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An electric vehicle, or EV, is a vehicle with one or more electric motors for propulsion. The motion may be provided either by wheels or propellers driven by rotary motors, or in the case of tracked vehicles, by linear motors.

The energy used to propel the vehicle may be obtained from several sources, some of them more ecological than others:

• from an on-board rechargeable energy storage system (RESS), called Full Electric Vehicles (FEV):
  • from chemical energy stored on the vehicle in on-board batteries: Battery electric vehicle (BEV)
  • from static energy stored on the vehicle in on-board supercapacitors
  • from rotational storage: flywheels
• from a direct connection to land-based generation plants, as is common in electric trains and trolley buses (See also : overhead lines, third rail and conduit current collection)
• from both an on-board rechargeable energy storage system and a direct continuous connection to land-based generation plants for purposes of on-highway recharging with unrestricted highway range.
• from both an on-board rechargeable energy storage system (RESS) and a fueled propulsion power source (internal combustion engine): hybrid vehicle (as in a diesel-electric locomotive ), including plug-in hybrid
• from renewable sources such as wind and solar
• generated on-board using a fuel cell: fuel cell vehicle
• generated on-board using nuclear energy, on nuclear submarines and aircraft carriers

Electric vehicles can include electric airplanes, electric boats, and electric motorcycles and scooters.

Contents 1 History 2 Energy sources 3 Electric motor 4 Large-scale electric transport: energy and motors 5 Advantages of electric vehicles 6 Issues regarding electric vehicles 6.1 Issues with batteries 7 Incentives 7.1 USA 7.2 European Union 8 Estimated number of electric vehicles 9 Future 9.1 Improved long term energy storage and nano batteries 9.2 Introduction of Battery Management and Intermediate Storage 10 Electric Vehicle Organizations 10.1 Worldwide 10.2 North America 10.3 Europe 11 Patents 12 See also 13 References 14 External links

Main article: history of the electric vehicle

Electric motive power started with a small railway operated by a miniature electric motor, built by Thomas Davenport in 1835. In 1838, a Scotsman named Robert Davidson built an electric locomotive that attained a speed of four miles an hour. In England a patent was granted in 1840 for the use of rails as conductors of electric current, and similar American patents were issued to Lilley and Colten in 1847. ^[1]

Between 1832 and 1839 (the exact year is uncertain), Robert Anderson of Scotland invented the first crude electric carriage, powered by non-rechargeable Primary cells. ^[2]

By the 20th century, electric cars and rail transport were commonplace, with commercial electric automobiles having the majority of the market. Over time their general-purpose commercial use reduced to specialist roles, as platform trucks, forklift trucks, tow tractors and urban delivery vehicles, such as the iconic British milk float.

Electrified trains were used for coal transport as the motors did not use precious oxygen in the mines. Switzerland's lack of natural fossil resources forced the rapid electrification of their rail network. One of the earliest rechargeable batteries - the Nickel-iron battery - was favored by Edison for use in electric cars.

Electric vehicles were among the earliest automobiles, and before the preeminence of light, powerful internal combustion engines, electric automobiles held many vehicle land speed and distance records in the early 1900s. They were produced by Baker Electric, Columbia Electric, Detroit Electric, and others and at one point in history out-sold gasoline-powered vehicles.

In the 1930s, National City Lines, which was a partnership of General Motors, Firestone, and Standard Oil of California purchased many electric tram networks across the country to dismantle them and replace them with GM buses. The partnership was convicted for this conspiracy, but the ruling was overturned in a higher court. Electric tram line technologies could be used to recharge BEVs and PHEVs on the highway while the user drives, providing virtually unrestricted driving range. The technology is old and well established (see : Conduit current collection, Nickel-iron battery). The infrastructure has not been built.

In January of 1990, General Motors' President introduced its EV concept two-seater, the "Impact," at the Los Angeles Auto Show. That September, the California Air Resources Board mandated major-automaker sales of EVs, in phases starting in 1998. From 1996 to 1998 GM produced 1117 EV1s, 800 of which were made available through 3-year leases.

Chrysler, Ford, GM, Honda, Nissan and Toyota also produced limited numbers of EVs for California drivers. In 2003, upon the expiration of EV1 leases, GM crushed them. The crushing has variously been attributed to 1) the auto industry's successful Federal Court challenge to California's Zero-emissions vehicle mandate, 2) a federal regulation requiring GM to produce and maintain spare parts for the few thousands EV1s and 3) the success of the Oil and Auto industries' media campaign to reduce public acceptance of electric vehicles.

A movie made on the subject in 2005-2006 was titled Who Killed the Electric Car? and released theatrically by Sony Pictures Classics in 2006. The film explores the roles of automobile manufacturers, oil industry, the US government, batteries, hydrogen vehicles, and consumers, and each of their roles in limiting the deployment and adoption of this technology.

Honda, Nissan and Toyota also repossessed and crushed most of their EVs, which, like the GM EV1s, had been available only by closed-end lease. After public protests, Toyota sold 200 of its RAV EVs to eager buyers; they now sell, five years later, at over their original forty-thousand-dollar price.

Chemical energy is a common independent energy source. Chemical energy is converted to electrical energy, which is then regulated and fed to the drive motors. Chemical energy is usually in the form of diesel or petrol (gasoline). The liquid fuels are usually converted into electricity by an electrical generator powered by an internal combustion engine or other heat engine. This approach is known as diesel-electric or gasoline-electric hybrid locomotion. These engines still produce greenhouse gases, though typically less than conventional petroleum vehicles^[3][4], and can be combined with regenerative braking systems for more efficiency.

Nowadays batteries, ultracapacitors and flywheel energy storage are on-board rechargeable energy storage system (RESS). By avoiding an intermediate mechanical step, the energy conversion efficiency is dramatically improved over the chemical-thermal-mechanical-electrical-mechanical process already discussed. This is due to the higher carnot efficiency through directly oxidizing the fuel and by avoiding several unnecessary energy conversions. Furthermore, electro-chemical batteries conversions are easy to reverse, allowing electrical energy to be stored in chemical form.

Another form of chemical to electrical conversion is fuel cells, projected for future use.

For especially large electric vehicles, such as submarines, the chemical energy of the diesel-electric can be replaced by a nuclear reactor. The nuclear reactor usually provides heat, which drives a steam turbine, which drives a generator, which is then fed to the propulsion. This energy produces nuclear waste and nuclear risk.

Main articles: Electric motor and Energy efficiency

The power of a vehicle electric motor, as in other vehicles, is measured in kW. 100 kW is roughly equivalent to 134 horsepower.

Most large electric transport systems are powered by stationary sources of electricity that are directly connected to the vehicles through wires. Due to the extra infrastructure and difficulty in handling arbitrary travel, most directly connected vehicles are owned publicly or by large companies. These forms of transportation are covered in more detail in metros, trams, electric locomotives, and trolleybuses.

In the systems above motion is provided by a rotary electric motor. However, it is possible to "unroll" the motor to drive directly against a special matched track. These linear motors are used in maglev trains which float above the rails supported by magnetic levitation. This allows for almost no rolling resistance of the vehicle and no mechanical wear and tear of the train or track. Levitation and forward motion are two independent effects; the forward motive force normally requires external power, although some types, such as Inductrack, achieve levitation at low speeds without any. In addition to the high-performance control systems needed, switching and curving of the tracks becomes difficult with linear motors, which to date has restricted their operations to high-speed point to point services.

Electric motors are mechanically very simple, and release almost no air pollutants at the place where they are operated.

Electric motors often achieve 90% energy conversion efficiency ^[5]over the full range of speeds and power output and can be precisely controlled. They can also be combining with regenerative braking systems that have the ability to convert movement energy back into stored electricity. This can be used to reduce the wear on brake systems (and consequent brake pad dust) and reduce the total energy requirement of a trip, especially effective for start-and-stop city use.

They can be finely controlled and provide high torque from rest, unlike internal combustion engines, and do not need gears to match power curves. This removes the need for gearboxes and torque converters.

Another advantage is that electric vehicles typically have less vibration and noise pollution than a vehicle powered by an internal combustion engine, whether it is at rest or in motion.

Although electric vehicles have few direct emissions, all rely on energy created through electricity generation which will emit pollution unless it is from a renewable source. If a large proportion of private vehicles were to convert to plug-in electricity, the existing powerplant infrastructure would be nearly sufficient, but there would still be a significant need for additional resources (and emissions) in generation and transmission, assuming most charging occurred overnight using the most efficient off-peak base load sources^[6].

Electromagnetic radiation from high performance electrical motors has been claimed to be associated with some human ailments^{[citation needed]}. Electric motors can be shielded within a metallic Faraday's cage, but this adds weight to the vehicle and it is not conclusive that all electromagnetic radiation can be contained.

Most types of batteries have lower energy density than liquid fuels. However, if an average vehicle travels only about 20 km (32 miles) per day, then it is possible for this energy to be stored in a battery pack using an affordable battery chemistry such as NiMH. The current price-performance of affordable battery technology is best suited to short-range EVs. On an energy basis, the cost of electricity is several times less expensive than liquid fuel.

Many types of EV use batteries, which have an environmental impact through their construction, use, disposal or recycling. Common batteries are expensive and have a shorter life than the vehicle itself, typically needing replacement every 3 years.

Despite the higher energy efficiency, electro-chemical vehicles have been beset by a technical issue which has prevented them from replacing the more cumbersome heat engines: energy storage. Fuel cells are fragile, sensitive to contamination, and require external reactants such as hydrogen. Batteries currently used are either not mass-produced, leading to high per-unit prices, or end up being a significant (25%-50%) portion of the final vehicle mass, in the case of conventional lead-acid technology. Both have lower energy and power density than petroleum fuels.

The efficiency and storage capacity of the current generation of common deep cycle lead acid batteries decreases with lower temperates, and diverting power to run a heating coil reduces efficiency and range by up to 40%^{[citation needed]}. Recent advances in battery efficiency, capacity, materials, safety, toxicity and durability are likely to allow these superior characteristics to be applied in car-sized EVs.

Charging and operation of batteries typically results in the emission of hydrogen, oxygen and sulfur, which are naturally occurring and normally harmless. Early Citicar owners discovered that, if not vented properly, unpleasant sulfur smells would leak into the cabin immediately after charging.

Qualifying electric vehicles purchased new are eligible for a one-time federal tax credit that equals 10% of the cost of the vehicle up to $4,000, provided under Section 179A of the Energy Policy Act of 1992; it was extended through 2007 by the Working Families Tax Relief Act of 2004.

A tax deduction of up to $100,000 per location is available for qualified electric vehicle recharging property used in a trade or business.

Other incentives: http://www.eere.energy.gov/afdc/laws/incen_laws.html#fed

Directive 2006/32/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 5 April 2006 on energy end-use efficiency and energy services includes measures to promote efficient vehicles.

AVERE has a a table summarizing the taxation and incentives for these vehicles in the different European countries, related to state subsidies, reduction of VAT and other taxes, insurance facilities, parking and charging facilities (including free recharging on street or in the parkings), EV imposed by law and banned circulation for petroleum cars, permission to use bus lanes and toll free on highways, between others. ^[7]

The Energy Information Administration (EIA) estimates that were 55,852 Full-Electric Vehicles (FEV) in 2004, with an annual growth rate of 39.1 % (excluding in this estimation electric hybrids). ^[8]

Main article: Battery electric vehicle

Several start-up companies, like Tesla Motors and Phoenix Motorcars, will have powerful battery-electric vehicles available to the public in 2008. Battery and energy storage technology is advancing rapidly. Electric cars are perfectly useful as second household vehicle for usual short and medium distance trips of 100 to 250 miles per charge. The range issue will be improved by technologies such as Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles which are capable of using traditional fuels for unlimited range.

General Motors is working on a concept car, the plug-in hybrid Chevrolet Volt that uses a small internal combustion engine hooked to an electrical generator to resupply the batteries. They call it an electric vehicle with a "range extender" that can extend the range up to 640 miles.

There have been several developments which could bring electric vehicles outside their current fields of application, as scooters, golf cars, neighborhood vehicles, in industrial operational yards and indoor operation. First, advances in lithium-based battery technology, in large part driven by the consumer electronics industry, allow full-sized, highway-capable electric vehicles to be propelled as far on a single charge as conventional cars go on a single tank of gasoline. Lithium batteries have been made safe, can be recharged in minutes instead of hours, and now last longer than the typical vehicle. The production cost of these lighter, higher-capacity lithium batteries is gradually decreasing as the technology matures and production volumes increase.

Another improvement was to decouple the electric motor from the battery through electronic control while employing ultra-capacitors to buffer large but short power demands and regenerative braking energy. The development of new cell types combined with intelligent cell management improved both weak points mentioned above. The cell management involves not only monitoring the health of the cells but also a redundant cell configuration (one more cell than needed). With sophisticated switched wiring it is possible to condition one cell while the rest are on duty.

The World Electric Vehicle Association (WEVA), chairman Hisashi Ishitani, formed by:

• Electric Drive Transportation Association (EDTA)
• Electric Vehicle Association of Asia Pacific (EVAAP)
• European Association for Battery, Hybrid and Fuel Cell Electric Vehicles (AVERE) [1]

• NEDRA National Electric Drive Racing Association
• The Electric Auto Association (EAA) (North America) and its chapter Plug In America.
• Electric Car Society

• The Campaign for Battery Electric Vehicles (UK based)
• The Battery Vehicle Society (UK)

• U.S. Patent 1,017,198 , E. W. Bender, Electric Motor vehicle

The external links in this article may not comply with Wikipedia's content policies. Please improve this article by removing excessive or inappropriate external links.

• 2007 – Year of the electric car: nanotechnology batteries.
• DOE Alternative Fuels Data Center - Electricity
• Electric Car Society
• The PBS newsmagazine NOW takes a closer look at the life and death of the electric vehicle, including interviews with "Who killed the electric car?" director Chris Paine, and Baywatch actress/EC Enthusiast Alexandra Paul
• EVProduction wiki: open source electric vehicles.
• The EV Photo Album - Photos and information of many types and styles of EVs and EV conversions
• New Scientific American article
• EV World - News about Electric Cars, Plug-in Hybrids, Hydrogen Fuel-Cell Vehicles and All Forms of Alternative Modes of Transportation
• Electrifying Times - The International Magazine of Electric Vehicles, Hybrids, Fuel Cells, Batteries, Alternative Fuels, Electric Car Racing & Exhibition
• The History of Electric Vehicles.
• EVCanada - Campaign to promote the uptake of Electric Vehicles in Canada