TYPES OF ELECTRICAL VEHICLES

 1. Fuel - cell  Electric  Vehicles;  These  vehicles  produce electric - power  from  hydrogen  and  oxygen.  Owing  to its efficiency and water- only emissions, it is adjudged to be the leading  electric  vehicles . An example of such can be seen bellow.

2.  Hybrid  electric  vehicles  (HEVs);   These  has  two complementary drive structures   as can be seen in figure above : a gasoline engine and fuel tank and an electric motor, battery and  controls.  The  engine  and  the  motor  can  concurrently turn  the  transmission,  which  powers  the  wheels.  HEVs cannot  be  recharged  from  the  electric - power  distribution grid.  But  its  power  comes  exclusively  from gasoline  and regenerative braking .

3.  Plug - in  Hybrid  Electric  Vehicles  (PHEVs);  These  are furnished with internal combustion engine that can recharge the  battery  and/or  to  substitute  the  electric  drive  train  when the battery is low and extra power is needed. Likened to the HEV, it has nevertheless a larger battery - pack and it can be charged  exactly  from  the  power  grid.  The  constituent   parts of  a  plug - in  hybrid  electric  vehicle is  displayed  bellow

  4.  Extended - Range  Electric  Vehicles  (ER- EVs); represents  an  ER- EVs ,  it  employs  both combustion  engines and  electric motors,  only the  electric  motor  is  utilized  for propulsion. The  combustion  engine  is  utilized  to energize a generator. The  generator  subsequently  charges  the battery, which  energizes  the  motor.  ER - EVs  equally  permit  plug- in charging

5.  Battery  Electric  Vehicles  (BEVs);   The  BEV  is  all electric,  it  runs  absolutely  on  a  battery  and  electric  drive train,  without  a  traditional  internal  combustion  engine.  These  vehicles  should  be  plugged  into an  external  source  of  electric - power  in  order  to  recharge their  batteries.  Like  each  and  every  electric  vehicles,  BEVs can as well recharge their batteries by means of regenerative braking.  This  kind  of  EV  needs  bigger  batteries  than  the joined electric - petroleum vehicles.

The Grid, Smart Grid and their relationship with the Electric Vehicle

The  Grid  is  comprise  of  interconnected  electrical  power systems that convey electric - power from the plants where it is  generated  to  the  end - user.  The  grid  includes  wires, substations,  transformers,  switches  and  lots  more.  It  applies to  the  electric - power  grid,  an  interconnected system  of transmission lines, substations, transformers and much more that deliver electric – power from the power plant to homes or businesses.  Despite  the  fact  that  the  electric - power  grid  is regarded  as  an  engineering  wonder,  it  is  being  stretched   to its mix or patchwork capacity. For further advancement, we require  a  new  type  of  electric - power  grid,  that  is  built  to handle  digital and  computerized  equipment  and  on  which technology  depends  on.  An  electric - power  grid  that  can automate and manage the increasing complexity and present needs of the electric - pow er systems.   A Smart Grid is an  advanced  grid  system  that  manages  or  controls  electric power demand in a sustainable, reliable and economic way, it  is  built  on  modern  infrastructure  and adjusted  to  ease  the integration  of  all  connected.  It  can  be  referred  to  as  the digital  technology  that  permits  two - way  communication connecting utility authorities and its customers, and sensing on the electric - power lines. Like the Internet, the Smart Grid is  composed  of  controls,  computers,  automation,  new technologies and equipment functioning simultaneously, but in  the  case  of  the  Smart  Grid,  these  technologies  will  work with  the  electric- power  grid  to  react  digitally  to  fast adjusting  electric- power  demand.  The  advantages  related with  the  Smart  Grid  include:  Better  efficiency  in  the transmission of electric - power; Faster restoration of electric -power in the wake of power disruption; Minimized operation and  management  costs  for  utility  authorities,  and  eventual  reduction  of  electric - power  costs  for  end - users;  Lowering electric - power  peak  demand,  which  helps  to  reduce electricity  rates;  A  growth  in  the  integration  of  large- scale renewable  energy  generation  to  the  electric- power  systems; Improved  integration  of  customer - owned   electric - power generating  systems,  inclusive  of  renewable  energy  systems; And  enhancement  of  the  security  of  electric- power  system. A  vivid  description  of  the  smart  grid  is  shown  in  figure bellow

The  present  electric- power  grid  all  over  the  globe,  does not  provide  any  notable  storage  capacity.  This  imply  that every  kilowatt- hour  of  electric- power  utilized  must  be produced   instantaneously   at   the  very   same  moment. Meaning  that  for  every  unit  of  electric- power  produced  by utility  authorities,  it  need  to  be  matched  with  the  exact  unit of  electric- power  demanded.  Hence,  there  should  be  a balance  between  the  unit  of  electric- power  produced  by utilities  and  the  unit  of  electric- power  demanded  by customers  or  end users.  This  necessity  is  likely  the  greatest challenge towards the actualization   of   a   sustainable electric -power  supply  centered  on  renewable   energy  sources,  like photo voltaic  panels  and  wind  power  plants.  Since  their electric - power  output  varies  with  ti me,  it  is  commonly  not reliably  predicted  and  most  times  their  output  differs considerably  from  the  actual  electric - power  demand.  Specifically,  lack  of  availability  of  electric- power  from renewable  energy  sources  during  lengthened  calm  and cloudy   times  present  the  greatest  obstacle.  To  provide sufficient  electric - power  at  such  times,  large  fleet  of traditional power   plants has to be on standby mode,   prepared to  take  over  when   renewable  energy  sources  can  no  longer satisfy  customers  demand.  Another  option  is   to  build gigantic  facilities,  like  the  pumped  storage  or  batteries   that will  be  able  to  store  electric - power  for  a  longer  duration  of time. Pumped storage and battery technology requires costly hardware  facilities  and  maintenance  expenditures  when compare d   to  traditional  p ower  plants.   Smart  grids  and demand control techniques make available a less  costly and better  reasonable  hardware  wide- ranging  options  for  the smart  charging  of  electric  vehicles.  This  is  realized  by relaxing  the  connection  between  electric- power   production and  demand,   hinge  on  developing  a  technique such  that electric - power  demand  can  be  controlled  to  match  with variations  in  electric - power  supply.  Achieving  this,  entails shifting less urgent electric- power consumption  out  of   times of  peak  demand  onto  periods  of  surplus  electric - power production. The introduction of smart charging technologies into several spheres of human  endeavor   is the most positive way out to realize a reliable integration of renewable energy sources  onto  the  electric- power  production  or  generation mix. In the long run, an increase in the installation of smart charging  technology  will  reduce  the  numbers  of  needed standby  power  plants  and  save  related  construction  and operational  costs.  There  is  a  growing  interest  in incorporating  the  demand  control  strategy  into  electric vehicles.