EV & FCEV Explained (2)

Let's continue with where we ended. About your general knowledge, remember?

General knowledge (2)

Calculation: gasoline and electric

Not only the emissions have a negative impact on the climate, but that also applies to the production of a car, the way power is generated, how efficiently a car handles energy and of course also the production of the battery.

Let's compare a VW Golf and Egolf. Everything is included, so both the production of the car, but also the battery (including raw materials) and the energy to be able to drive. In fuel, the oil refining, with which gasoline is made, is included. And the standard stream mix is used with the EV. This is currently only partly green (most electricity now comes from natural gas plants), but for 2030 more than 70% of our electricity must be generated sustainably.

The Golf uses 4.2 times more energy and leads to 2 to 4.7 times (2030) More CO2.

*A litre of gasoline contains 8.9 kWh energy. 7.52 * 8.9 / 100 = 0.66 kWh / km

Types of electric cars

There are several types of electric vehicles (EVs). That is sometimes somewhat confusing, because many variants are only partially electric - in that case the primary drive form is still a combustion engine.

For the sake of clarity, we mention all variations:

Battery Electric Vehicle (BEV)

• Fully electrically driven by electric motor.
• No other fuel needed.
• No emission of harmful substances.

Plug-in Hybrid Vehicle (PHEV)

• Works on electric motor and fuel engine (ICE = Internal Combustion Engine).
• 100% electric driving until the battery is empty.
• Via battery approximately 20-60 kilometres 100% electric.

Hybrid Electric Vehicle (HEV)

• Also referred to as Full Hybrid.
• Runs mainly on the fuel engine.
• Very short distances at low speed (city traffic) fully electric.

Mild Hybrid Electric Vehicle (MHEV)

• Always runs on the fuel engine only.
• Not possible to drive completely electrically.
• Electric motor supports the ICE engine when accelerating or on slopes.

Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle (FCEV)

• Fully electric, energy is not stored in a battery but in the hydrogen tank.
• Hydrogen is converted into hydrogen by a fuel cell electricity and water.
• Small HV battery to supply extra energy during acceleration and to recover energy during braking.
• No emissions of harmful substances.

Why drive electric?

An electric car has no emissions. So, no harmful substances are released directly from the car. This has major advantages, especially in city centres. After all, there is a lot of traffic there and people live close together, which means that the air quality is often poor. If all cars in urban areas were electric, air quality would improve significantly.

There are indirect emissions, for example in electricity production. But it has now been amply proven that an EV emits much less CO2 during its lifespan than cars with a combustion engine, even if you take into account all possible factors such as production, recycling and energy generation.

However, particulate matter is released due to wear and tear of the brakes, tires and road surface. Because electric cars often use regenerative braking, the negative effect of the first point is limited.

But there is more that argues in favour of the EV. An electric car is quiet. After all, no petrol or diesel is converted into power through 'explosions' in the engine. When an EV is moving, only rolling and wind noise is produced. That drives a lot more pleasantly. The peak power of an electric motor is also immediately available, which means that electric cars accelerate very quickly.

In addition, driving requires a factor of three to four less energy. Even an EV that does not run on green energy still has fewer emissions than a car with a combustion engine. No more petrol or diesel is burned. In net terms, much less energy is consumed (and fewer raw materials are required).

Reliability and safety

There are many misunderstandings about a 'new' type of product, such as an electric car. For example, many people think that the battery, like a smartphone, only lasts a few years and that an EV is worthless after that. Or that loading always takes hours. Or that they are a fire hazard. Some facts:

• An electric car contains far fewer moving parts and therefore requires less maintenance. No oil, no cylinders, no multi-belt, etc. An electric motor has a much longer lifespan than a combustion engine.
• The battery is kept healthy by a Battery Management System (BMS). If it gets warm, for example during fast charging, the battery is actively cooled. As a result, the lifespan is much longer than the battery of a smartphone.
• An EV can be charged via the socket. However, it is recommended to only do this in an emergency (if there are no other options) and not on a daily basis. A socket becomes quite warm when charging for hours - a relatively high current then flows through it for a long time. In exceptional cases this can lead to melted cables and even fire.
• There are incidents of batteries catching fire, but this is very rare. An electric car is no more flammable than a car with a combustion engine.
• The battery cells are well protected by a battery pack and a frame. In addition, they are usually located in the underbody in the middle of the car so that they are not easily damaged during a collision. Fire is therefore rare.
• If there is a fire, a car with a battery is difficult to extinguish because chemical components of a damaged battery react with oxygen. If necessary, the fire brigade will then place a car in a bath with water, making it no longer possible for the fire to flare up again.
• Different types of batteries are used. Modern batteries seem to last a long time. With Tesla's there is approximately a 10% loss of capacity after +-250,000 km, but there is still more than sufficient range left.

The battery of an EV

The energy of an electric car is stored in a battery (also called an accumulator). Such a battery consists of 'packs' - modular packages that contain several individual cells. These cells are often cylindrical, like an AA battery but larger. Or they are flat - a so-called 'pouch' cell. A recent development is a so-called blade battery that consists of elongated prismatic cells. Due to their shape and chemical composition, these cells are virtually fireproof.

In modern EVs, the packs with the cells are incorporated in the underbody of the car, between the axles. There's a lot of space there. It often results in a slightly higher floor, which means that the roof also has to be slightly higher. Sometimes manufacturers opt for a slightly different arrangement, by placing the packs mainly under the seats and partly in the trunk. We mainly see this in older models.

During the lifespan of an electric car, two concepts are important regarding the battery pack:

This indicates how full the battery is, usually on a scale from 0 to 100%, but an indication in kilometres is also possible. That value of 100% is not absolute but is determined on the basis of the State of Health. The capacity of a rechargeable battery slowly decreases based on time and use (the number of charging cycles from 0 to 100%). This also means that the number of kilometres indicated at 100% will slowly decrease over the years. This process is also called degradation - or aging.

This indicates the health of the battery, or the residual capacity at 100% of the original capacity. This value cannot usually be read yourself, but the car manufacturer can often do this. You can find out yourself by dividing the number of kilometres you see at 100% by the original number of kilometres when the car was new. Another way is to drive the car as empty as possible and then fully charge it and then record the total number of kWh charged - then you know the maximum capacity. The original capacity is stated in the car's specifications. Usually, car manufacturers use a buffer. For example, a Kia EV6 has about 77.4 kWh, but the gross capacity is 82.5 kWh. That 77.4 kWh is what the car indicates at 100% when it is new.

Future

The technology of electric cars is developing rapidly. For example, battery prices have become cheaper by a factor of ten over the past ten years. This has now made it easier to bring cheaper cars to the market. Yet this remains the most expensive part. Many EVs are still unaffordable for many people, unless you make do with an older model (but the second-hand supply is also quite limited).

There are about ten parties worldwide that make batteries for electric cars. These are mainly located in Asia, including China, South Korea and Japan, although more and more factories are also being established in Europe. For example, LG has a factory in Poland, Northvolt is in Sweden and Tesla and Volkswagen are also considering setting up battery factories in Europe.

One battery is not the same as the other. Manufacturers use different chemical compositions. The differences are usually quite small, but there are, especially compared to first generation EVs. The lifespan has become longer, the energy density has increased, and the chemical composition is more stable. In terms of raw materials, lithium, nickel, manganese and cobalt are used. The latter metal is scarce, so its use is being phased out. More and more car batteries are coming onto the market without cobalt and instead using lithium iron phosphate (LFP).

It is expected that the energy density of batteries will increase even further in the future, thanks to new technologies. Work is being done on other components that can help store more energy. You can then either continue driving with the same battery size or the car will become a lot lighter (and therefore more economical).

Another development is so-called 'solid state' batteries. They use a solid instead of a liquid (electrolyte). The promise is that these will have a higher energy density and at the same time become less fire hazard. The solid is not flammable, unlike the liquid. It will probably be several years before these batteries will be in EVs.

Recycling

People often think that in a few years we will have a huge waste mountain of discarded EV batteries. However, this will not be the case, for several reasons. First of all, agreements are made about what should happen to all parts after the car's life. Much is recyclable.

This especially applies to a battery, because if it is no longer usable in an EV, it is far from being used up. 70% residual capacity is often seen as a minimum value because a car then has less peak power, for example during acceleration.

Batteries from the first generation of EVs are currently already being reused in home batteries and in companies. For example, 148 batteries from Nissan Leafs are used in the Johan Cruijff Arena. During the day they store electricity from the solar panels on the roof and in the evening this electricity can be (partly) used for lighting. According to Nissan, these batteries can last for at least 10 to 15 years in this way.

If a battery is completely used up, it can be recycled. The metals in the battery do not decay during use (unlike fossil fuels). Because it easily amounts to several kilos per metal, discarded batteries still have a high value.

Mobility concepts and shared cars

Apart from traditional passenger cars, more and more alternative mobility concepts are appearing. Consider, for example, three-wheelers and two-seaters: these are ideal for the city or country roads. These are also called LEVs (Light Electric Vehicles). They are small, take up little space, use less energy and are cheaper. In addition, we are increasingly seeing shared cars in cities. If they are available, the second car can often go out. And sometimes even the first. You only pay for the use and are not bothered by repair costs and insurance. So it can be cheaper, but above all it saves a lot of parking spaces. We see shared cars appearing more and more often, but especially in the big cities.

Safety

International research and practical tests show that a fire with an electric car, due to an external cause, is no more dangerous than a fire with a diesel or gasoline car. However, the fire is different and requires a different approach to prevention and control.

Road safety

According to scientific research road safety, three factors ensure that electric cars may be more unsafe than cars with a combustion engine:

• A lower sound intensity: EVs are quieter at speeds of up to 20 to 30 km/h. That is why from 1 July 2021 all new hybrid and fully electric vehicles in the European Union are equipped with an Acoustic Vehicle Alerting System (AVAS), or artificially added sound at a forward speed of up to 20 km/hour and when reversing.
• Fire hazard through the battery: inter alia in the event of a high -speed collision, there is a risk of damage to the battery (and therefore a chance of fire).
• The larger weight of electric cars: a vehicle with a larger mass lead in an accident to more serious injury in the counterparty than a vehicle with a smaller mass. Because EVs are often heavier, it is likely that the seriousness is on average higher in accidents involving an electric vehicle.

The increase in share of EVs in the fleet is therefore a reason to give extra attention to lower maximum speeds, in particular in places where many vulnerable road users are also present, such as cyclists, pedestrians and children/elderly people.

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