The whole concept of an electric vehicle is nothing new. The first "horseless carriages" were electric and required you to crank up the battery with a hand crank on the front of the vehicle, a dangerous endeavor most of the time because the hand crank was metal. The latest electric cars are supposed to be a solution to the consumption of fossil fuels and the lingering natural resources. However, there are still some lingering challenges with electric vehicle engineering.
Choosing the Easiest Charging System
When car manufacturers revived the electric car in the late-20h century, they had to decide how to best power them. What kind of charger and what kind of electric battery model would they use?
Three types of chargers emerged as the equipment of choice for EVs. They include the no-frills, plug into your nearest house outlet type, but these are slow and cumbersome. There's also an EV charging station that requires installation on your property. The third option is a supercharger EV that also requires additional equipment but charges the vehicle up with the most miles possible in the least time.
Most hybrids only need a standard outlet plug, but fully-electric vehicles often require charging stations. The difference between an EV fast charger and a regular one is price, power requirements to the station, the speed at which your vehicle charges and total miles the car can get on a single charge.
Wanting to offer consumers the easiest and least expensive option is a significant challenge. There aren't charging stations located everywhere in this country yet, either. Hence, car designers and manufacturers have to figure out this conundrum to make owning an EV more affordable and convenient.
Making the Cars Lightweight but Fast
With most vehicle engines, the drive to move fast is in the engine. Faster engines tend to be heavier because they contain more components to produce the extra power needed to move. The trouble with this construction issue is that electric battery power can't power heavy vehicles. While Hyundai produces an all-electric SUV and the infamous Tesla Cybertruck reveals hopes for more rugged EVs in the future, that's the limit.
Engineers have to create a lighter weight chassis that can still meet safety standards. Sometimes this issue is resolved by making the rest of the vehicle more lightweight and smaller or more sub-compact. Sometimes it means making the engine light but not very powerful. Trying to find the right balance and still make the EV fast enough is a challenge.
Making the Battery Life Longer
A final major challenge for automotive engineers is making the battery last long enough in EVs. This is difficult because the batteries power everything. While the streamlined simplicity of an electric motor This is why the battery in most EVs requires regular recharging.
Lithium-ion batteries are the most common option because of their ability to recharge quickly and provide a ton of power with low weight, but they also drain relatively fast. They can last for years too.
Nickel-metal hydride batteries provide a ton of power, but they only work well in tandem with gas in hybrid vehicles. They tend to discharge even faster than lithium-ion batteries and can overheat, which is why the gas in hybrid cars is a critical power backup system.
Lead-acid rechargeable batteries are the least preferred because they don't tolerate extreme cold well or have a long life. Hence, engineers are developing a high-performance, long-lasting, super-powerful rechargeable vehicle battery that is cost-effective. Time will tell if these and other efforts to optimize battery life potential will pan out. For the electric car to truly take hold, it will need to go farther, charge faster, and be more convenient than gas-powered vehicles.
