to charge your EV you pull up to a charging station and not a fuel station but it isn't as simple as it sounds filling up an IC engine car is a routine and quick process you go to the fuel station they fill up your tank and you're ready to go in just a matter of minutes but the same does not

apply for EVS not only do they take more time to charge but different EV models also vary in the amount of power they can receive and this is why EV charging comes in three levels level one two and three level 1 charging makes use of the average Outlet available at home so this means that using this level of charging gives you the flexibility to charge your EV in the comfort of your own home but they take hours to fully charge the vehicle and only give up to five miles of range per hour of charge level

2 Charging takes it up a notch and uses Outlets of Greater voltage these are commonly found in commercial locations but can also be installed at home they offer faster charging than level 1 charging and provide up to 20 miles of range per hour of charge both level 1 and level 2 Charging options feed electrical energy in the form of alternating current to EVS an on-board charger is a system on board the vehicle that performs the AC to DC conversion and if there is an on-board charger it's only right that there's an off-board charger off-board Chargers

are used in the case of level 3 charging also known as DC fast charging instead of the AC to DC conversion taking place within the EV it takes place outside and that's why they're called off-board Chargers DC fast charging saves on the time that level 1 and 2 take to convert alternating current to direct current since it directly feeds DC into the EV it can provide up to 80 miles of range per hour of charge but as specialized installations are needed for fast charging it is only compatible with a few EVS DC fast charging is

further divided into three charging systems these include charge to move the combined charging system and Tesla supercharging each of these methods have different types of connectors that plug into the socket of EVS here's a quick overview of each one charge to move or shod Mo which literally means move using charge is the first ever fast charging method started by Japanese car manufacturers it can provide 6 to 150 kilowatts of power the combined charging system is a universal standard of charging that combines AC and high speed DC to charge an EV and offers 80 to 150

kilowatts of power all EV charging stations are equipped with charge to move and combined charging system connections Tesla EVS on the other hand have their very own fast charging system called Tesla supercharging that gets the job done quick and easy for Tesla users but as not everyone has access or the installations needed for DC fast charging a quicker alternative may be stopping at a battery swapping station they're pretty much what the name suggests a station to swap out your drained batteries for a fully Juiced one while there are external ways of charging your EV it

actually has its own way of harvesting energy inside it through the regenerative braking system this is a form of energy harvesting because kinetic energy from the movement of the wheels is converted into electrical energy that charges the battery at the core of this mechanism is the electric motor when you're on the go the motor focuses on propulsion and when you hit the brakes the motor focuses on recharging the battery so the moment you hit the brakes and let go of the accelerator the motor starts to recharge the battery talk about cell sufficiency as good as

this sounds it only works when the battery has run to allow more charge in if the battery is at maximum capacity it will not accept any more charge now imagine a world where you could charge your EV by just driving on a road or when parked at a parking lot this is actually just wireless charging that you've probably come across before if not for an EV wireless charging is common for mobile phones all you do is place your mobile phone on a charging pad that uses electromagnetic induction to charge the device this same principle works

for EVS too although not quite as common yet EVS can also be wirelessly charged all you have to do is Park your EV on top of a coil system that is built into a space like a garage parking lot or even the road and while this may sound like a futuristic concept it might just become reality and switch up the EV charging game just like AC and DC motors are used to drive the electric vehicle forward there's another set of Motors called reluctance Motors even though all these motors have the same function their working principles

are anything but the same while AC and DC motors work on the interaction between magnetic and electric Fields reluctance Motors work on the principle of reluctance and come in two main types the switched reluctance motor and the synchronous reluctance motor the reluctance of a material refers to its ability to resist the flow of magnetic flux if you look at the magnetic flux of a permanent magnet the magnetic lines pass through air and move from the North Pole to the South Pole these magnetic lines always follow the path with least resistance although it might be hard

to imagine air does resist the passing of electrical and magnetic energy through it but if you place an iron nail in the magnetic field the magnetic flux tends to pass through the nail this is because Iron's resistance towards letting magnetic flux flow through it is far less when compared to the resistance offered by the air every material for instance the iron nail has magnetic domains which are areas in it that are magnetized in the same direction different areas of the iron nail will have varying magnetic domains when a magnetic flux passes through it the alignment

of the domains change to be in one uniform Direction this gives the nail a temporary North and South Pole and is what attracts the nail to the opposite pole of the permanent magnet now that we know the basics of reluctance here's a look at how it relates to a simple reluctance motor setup if we replace the iron nail with an iron bar that acts as the rotor and put it in the middle of two electromagnets that act as the stator one positive above and another below it the iron bar would behave the same as it

would with a permanent magnet this means that it will get attracted to the opposite poles of the electromagnet because the magnetic flux of the electromagnet chooses the path with least resistance which happens to be through the iron bar the rotor trying to align with the stator is what causes the rotational movement that produces torque and power however when the opposite poles of the rotor and stator actually align with each other they stop rotating and generate zero torque it is to overcome this break in rotation that synchronous reluctance motors have three-phase windings carrying a three-phase AC

around their stator to understand this better let's look at the working of a synchronous reluctance motor asynchronous reluctance motor has a stator with three-phase coil windings a rotor and a shaft when the coil windings are excited a rotating magnetic field is generated by the stator the magnetic flux then seeks to move through the path of least resistance so ideally the rotor will move towards the opposite ends of the stator in order to align with the magnetic field but due to a delay in the domains of the rotor aligning the rotor rotates with low inertia so

instead of continuing to rotate when the opposite pole approaches it causes a repulsive Force in order to overcome this delay the speed of the RMF can initially be reduced to give the rotor time to catch up a controller device can detect the position of the rotor and Vary the RMF speed as needed to ensure that the attractive force is always present between the rotor and RMF this magnetically locks the rotor with the stator's magnetic field and generates a continuous torque it is this continuous torque that is sought after by car manufacturers in the EV industry

switched reluctance Motors also function on the principle of trying to find the path of least reluctance they are popular for not having a permanent magnet material however when looking at it from a power converter point of view they have complex driving requirements these motors have different configurations That Vary the stator to rotor pole ratios in this video we will be using a motor with a six to four stator to rotor pole ratio when the stator is energized it develops a magnetic field that reduces reluctance by minimizing the air gap when opposite stator poles are energized

the rotor aligns with them so by energizing successive stator poles the rotor will keep aligning this is what generates the rotation when the rotor is aligned with the stator it has minimal reluctance and when it is unaligned with the stator it has maximal reluctance when two rotor poles align with opposite stator poles there is another set of Roto poles that get unaligned to a different set of opposite stator poles the unaligned set of stator and rotor get excited to align again so in this case the current would be switched to this set of windings to

generate a movement this movement is what provides power and torque for the electric vehicle it is called a switched reluctance motor because current is switched on and off for successive stator windings since this motor has no permanent magnet it can tolerate greater forces for magnetic fields than current carrying conductors they can be used in combination with driving equipment without needing gearboxes or power transmission equipment this saves costs and gives high power and torque density efficiency and a robust structure as the electric vehicle industry is all about finding simple and efficient Motors the reluctance motor might

just be the answer as more drivers switch to electric vehicles there's an exponentially increasing demand for the electrical energy that powers them this is pretty much similar to the constant demand placed on fuel by IC engine cars but there's a difference electric vehicles need to stay plugged into the charging station to charge their battery pack now what would happen if most Electric Vehicle drivers chose to charge their vehicles at the same time for instance it is convenient for drivers to plug in their electric vehicle at night so that it is ready to go in the

morning while this may be convenient for the driver it places a heavy demand for electrical energy on a power grid because of which it experiences a peak load it is to manage and control situations just like this that smart charging systems have been developed smart charging is a charging system that allows charging operators charging stations and electric vehicles to share data regarding their state of charge and the demand at the power grid it also oversees and controls the use of charging devices and the flow of electrical energy to maximize the efficiency of charging and energy

consumption it decides how much electrical energy to give the electric vehicle when plugged in by studying the number of people charging their EVS at that time as well as the overall demand for electrical energy in that area when more EVS are plugged in there is a high demand in energy during which the charging system May opt to reduce the amount of power given to the vehicle in some cases the smart charging system May hold off on charging the electric vehicle until a later time when the demand is less by doing this the burden on power

grids is reduced and ensures that charging stations are not maxed out of the amount of electrical energy they have this is known as Peak shaving and is when Peak energy demands are spread out over a longer duration now that we have gone over what a smart charging system is here's a look at how it works this charging system is similar to a cloud Network where information can be shared when you plug in an electric vehicle at the charging station it sends this information to the cloud platform through Wi-Fi or Bluetooth this information then gets studied

interpreted and visualized to determine when and how to charge the EV through this process there is efficient control over the flow of electrical energy EV drivers can even pay and keep track of their charging sessions through their mobile applications on their phones these apps also let them track the charge of their electric vehicle and the electrical energy and charging stations in and around them users can even specify how much their electric vehicle is to be charged before specific time smart charging systems can be implemented in three different ways v1g v2g and v2h to be v1g

is a unidirectional relay of electrical energy from the power grid to the vehicle this is when charging stations adjust their rate of charging according to the demands on the power grid v2g or vehicle to grid charging is bi-directional as electric vehicles can either be charged or discharged when there is a high demand for electrical energy at the power grid electric vehicles can give back energy to the grid when the peak Demand on the power grid reduces the electric vehicle will then be charged back up again v2h to b or vehicle to home or building is

when electric vehicles act as power sources for the house or building they are plugged into similar to v2g the battery pack will be charged again as the demand for electrical energy reduces smart charging systems can either be managed by the user or the supplier user managed charging gives customers the flexibility of choosing when to charge their vehicle based on their need and the price on the other hand supplier managed charging is when the real-time energy production state of charge information about EVs and proximity and a local energy consumption are all taken into consideration before electric

vehicles in the area can be charged or discharged smart charging systems provide an interface for users and the system to work in Synergy to maximize Energy Efficiency when designing an electric vehicle let alone any Vehicle Safety comes first but when it comes to the eev there are concerns about the possibilities of electrocution shock and even explosions these pairs are often Amplified by the instances of EV battery packs Catching Fire which have obviously led to the safety of the electric vehicle coming under Fire itself so let's take a look at how safe the electric vehicle actually

is although the EV battery pack has a reputation for catching fire IC engine cars are in fact more likely to do so because their fuel ignites much faster than the flammable lithium-ion electrolyte in an EV battery pack if a battery pack sustains damage during a collision a short circuit may occur and cause thermal runaway which will overheat the electrolyte if this is not controlled the electrolyte will ignite and lead to an explosion to make the EV battery pack safer each individual cell is surrounded by Advanced phase change materials that improve heat transfer as the material

transitions from one phase to another this also limits the risk of overheating in nearby cells as the battery pack is many cells the effects of the Collision on one cell will spread like wildfire to the others there is also a protective cooling shroud with coolant flowing inside it to prevent chances of damage or short circuiting battery packs are also subjected to testing under different conditions they may face to understand how they respond to each one a few conditions under which they are tested include extreme temperatures vibrations overcharging humidity water fire and collisions as the EV

battery pack is equally distributed along the floor of the chassis and not mounted at the rear or front end it is safe from direct impact in the case of a collision not only does this placement protect the battery pack from immediate impact but it also lowers the center of gravity and provides more stability amidst collisions this also reduces the likelihood of the vehicle rolling over upon impact electric vehicles also happen to be heavier because of their battery pack because of which they experience less deceleration than lighter cars in the case of a collision this puts

passengers in the EV at a lower risk of injury when compared to those in cars that weigh less there are also several partial offset crash blocks to keep the front wheels from hitting the battery pack in the case of a frontal Collision when sensors in the vehicle detect a collision the EV has a system in place to isolate the battery pack from the rest of the vehicle circuitry this triggers special pyro fuses to disconnect the high voltage electrical system from the system however to keep the hazard lights functioning the 12 volt system will still continue

to work a major concern in EVS is the chance of shocks or electrocution this brings many questions regarding their safety when in contact with water however electric vehicles are not phased by water the charging plug and socket are designed in such a way that water or dirt cannot penetrate them even more so electricity only flows from the charging station to the onboard charger if there is no water in between the connections if the charger does not happen to sense and come in contact with water there will be no shock because the flow of electricity is

immediately cut off in the case of a thunderstorm with lightning electric vehicles are designed in the same way conventional cars are with a faraday cage that keeps them safe from lightning apart from thunderstorms and Rain temperature fluctuations whether hot or cold are taken into consideration when it comes to safety this is why EVS have a battery management system to monitor the temperature and status of the battery pack to keep it within safe operating temperature ranges the BMS also has multiple temperature sensors that facilitate thermal protection Electric Vehicle Safety considerations extend beyond just the passengers in

the vehicle as they also consider the safety of pedestrians around since EVS don't have an internal combustion engine they produce much less noise while most may consider this an added Advantage it in fact raises safety concerns because pedestrians may not be able to hear an approaching electric vehicle in order to alert pedestrians of the ev's presence noise emitters are installed at the front and rear ends of the vehicle to mimic the sound of an internal combustion engine countries have made it mandatory for such systems to be fitted in electric vehicles now this just goes to

show that safety goes the extra mile in electric vehicles and makes them just as safe as IC engine vehicles electromagnetic waves are everywhere as a matter of fact the electronic device which you are watching this video on be it your mobile phone laptop or tablet is sending out electromagnetic waves as we speak on a larger scale the vehicle you drive around either an IC engine car or an electric vehicle also generates electromagnetic waves all of these systems have one thing in common they are all combinations of electronic and electrical components which are responsible for the

emission of electromagnetic waves when listening to music on your earphones you've probably heard static sounds this is caused by the interfering signals of the earphone and surrounding electronic systems with all of these electromagnetic waves around us is a phenomenon called electromagnetic interference going on this is when the electromagnetic waves within or external to an electronic system interferes with other electronics if not managed this can disrupt the normal operation of the electronic systems and can even become a safety hazard and this is why electric vehicles are designed to be electromagnetically compatible electromagnetic compatibility or EMC is

when an electronic system is able to function in an environment with other devices emitting electromagnetic waves it will also not emit electromatic waves in ranges that affect the working of other devices in its surroundings but where do the electromagnetic waves come from in electric vehicles electromagnetic waves and EVS originate from each Electronic Component a few of which include the motor motor controller converter battery pack and an onboard charger the primary source of these waves happens to be the power converter electric motor and battery pack which all operate on high voltages as a result of this

they emit electromagnetic waves of higher magnitude than other electronic components that operate on low voltages like the headlights all of these components are connected together by a high voltage and low voltage wiring harness placing these two wiring harness systems together in an EV also causes Emi due to the varying frequencies of electromagnetic waves that they emit the switching of power semiconductor devices also helps in the control of Motors the switching action also causes Emi all of these happen to be sources of Emi from within the EV external sources of Emi for the EV include charges

at the charging station and wireless charging mechanisms electronic components within the vehicle make up different electronic systems like the suspension control information navigation headlights and Brake pressure systems as each system emits electromagnetic waves a good amount of interference goes on within the EV if this interference is not managed and the EV is not electromagnetically capable it may lead to malfunction or failure for instance the motor controller in an electric vehicle works on electromagnetic components like IC chips and sensors that emit an electromagnetic wave if these components do not pass Emi and EMC compliances they may

cause a malfunction to make sure this does not happen and the EV is safe for use on and off the roads EMC testing is performed to determine if they are operating within safety standards it is because of this that parts of an EV should have an EMC certificate these certificates are given after the vehicle passes a series of tests for EMC based on standards set by organizations the EMC of an EV is studied through laboratory and road tests which assess the emissions susceptibility and Immunity of the vehicle laboratory tests are performed to determine the electromagnetic

wave emissions as well as the susceptibility of each system in the vehicle to Emi this test is performed in an EMC test chamber that is anechoic by assessing the susceptibility of the vehicle we can gauge how vulnerable the EV is to the other electromagnetic emissions when testing this the EV will be the only device in the room and all other devices will be switched off to determine their magnetic wave outside tests are carried out to test the vehicle in real world conditions the vehicle will be driven in maximum acceleration and deceleration to identify the amount

of current developed during traction leveled roads are used for this purpose because the magnetic wave of the earth is relatively constant when performing these tests we can determine external sources of electromagnetic waves as well certain design considerations can be taken to maximize EMC and limit Emi in an EV for instance the motor in an EV can be fixed to the chassis to reduce the amount of electric potential as much as possible in addition to this Motors and power cables need to be placed at a distance from the passenger seat area power cables in the vehicle

can also be twisted and insulated to reduce their emission of electromagnetic waves that can interfere with other systems so electromagnetic waves are literally everywhere and for all you know your mobile phone could be interfering with the electromagnetic waves of an EV right now zero emission non-polluting and eco-friendly are just a few of the terms used to describe the electric vehicle while this does hold true to a certain extent the electric vehicle is unfortunately not 100 eco-friendly it is still less harmful to the environment than the IC engine car as one electric vehicle can save around

150 000 kilograms of carbon dioxide per year since all electric battery EVS only have a battery pack but no combustion engine they emit no exhaust from their tailpipe however hybrid and plug-in hybrid EVs do have a combustion engine along with a battery pack which results in exhaust emissions but the amount of emissions from these vehicles is still 17 to 30 percent less than that from an IC engine car so by shifting to electric vehicles hybrid or all-electric the overall tailpipe emissions of pollutants like oxides of carbon nitrogen and sulfur can be brought down on top

of reducing greenhouse gas emissions electric vehicles also minimize the release of particulates like soot into the atmosphere a road with just electric vehicles would have less soot emissions which in turn reduces the impact it has on the respiratory health of living things unlike IC engine cars the battery pack in EVS adds extra weight to their system this leads to a rise in the wear of the tires which contributes to particle pollution most EVS are however designed with special tires that can manage the heavy weight of batteries to reduce Associated wear while EVS might sound great

when it comes to the lack of a mission the process of manufacturing an EV does have negative impacts on the environment here's a look at how the manufacturing process of electric vehicles and specifically the battery pack used in them affects the environment Studies have suggested that manufacturing and EV generates more pollution when compared to the IC engine car due to the additional energy needed to make an EV battery pack in fact data suggests that there is 30 to 40 percent more greenhouse gas emission during the production phase most of which is from the battery what's

more is that the Factory's manufacturing batteries used in electric vehicles often use energy from non-renewable resources this is why many EV manufacturers have defined rules for battery suppliers to use only renewable energy sources when manufacturing it despite such measures during the entire manufacturing cycle from production to Transportation EV battery packs still require a lot of energy that accounts for more carbon emissions than the EV ever produces over the course of its lifetime but before all this rare earth metals like lithium Cobalt nickel copper Vanadium and indium that make up the battery need to be obtained

the means by which this is done involves deep mining which has severe impacts on the environment at the moment lithium is the most extensively used element in EV batteries the process of extracting lithium from the ground consumes a lot of water and energy the amount of each metal that goes into the making of each battery depends on the type of battery and vehicle model to put this in perspective an EV battery could have around 8 kilograms of lithium 14 kilograms of cobalt 20 kilograms of magnanese and 35 kilograms of nickel when compared to IC engine

cars EVS require six times more minerals so relying on these will definitely put immense pressure on land mineral ores even if the dependence on fossil fuels reduces this marks the need to identify alternative ways of powering EVS as a good amount of the ev's cost is from the battery pack increased prices due to the scarce resources would drive many consumers back to IC engine cars while battery prices reduced by 50 percent between 2014 to 2018 the recent years have only seen a 10 reduction if we look at the EV as a whole the motor charging

system and BMS require a more integrated circuit chips to manufacture these components takes millions of liters of purified water a day and leaves a significant carbon footprint a rise in demand for minerals could further amplify the release of greenhouse gases and loss of biodiversity recycling batteries could prevent a lot of problems but this is a complex process that contributes to global warming in itself although lead acid batteries used in the automobile industry can be recycled with ease the same does not apply for the lithium-ion battery pack this is because they are bigger in size and

weigh a lot more because of having thousands of lithium-ion cells safety also comes into question because they have hazardous materials and may even explode battery materials like lithium Cobalt nickel and manganese can be recycled but the process of getting these Metals is hard because the battery needs to be shredded and broken down with heat or chemicals from special facilities transporting the battery pack accounts for 40 of the cost because it is also a cumbersome process at the moment only around five percent of EV batteries are recycled Nissan has taken initiative to recycle and reuse old

batteries from the leaf and use it in automated vehicles that transport parts and factories Volkswagen has also opened their first recycling plant and intend to recycle 3 600 battery packs per year initially by recycling EV batteries and their parts overall environmental pollution associated with them can be reduced another source of greenhouse gas emissions happens to be the power grid that charge electric vehicles some charging stations receive energy derived from non-renewable sources like coal to generate electricity certain countries that use oil coal or natural gas for power to charge their vehicles may experience harsher environmental impact

than others the greenhouse gases resulting from this can be reduced by using renewable energy sources like wind and solar power for electricity if we were to look at the overall efficiency of EVs and IC engine cars the measure of well-to-wheel efficiency can be used this is the measure of energy and emission associated with the transportation of fuel right from the time of production to their use in vehicles for an electric vehicle well to wheel efficiency is in terms of energy from the production of electricity conversion and transmission to the point where the battery charges the

EVS When comparing the two vehicles an electric vehicle happens to be two and a half times more efficient than a petrol-powered counterpart so while EVS don't exactly bring greenhouse gas emission down to a zero they do offer a much greater alternative for a much Greener future maximizing the torque and efficiency of an electric vehicle is the goal of car manufacturers everywhere and the key to doing this lies in the type of motor they use in their design while each electric motor has a unique working that brings its own set of pros and cons Engineers focus

on finding the configuration with minimal limitations and maximum efficiency and this is exactly what Tesla did when it introduced the internal permanent magnet synchronous reluctance motor or IPM syn RM motor for short this motor has combined the permanent magnet motor and synchronous reluctance motor to reap the benefits and overcome limitations of permanent magnets and reluctance since its Inception Tesla has used it in their model 3 EVS as well as the model S and X an added advantage of the IPM sin RM motor is that it is easier to cool than the induction motor before the

introduction of this motor Tesla was using the induction motor developed by Nikola Tesla however in the process of developing current in the rotor of the induction motor an energy loss of up to five percent was observed although this may seem like a negligible amount it is enough to significantly bring down the performance and functioning capacity of an electric vehicle it is this very reason that drove Tesla to replace their induction motors with the IPM sin RM motor here's a look at how the permanent magnet motor and synchronous reluctance motor have been integrated in the development

of the IPM syn RM motor the permanent magnet motor induces a back EMF when the magnetic fields of the permanent magnets align with that of the stator windings and when the speed of the motor increases the amount of back EMF does as well this basically gives a reverse voltage to the system and makes the permanent magnet motor less efficient in high speed conditions but by integrating the principle of reluctance to this motor it can still be used in high speed conditions let's look at how this works in asynchronous reluctance motor iron has low reluctance because

of which magnetic flux flows through it readily synchronous reluctance Motors use this property to develop torque the rotor has slots in it which increases its state of reluctance when the rotor rotates by 45 degrees it shifts to a state of lower reluctance as the rotor is inclined to seek a low reluctant State the magnetic field will continue to rotate along with the rotor this means that the rotor and magnetic field will always be in sync the resultant Torque from this is called reluctance torque these motors do not give rise to back EMF and can function

in high speed conditions as the permanent magnet motor can work efficiently in low speed conditions and the synchronous motor can work efficiently in high speed conditions combining the technology of the two can make sure they work efficiently across all speed ranges the integration of these two motor configurations also avoids the issue of back EMF by placing permanent magnets into Slots of the iron core back EMF can be avoided because the magnetic effects on the stator windings are minimized this motor maximizes the torque output because it combines permanent magnet and reluctance torque Tesla has engineered the

motor to have an EMF angle of approximately 50 degrees at which the most torque is generated in addition to Tesla the IPM sin RM motor is also used in the Toyota Prius but what sets the motor apart in the Tesla is the use of segmented magnets in the slots of the iron core to reduce eddy current losses however the Toyota Prius just has a solid magnet without segments because of which it is more prone to overheating by minimizing limitations the IPM sin RM motor is on the way to optimizing the working of electric motors in

the EV industry most of us have been anxious about whether the amount of fuel or charge left in our vehicle is enough to get us to our destination this feeling actually has a name to it and is called range anxiety it is driven by the fear of getting stranded in the middle of the road if there is no more juice left in the car range anxiety is more common among Electric Vehicle drivers due to the lack of charging infrastructure are available in the case that their electric vehicle runs low on charge when on the go

it is to ease this anxiety that range extenders are used in EVS but what is a range extender a range extender is a setup within an auxiliary power unit based on fuel mostly from an internal combustion engine that charges the battery pack of the EV the power source in the unit may vary depending on the generation of range extender used the first generation has IC engines the second generation has piston engines and third Generations have Micro turbines and fuel cells but the general setup with a small IC engine that powers the battery pack is more

widely used range extended vehicles are also called series hybrid vehicles in this case the IC engine Powers an electric generator and never directly drives the wheels of the car two main examples of range extended vehicles on the market include the Chevrolet Volt and BMW i3 since most range extended Vehicles use conventional fuels they can be refilled at fuel stations this brings down range anxiety caused by the search for charging infrastructure here's a look at how range extended EVS alternate between battery pack and IC engine power sources the soc of an EV battery pack is around

100 percent as there is no need for the IC engine to step in at this point the vehicle operates on battery mode this means that the wheels are driven by the electric motor that is powered by the battery pack which can also be recharged through regenerative braking since the IC engine fuel is not used here there is no emission of greenhouse gases it also oversees and controls the use of charging devices and the flow of electrical energy to maximize the efficiency of charging and energy consumption it is important to note that even during certain periods

in this mode the IC engine will be off and most of the load will be supplied by the battery pack so the IC engine in range extended EVS acts like a last resort and is smaller because it only has to meet average power demands the major power demands will still continue to be met by the battery pack when the driver charges their vehicle again it will return the soc to around 100 percent even more so the control system in range extended Vehicles uses all the charge it can before switching to the range extending fuel this

makes this EV relatively more eco-friendly when compared to others that also have an IC engine powering them while extended range EVS thrive on increased range from the IC engine they do not have to bear the weight of the gearbox in ic engine vehicles all of these features combined allow these vehicles to convert fossil fuels to electric power in a much more efficient manner so although range extenders are used to increase range they extend into more than that and improve the overall efficiency of EVS with technology advancing faster than ever autonomous electric vehicles might be the

next big thing in the automobile industry since electric vehicles are already redefining the automobile World integrating autonomous features into them would take things one step further before we get into autonomous electric vehicles let's take a look at autonomous vehicles autonomous vehicles are cars that are aware of their surroundings and can safely move around they have in-vehicle data loggers that record data through the use of sonars GPS Radars lidar odometry and thermographic cameras by logging data the automated vehicle can respond according to the inputs and improve the performance of the system adjustments to the behavior of

the vehicle may be done manually by the driver or automatically through artificial intelligence algorithms Advanced Control Systems even use sensory information to determine whether there are obstacles on the way and the right path to take these vehicles use artificial intelligence and combine Hardware with software to develop safe autonomous features for drivers the extent of human intervention required in these features can be classified under six different levels defined by the Society of Automotive engineers with each increasing level is the use of more autonomous features and Technologies and a reduction in the need for human intervention they

range from Level 0 to level five with level 0 having no driver Automation and requiring 100 manual control from the driver and level 5 being fully automated with no need for manual inputs the received inputs are used for autonomous features like Lane control adaptive cruise control street sign recognition object or collision avoidance automatic emergency braking and light detection and ranging other autonomous features include vehicle to vehicle communication traffic jam assist reverse parking assist blind spot detection and electronic stability control at the moment level 3 and level 4 automation are being tested on conventional and electric

vehicles in fact Mercedes-Benz has obtained approval for its technology of level 3 autonomous driving that receives inputs regarding traffic signs and events the geometry of the road and the route profile through the use of surround sensors there are however no production vehicles with level 3 and 4 automated features as it is only available in test vehicles for the process of Technology development for both electric and conventional Vehicles only level 2 software is currently available in the industry and provides partial automation that supports drivers when braking steering and accelerating it also helps an adaptive cruise control

Lane centering and maintains distance between the car and others in front during stop and go traffic but as this level is not fully automated it still requires the attention of the driver to keep track of the vehicle's movements and intervene when needed the driver is required to have their hands on the wheel and be ready throughout the ride this level of Automation in electric vehicles is seen in Tesla's autopilot along with that of the Mercedes-Benz Drive pilot and Audi traffic jam pilot as electric vehicles have drive-by-wire systems and less moving Parts in general it is

much simpler to integrate autonomous features into them electric vehicles can also operate the high-powered autonomous components and features better than IC engine cars can what's more is that by implementing autonomous features that identify the optimal route rerouting due to human errors in navigation can be avoided this can improve range and reduce range anxiety among EV users integrating autonomous systems into Vehicles also has the scope of Bringing Down the percentage of Road accidents caused by human error this is because around 94 percent of Road accidents are attributed to human error on top of this greenhouse gas

emission can also be brought down as the autonomous electric vehicle would be able to monitor traffic in the area and avoid taking longer and unnecessary routes during travel autonomous electric vehicles also provide Mobility for those who cannot operate a vehicle properly while autonomous electric vehicles do open up a realm of possibilities the addition of autonomous systems in electric vehicles will require more power this will in turn increase the power demand in electric vehicles to overcome this challenge autonomous systems can be integrated in hybrid EVS so that there is less demand placed solely on the battery

pack in the case that the battery runs out the IC engine will always be there to take over all these features combined put autonomous electric vehicles at the Forefront of the future of the automobile industry [Music] electric vehicles have come a long way and have significantly increased in number over the last decade it is predicted that around 145 million electric vehicles will be driving on the roads by 2030. to make this happen research in the automobile industry is currently making strides towards advancements in EV technology to Fast Track their adoption let's take a look at

some of the technology that is currently underway to make the EV the future of the automobile world for electric vehicles it has always been about finding the right type of battery pack that offers good range and capacity while coming at an affordable cost at the moment lithium-ion battery packs offer just that and are extensively used in the EV industry for their high energy density and affordability but this does have a catch the process of extracting minerals such as lithium Cobalt and nickel from the ground has its own set of challenges and harms the environment through

intense mining processes that take a lot of energy and water as a matter of fact electric vehicles can use 10 000 times more lithium than that used in smartphones by 2040 the demand for lithium and nickel production is expected to increase by 40 times and the demand for copper Cobalt and graphite production is expected to be 20 times more than that in 2020. seeing these numbers and the impact that obtaining these minerals has on the environment in terms of the mineral reserves Research into other battery technologies that use less of these minerals is ongoing although

Cobalt improves the energy density of Lithium-ion batteries it is toxic and poses a threat to living beings and the environment there are about 14 kilograms of cobalt in a battery pack and research is ongoing to determine whether Cobalt free electrodes or low Cobalt materials can be used even though nickel is not expensive like Cobalt researchers want to cut down on its use as well this will demand the switch to materials such as Crystal structures called distorted rock salts that are composed of vandium lithium and oxygen as their name suggests these are salts with an unordered

structure disordered rock salts bring scope for a new anode material unlike other materials used in battery packs these rock salts do not need nickel or Cobalt to stay stable and can be made with manganese Instead This provides a safe alternative that does not take a significant toll on energy density another area of research in electric vehicle Battery Technology is that of solid state batteries Research into solid-state batteries for electric vehicles shows that they will offer twice the amount of energy density and a higher power to weight ratio as the pack will no longer have fluid

electrolytes this means that they can offer more energy for the same weight as the lithium-ion battery pack with fluid electrolyte when it comes to electric vehicles this is a major advantage as more energy density improves range battery pack still uses lithium scientists have developed a solid state battery with silicon by replacing the anode with silicon it can be charged across a range of temperatures unlike battery packs that use a lithium anode that have requirements to be charged under specific conditions this will in turn increase the rate of charge at normal temperature ranges while providing higher

energy densities it also poses less harm to the environment is cheaper and safer to use research in Sweden on structural batteries as a possible alternative shows scope for weight reduction of the overall vehicle as weight reduces the power needed to move it also reduces and increases range it has even shown to increase capacity by 20 percent when compared to the lithium-ion battery to top it all off Tesla has even introduced this concept by suggesting that the entire battery pack can be built into the structure of the vehicle to solidify the platform this brings down the

mass of the vehicle by around 10 percent and as less energy is taken to move the vehicle it improves range by around 14 percent what's more is that Mercedes-Benz is currently in the process of developing organic batteries with graphene water-based electrolyte and organic cell chemistries but Research into this is still in its infancy just like that into solid state and structural batteries it may take a decade or two for these battery technologies to be tested and mass-produced a primary barrier in the purchase of electric vehicles is their Hefty price tag as most of their prices

accounted for by the battery pack the future of the EV industry has a specific focus on reducing battery pack prices while ensuring optimal energy density efficiency and range with minimal impacts on the environment if the plan is to accelerate the number of EVS on the road it also means that there will be more EV batteries needing to be charged this demands an increase in charging infrastructure over the last decade charging infrastructure has seen an exponential growth in numbers however EV drivers and those wanting to purchase them may still experience range anxiety to combat this fear

more charging stations will need to be set up developments in the field of charging infrastructure for EVS are finding more ways to provide drivers with flexibility for instance mobile charging units are being developed this charging technology will offer a portable or temporary charging station that can be set up for use when on the go they are powered by integrated batteries and do not require High investments in infrastructure in addition to this is the development of wireless charging just like phones and other electronic devices the future of EV charging may also be Wireless inductive charging is

one such method that makes charging wireless and requires the additional integration of two coils where one coil will be under the vehicle and the other will be under the ground designated for charging parking lots garages and even roads that we drive on have the potential to be converted to EV wireless charging ports taking this a step further is dynamic charging which charges electric vehicles when they are on the go all drivers have to do is drive on top of a lane designated for wireless charging with inductive coils underneath this curbs the need of having to

stop at charging stations and provides a way to increase range while charging infrastructure develops there is also a focus on reducing the time it takes to charge an EV unlike IC engine cars that just need a few minutes to be refueled EVS take much longer although Ultra fast charging mechanisms are currently available they are scarce and not sufficient for the entire population this requires more Ultra fast charging infrastructure for all people to access so most power chargers in the future are intended to provide more power in a single charge to bring down charging time to

just 10 to 15 minutes in fact Australia has already started work on developing a nationwide Ultra fast charging Network for electric vehicles by doing this drivers can drive across the country with out-range anxiety and charge their vehicles in just a matter of minutes at charging points on top of ultra fast charging is the development of Battery Technology that can expedite charging speeds but as charging infrastructure develops so will the need to increase the power available from Power grids High demands and power will need to be met as the number of EVS increases moreover the source

of electricity should be from renewable sources that do not contribute to global warming this is why vehicle to grid charging which in other words is bi-directional charging is being looked into when vehicle to grid charging is enabled energy from the battery pack of the electric vehicle can be used as a power source to Power Systems they are connected to this would be useful during periods of peak load on the power grid or power outages advancements in EV technology don't stop with just Battery Technology and their source of power the future of electric vehicles may also

involve the integration of autonomous features autonomous electric vehicles integrate autonomous and electric features and have the potential to bring down the large number of Road accidents caused by human errors each year since these vehicles have systems that provide an overview of traffic in the area autonomous EV use can reduce traffic congestion and determine traffic movements in and around them by doing so they reduce the inconvenience dangers and environmental impacts caused by traffic if ride sharing vehicles are autonomous electric vehicles the number of miles traveled and greenhouse gas emissions can also be reduced the amount of

IC engine vehicle distance traveled can be reduced by decreasing the use of private IC engine cars and increasing the use of shared Mobility which lets Travelers commute together fast tracking the release of more electric vehicles on the market also requires manufacturers to scale up their production rates the future of EVS requires getting the concept of a car and producing it in large volumes to meet high demand and EVS which will in turn reduce the price of electric vehicles with all of these advancements set in motion electric vehicles are definitely on the road to electrifying the

world when you pull the brakes and come to a sudden stop on the road you may have felt the front of the car dipped forward if it weren't for the suspension system this dip would be way more out of control on top of this if cars didn't have suspension systems bumpy rides and rigid turns would all be very common in any car electrical conventional the suspension system works to keep the car in control and provide a smooth Driving Experience let's take a look at how this is done suspension systems increase the friction between tires and

the surface of the road in order to ensure good handling control and stability of the vehicle they absorb shock energy from bumps on the road and support the weight of the vehicle to maximize comfort for passengers it also has a role in the stability of the vehicle when accelerating braking and turning Corners in fact it improves Road isolation cornering and road holding when you drive over a bump on the road the suspension system absorbs the energy and dissipates it without letting the vibrations continue to the passenger compartment this demonstrates Road isolation which is how well

the car isolates the shock experienced from being felt by the passengers but the suspension system does more than just keep the car under control when driving over a bump when you turn a corner the suspension system shifts weight in a controlled manner from the side outside the turn to the inside making the turn this makes cornering which is just the ability of a car to turn on a curved path much smoother and controlled and similarly when you pull the brakes or accelerate there is a shift in weight to the ends of the vehicle when braking

the weight shifts to the front of the vehicle and causes a dip called a dive and when accelerating the weight shifts to the back of the vehicle and causes a squat as the transfer of weight to either side of the car limits the grip that that tire has on the road the suspension system works to reduce and control this to understand the mechanism behind the suspension system and how it does this we need to go back to Newton's Laws of Motion that states that forces have a direction and a magnitude for instance when your vehicle

drives over a bump on the road the wheels will move up and down because it experiences a vertical acceleration if there was no suspension system the vehicle would momentarily lose contact with the surface and then come back down with an impact but by absorbing energy from the bump the suspension system makes sure this doesn't happen this keeps the vehicle in contact with the ground at all times to prevent it from coming back down with an impact the suspension system has parts that connect the vehicle to the wheels in the chassis these parts include Springs shock

absorbers also known as dampers and sway bars here's a look at the parts of the suspension system in action when the car drives over a bump as the front wheels drive over a bump the energy from the shock gets transferred to the springs of the suspension system the Springs absorb the shock and minimize the amount transferred to the body of the car while there are different types of Springs the coil spring happens to be the most widely used it makes up the Assembly of the strut along with the shock absorber just like its name implies

a coil spring looks and behaves like a coil this means that they compress and expand when absorbing shock from the wheel's motions the mass that the spring supports above it is called sprung mass and the mass that is connected to the bottom of the suspension is called unsprung Mass the way the sprung Mass responds to the motion of the car is determined by how Stiff The Springs are if the Springs of the suspension are soft like those in luxury cars the ride will be smooth with minimal bumps because the suspension will absorb the shock but

it will still be vulnerable to diving and squatting when the car breaks and accelerates and body roll or sway when the car turns corners on the other hand if the suspension is stiff like those in sports cars dive and squat are less along with a reduction in body roll when cornering however it will not be able to absorb shocks from bumps to the extent that soft suspensions can because of which they may make for a bumpy ride if Springs were the only way energy could be absorbed it would be released in an uncontrolled manner which

would cause it to bounce until the energy fully dissipates this is because although Springs are good at absorbing energy they are quite the opposite when it comes to dissipating that energy properly this is why shock absorbers are used in the system to handle unwanted motion from the spring through a process called damping they reduce the amount of energy from the vibrations of the spray this is done by converting the kinetic energy from the vibrations to heat energy that can be released via hydraulic fluid shock absorbers have an upper and lower Mount where the upper Mount

is attached to the frame and the lower Mount is attached to the front or rear axle this part is velocity sensitive so when the suspension moves fast the shock absorber dampens the force more so as the spring compresses and expands the energy gets transferred to the shock absorber via the upper mount it then travels down the Piston rod and into the Piston as the Piston moves up and down fluid passes into it which in turn absorbs the energy and slows the spring down there are two cycles in the working of a shock absorber the compression

and extension cycle when the Piston moves down the compression Cycle takes place and compresses the hydraulic fluid under the Piston as the Piston moves up the extension Cycle takes place and compresses the fluid above the piston in addition to these parts is the sway bar that extends across the length of the axle and joins both sides of the suspension they are used to provide more stability to the vehicle specifically during turns so when the suspension on one wheel moves during a turn the sway bar translates this motion to the other wheel in order to ensure

a balanced ride this same process happens when the rear wheels also drive over the bump however the suspension system for the rear wheels is not the same as the one for the front wheels even when a car is not moving the weight distribution across it is not even and when the car accelerates or breaks there is an uneven distribution of weight at the front and rear ends this is why there are front and rear suspension systems front wheel suspensions are relatively more complex as they move along with the frame of the car and to turn

different angles as they are steered a vehicle suspension also has to do with the alignment of its Wheels in order for the wheels to be properly aligned the angle of the tires needs to be adjusted this in turn affects the way the tires make contact with the surface of the road when it comes to aligning the wheels there are three main aspects focused on these include the camber caster and toe of the wheels here's a look at each one when a wheel is viewed from the front there may be an inward or outward tilt to

the top of the wheel this is called the camber angle when the top of the wheel tilts inward it has a negative camber and when the top of the wheel tilts outward it has a positive camber most Wheels have a certain amount of negative camber as it is needed for good handling on the other hand positive camber is used in conditions that have heavy load applications as it maximizes the contact between tires and surface of the road if the camber is well aligned it will maximize directional stability and Road isolation in vehicles next is the

Caster of the wheel for this we look at the wheel from the side angle the Caster angle is the tilt of the steering axis forward or backward when viewed relative to a vertical line when the top of the steering access tilts backward it is a positive caster and when the top of the steering access tilts forward it is a negative caster Caster is essential in enhancing the returnability of steering wheels and directional stability and then there's the toe alignment when considering the toe alignment the wheels of the car are viewed from a top angle the

toe is the difference in distance between the back of the wheels and the front of the wheels if the front of the wheels are closer together it is known as toe in and when the back of the wheels are closer together it is known as toe out there is zero toe when the wheels are parallel to each other wheel alignment is crucial in curbing the stress on the suspension system and avoiding rigid rides it's important to have regular maintenance checks done on the wheel alignment and suspension system of cars because they are needed for as

long as roads will have imperfections all cars have a suspension system to ensure control and stability of the vehicle but these complex systems are not all the same different suspension systems are used for different applications there are three main types of suspension systems independent dependent and semi-independent here's a look at how each one works independent suspension systems let the wheels move in a way that their movement does not affect that of the others the wheels therefore act independent of each other as the wheels are not connected by a rear or front solid axle a few

common independent suspension systems include the McPherson strut double Wishbone multi-link trailing arm and swing axle suspension systems the most extensively used suspension system is the McPherson struts it absorbs shark with a coil spring and shock absorber that have one end connected to the wheel hub and the other to the body of the car while the spring absorbs energy along the ride the shock absorber dissipates this energy as heat with the help of hydraulic fluid next is the double Wishbone suspension system that has two control arms shaped like a wishbone each Wishbone is connected to the

chassis and is attached to the Joint by a knuckle in order to manage vertical movement shock absorbers and coil springs connect to the wishbones the two control arms are not the same size in order to prevent positive camber this suspension system is commonly used in the rear end of vehicles and is mostly found in luxury cars the multi-link rear suspension system has a series of lateral and longitudinal arms there are generally three or more lateral arms and more than one longitudinal arm these arms are not always equal in length one end of these arms is

connected to the wheel hub and the other to the chassis as there are more arms they provide more flexibility and let the vehicle handle different ranges of angles when driving this suspension system is commonly used in off-road driving vehicles the trailing and semi-trailing arm suspension have control arms that are connected to the chassis and Axle of the car it can control horizontal and forward motions but not lateral motions the control arms absorb forces from braking and manage the car during Squat and lift the swing axle is an independent rear suspension system that has an axle

with the ability to Pivot along the middle of its axis at the point connected to the U-joint unlike the independent suspension system the dependent suspension system has wheels that move based on the movement of other wheels so if one wheel moves a certain way it will influence the way the other Wheels move as well this suspension system has a solid axle at the rear and front ends of the car that connects the wheels together dependent suspension systems are mostly used in trucks or vehicles that carry heavy loads having the solid axle run along the transverse

axis of the car lets its support and withstand the heavy load of weight as the entire weight of the vehicle's body is held on the suspension there are two main types of solid axle suspensions used in vehicles today the Leaf's spring suspension and the panhard rod the leaf spring suspension system has a series of metal plates stacked on top of each other held together by a rebound clip each successive plate gets shorter in size with the longest one known as the master leaf and the other ones called the graduated leaves the leaf spring is connected

to the solid axle on both ends they are positioned parallel to the surface of the road to ensure optimal support of weight however the leaf spring suspension can only handle vertical movements the panhard rod is basically a bar that is connected along the axle it extends across both ends of the chassis this suspension is preferred because it can control lateral motions there are pivots on both ends of the suspension system that allow vertical movements in between both independent and dependent suspension systems is the semi-independent suspension system which lets Wheels work on their own but depend

on the movement of others to a certain extent the most commonly used semi-independent suspension system is the torsion beam suspension it extends across the chassis of the vehicle and is attached to a trailing arm it has an h-shaped structure that twists with each vertical movement from the trailing arms while there are different types of suspension they all have the common goal of ensuring stability control and Safe Handling of the vehicle getting behind the wheel and steering a car is an effortless task for most people you turn the steering wheel which turns the wheels and although

this sounds simple there's a lot more to it in fact there is an entire steering system in cars dedicated to just steering it by working together with the suspension system the steering system provides drivers the control and stability they need over the vehicle for a safe driving experience let's take a look at what the steering system is and how it works in any car the steering system has a set of parts and linkages working together to translate driver inputs from the steering wheel to the wheels themselves now if the steering wheel and steering linkages were

directly connected it would be hard to move the wheels this is why a steering gear is in place to convert the rotational motion of the steering wheel into linear motion that turns the wheels while there are different types of steering airs the rack and pinion steering gear is the most widely used in cars here's a look at how it works to turn a corner on a road you turn the steering wheel according to how much you want to turn what you don't see is that the steering wheel is connected to a steering column as you

can see here a universal joint connects the steering column to the steering shaft and changes the angles between the two the steering shaft is connected to the steering gear that has the pinion and rack setup so a turn in the steering shaft will turn the pinion gear as the teeth of the pinion gear move over the teeth of the rack it moves the rack side to side over here you can see that the pinion has a circular motion and as it moves over the teeth of the rack it makes it move linearly this is what

moves the rack side to side at the end of the rack are the tie rods on both sides that allow rotational and translational motion these tie rods are connected to the steering Knuckles that connect to the wheels it allows rotational motion and is connected to the frame of the car with a roller bearing to make sure that the wheels can only turn there are steering linkages that join the steering gear to the wheels at the front of the car these linkages have a specific geometric Arrangement that is designed to prevent slipping it is called the

Ackerman steering mechanism that turns all four wheels in different angles to ensure that the car does not slip to understand how it works we need to know the basics of the wheel there are two motions that a wheel experiences rotational and translational motion rotational motion refers to the way the wheels rotate along its axis and translational motion refers to the direction that it is traveling in as you can see here rotational motion and translation motion work in opposite directions and are supposed to cancel each other out to ensure that the velocity of the wheel at

the contact point is zero only if there is no velocity at the contact point will the car be safe from slipping if they do not cancel each other out it is likely that the car will skid the car is also prone to slipping if all the wheels turn in the same angle because it would not result in perfect steering to prevent the car from slipping it should rotate about a particular Center Point and this is exactly what the Ackerman steering geometry does it ensures that all tires rotate about an imaginary Central Point for perfect steering

and that each tire follows a path with a different radius and rotates at different speeds when the rack moves the wheels on both ends of the car turn at different angles because each wheel follows the radius of a different Circle since the inside wheel follows a circle with a smaller radius it turns more than the outside wheel the angle between the wheels and the line connecting them to the central point is always 90 degrees front tires tend to move faster than rear tires and depending on the turn made the inside or outside tires move at

different speeds for instance when making a right hand turn the wheels on the left side rotate faster because they have a larger radius Circle to trace in order for the steering wheel to move the rack from one end to the other it takes around three to four full revolutions for the average car and 1.5 turns for race cars this is because of differences in steering ratios the steering ratio is the ratio of the angle of how much the steering wheel is turned to the angle of how much the wheels actually turn for instance if you

turn the steering wheel by 180 degrees and this turns the wheels by just five degrees the steering ratio would be 180 to 5 or 36 to 1. the higher the steering ratio the more the steering wheel needs to be rotated with less effort to rotate the wheels and vice versa the average car have a high steering ratio making it easier to turn the wheels however race cars have a low steering ratio in order to increase responsiveness to steering input this makes the steering wheel harder to turn in any case it is hard to turn the

rack and pinion steering system without assistance this is why power steering mechanisms are introduced in most cars today it comes in three different types electric power steering hydraulic power steering and Electro hydraulic steering here's a quick overview of each one when electric power steering is used there is a brushless DC motor used to drive the inputs from the steering wheel to the steering shaft and pinion as the motor can rotate clockwise and anti-clockwise it is capable of turning the rack to either side the amount of power the motor should deliver to the steering shaft is

determined by the electronic control unit based on inputs such as the amount of torque the driver applies to the steering wheel the steering angle as well as steering speed since the entire system has assistance from a motor steering wheel rotation becomes much easier for the driver next up is the hydraulic power steering system that is only used when the driver is exerting a torque on the steering wheel this is when a turn is about to be made and not when the car is driving in a straight line Hydraulics take the torque input from the steering

wheel by the driver and multiply it for the Wheels in cars with hydraulic power steering it is much harder to turn the steering wheel when the car is off but the moment the car is turned on the steering wheel loosens up and is much easier to turn this is because the hydraulic power steering system is powered by the engine through a belt and pulley as the driver rotates the steering wheel the vein also spins and brings in fluid at a low pressure and forces it out at a much higher pressure this action of pressure is

what eases the force having to be applied by the driver to rotate the wheel the amount of torque given to the steering system is sensed by the rotary valve aided by the torsion bar as the top of the torsion bar is attached to the steering wheel and the bottom is attached to the pinion gear it rotates upon application of torque from the driver the electro hydraulic power system is pretty much the same as the hydraulic system but instead of getting hydraulic pressure from the engine it gets its power to facilitate rotation from an electric motor

while steering may be effortless for the driver you now know there is so much more that goes on than what meets the eye