Electric and Hybrid Cars - Report Example

ELECTRIC AND HYBRID CARS Insert Insert Backgrond Information Over the past, the globe has had to deal with a new problem it did not face a number of years ago, global warming. This is due to the release of gasses that thin our ozone layer that is responsible for the absorption of the harmful ultraviolet solar radiation from the sun. A number of these gasses that can be attributed to the thinning of this life-preserving layer include carbon gas emissions. Carbon emissions are normally the products when an engine burns off fuel in order to move the car. Therefore, the car or the automobile industry generally has been attributed to the rapid rise in global warming. This has spurred up talks among the environmentalists and the carmakers in an attempt to make them develop greener cars. Some governments have even gone a mile further by trying to incorporate legislative measures that will see car makers come up with environmentally friendly options. The pressure from the environmentalists and government regulations has seen car makers all over the globe come up with cunning technologies that aim to reduce the emission of carbon footprints from automobiles and among them are the use of electric and hybrid car technologies (BRIAN, marshal, 2010). How the technology works So how do these technologies work?, An electric car is the kind that does not burn any sort of fossil fuel to make it run like conventional petrol or diesel powered engines. Instead, the car gets its propulsion from an electric motor using energy stored in the cars’ batteries or from hydrogen fuel cells. The car can be powered by a variant number of electric motors ranging from one electric motor like that in a G-wiz to a staggering four like those in the new electric Mercedes SLS. The drive train of such cars is normally very light while the gear system could encompass as little as one moving part (MODERN CARS, 2012). The cars’ weight is mostly contributed by the energy storage system, which in most cases can weigh as much as more than half the weight of the entire car. The great idea behind this technology is that users would be able to plug in their cars to an electric outlet like the power grid and charge up the batteries in their cars and once they are fully charged they can drive for miles without any carbon emissions from the car. Surprisingly this technology was invented as early as the 1880s but it was surpassed by the advancements in the internal combustion engines (DAVIS, matt, 2011). Challenges However, I think it is fair to mention that electric cars do have a number of challenges that have made them gain such low acceptance in the market chief among which is the mileage that can be achieved from a single full charge. Investors are constantly trying to figure out how they can have better batteries that can store many electric voltages to increase the cars mileage. Tesla motors in the United States of America seem to be on the forefront of this technology since they recently launched a range of car batteries that would be used in their cars to achieve top mileage per charge. Electric cars can only achieve their sole purpose of being environmentally friendly by tapping into clean electricity sources like wind power and solar but not that generated due to the burning of fossil fuels. Hybrid car conventions Hybrid cars, on the other hand, encompass a combination of the conventional petrol or diesel powered engines and the electric engine. The basic setup of a hybrid car could either be in three major forms; the mild hybrid system, full hybrid system, and the plug-in system. Let us begin with the mild hybrid system. The functionality of this type of system is that the petrol engine acts as the top-dog while the electric motor acts as the assistant when the car needs some extra power for the instance of abrupt acceleration. In most cases, you will find the two engines bolted next to each other (TESLA MOTORS, 2010). Full hybrid cars involve the electric system being fully functional while its petrol engine counterpart acts as the wingman, which kicks in some more power whenever its needed. A good example of the application of this hybrid system is that used in the Toyota Prius. Moving on to the last commonly used hybrid system, the plug-in hybrid is just a regular hybrid car that uses a high capacity battery that can be plugged into the electricity mains. The other forms of hybrid systems described above charge their batteries through the energy from the conventional internal combustion engine or through regenerative braking. The plug-in system uses both the electric power from within the car or from the house. Another hybrid system that I think will gain popularity sooner than we think is that used in the Fisker Karma. Though it is also a plug-in hybrid, the setup of the system is quite different (U.S DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY, 2013). The conventional petrol engine does not power the car directly; instead, it powers an electricity generator, which then powers the electric motors and charges the batteries. The system provides a more efficient way of tapping out more energy out of the fossil fuel. Sources of energy Hybrid cars tap their energy from a variant number of sources including the conventional internal combustion engine which is cheaper but unfriendly to the environment, hydrogen fuel cells which feature gasses which exist abundantly in the atmosphere but lack an effective fuel storage system, regular household electricity and solar energy which are vastly renewable but come with a bit of costs among others. Solar cars are designed to include an array of carefully designed and crafted solar panels, which are located on the roof of the car (U.S DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY, 2013). The functionality of this renewable energy source for the car is that the solar panels taps energy from the sun and converts it into electrical power, which is then transmitted by cables to the spine of the car where rectification and amplification is done before the electrical energy gets stored in the cars’ batteries. Batteries are fundamental in solar powered cars because the energy from the sun is not always constant, so the system will charge up the battery so that you can use the energy later even when the sun is not up. This stored energy is then transferred to the electric motor through a power controller, which varies the acceleration of the car in line with the drivers input. The electric motor being one of the essential components in the car then converts these electric charges into kinetic energy through a simple process of electromagnetism. According to the various hybrid manufacturers, the motor can be attached to the wheels directly, attached to the conventional internal combustion engine or connected to a differential, which transmits the power to the wheels (COBB, jeff, 2009). Advantages The acceleration mechanism in solar racecars is done through the controller in the car. When a driver floors the accelerator pedal, the controller opens up the tap to allow more solar energy stored in the batteries to reach the motor. Therefore, more of the solar energy to the motors will result in a stronger and faster kinetic energy release. Governments and environmentalists highly encourage the adoption of electric cars due to the minimal environmental impacts it has on the environment. Though the general public acceptance is gradually growing, a lot needs to be done to get more efficient electric cars and get their rocket high prices down to the level of conventional internal combustion cars (BRIAN, marshal, 2010). The general perception of the electric car is that they lack performance but let us look at the better good it generates. Fewer carbon emissions will result in the preservation of our precious ozone layer, which preserves the lives beneath. Future aspects to focus upon So what can be done to the conventional internal combustion to make them more polar bear friendly? Public awareness obviously, but that is not enough. We need our car manufacturers to produce nothing but the best cars that effectively tap the energy from fossils and register the least carbon footprints as well as integrating renewable energy sources that can be used in cars. The manufacturers are always faced with marked challenges that always hinder them in their endeavors to create environmentally sustainable cars chief among which is the weight and safety requirements for cars. Manufacturers are legally required to produce cars that are strong enough to ensure the safety of its occupants. This has seen cars get bigger and heavier over the past years of production, which brings us to fuel efficiency. For a car name as one which is fuel efficient, it needs to be as light as possible (MODERN CARS, 2012). Even though the industry has started to use carbon fiber and titanium technology to build lightweight car chassis, it is very expensive as compared to aluminum and iron build cars. Way, manufacturers will always be motivated to try as much as possible to generate and incorporate newer ideas into the industry to be in tune with the times. Research shows that the world will eventually run out of fossil fuels so that means manufacturers will be emphasizing more on greener energy alternatives. However, I believe much can be done to create more sustainable energy efficient technologies, countries and manufacturers should come up with programs that encourage brilliant minds out there to bring their ideas on efficient green energy. The world is so full of ideas on environmental sustainability in the automotive industry we just need to shine the light on them. List of References BRIAN, marshal. 2010. how electric cars work. [online]. [Accessed 16 May 2015]. Available from World Wide Web: < HYPERLINK "auto.howstuffworks.com/electric-car.htm" auto.howstuffworks.com/electric-car.htm > COBB, jeff. 2009. The three main types of hybrids explained. [online]. [Accessed 16 May 2015]. Available from World Wide Web: < HYPERLINK "http://www.hybridcars.com/the-three-main-types-of-hybrids-explained/" http://www.hybridcars.com/the-three-main-types-of-hybrids-explained/ > DAVIS, matt. 2011. First drive: 2012 Fisker karma. [online]. [Accessed 16 May 2015]. Available from World Wide Web: < HYPERLINK "http://www.autoblog.com/2011/02/21/2012-fisker-karma-first-drive" http://www.autoblog.com/2011/02/21/2012-fisker-karma-first-drive > MODERN CARS. 2012. auto alternatives for the 21st century. [online]. [Accessed 16 May 2015]. Available from World Wide Web: < HYPERLINK "http://www.hybridcars.com/" http://www.hybridcars.com/ > TESLA MOTORS. 2010. tesla models. [online]. [Accessed 16 May 2015]. Available from World Wide Web: < HYPERLINK "http://www.teslamotors.com/en_EU/models" http://www.teslamotors.com/en_EU/models > U.S DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY. 2013. alternative fuels and advanced vehicles. [online]. [Accessed 16 May 2015]. Available from World Wide Web: < HYPERLINK "www.afdc.energy.gov/fuels/" www.afdc.energy.gov/fuels/ > Read More