Introduction electric cars

Cars powered by gasoline or diesel cause emissions that have a serious impact on the climate and environment of our planet. With the amount of CO2 that is released into the atmosphere as a result, global warming is one of the worst consequences. Around 23% of all CO2 emissions are attributable to combustion engine traffic. Electric cars, on the other hand, cause 0.0g of CO2 emissions, at least while driving. To charge the car in an environmentally friendly way, the electricity for the battery must be supplied by renewable energies. All you have to do is choose the right electricity provider for your home. Another issue that affects us consumers more directly is air quality. Climate change is certainly progressing but insidiously, while you notice a direct difference if you are in the countryside or in a big city. In such urban centers, you notice the bad air. Electric cars do not pollute the air while driving. In addition, petroleum, the raw material from which gasoline and diesel are produced, does not exist in infinite supply. Oil reserves will run out in the next few decades - this scarcity of resources is another reason to switch to electric.

The electric drive

The electricity used to drive an electric car is stored in a battery in the form of direct current. Inverters now convert the direct current into alternating current so that it can be used to drive the electric motor. This motor then uses the available energy to generate magnetic fields that cause the wheels to roll by attracting and repelling magnetic forces.

The charging of an electric motor

Electric cars can be charged at home using wallboxes or at urban charging stations from a wide variety of providers. Depending on the vehicle model, battery capacity, charging power and charging curve, a charge from 0% to 80% can take between 18min and 10h. Public alternating current (AC) charging stations are no faster than domestic wallboxes and offer charging power between 7.4kW and 22kW. Direct Current (DC) fast charging stations can provide up to 350kW and charge an electric car in under 1h. The reason for this is that they convert the public alternating current into direct current beforehand, which would normally have to be done by the car itself. This saves a lot of time. However, it also depends on how many kilowatts a car can be charged with. For comparison: A current Tesla Model 3 can be charged with up to 250kW, a VW ID3 with only up to 125kW. It is commonly recommended to keep the battery between 20% and 80% to conserve it.

Range & consumption

The consumption of an electric car behaves similarly to that of a combustion car. Only the unit is different: Instead of liters, one calculates with kilowatt-hours. As always, manufacturers' figures are usually calculated "optimistically. Realistically, a very economical model, such as a Hyndai Ioniq, achieves an average of 16 kWh per 100 km, which corresponds to the energy content of about 2 liters of gasoline or diesel. However, if you drive at higher speeds, the consumption can quickly rise to 25kWh.

There are different opinions about electric cars in many respects. The acquisition costs of an electrically powered vehicle are currently still higher on average than for internal combustion vehicles. This is due, among other things, to the lower numbers of units that are sold. On the other hand, certain models are subsidized by KfW: Purely electric vehicles with up to 9000€, plug-in hybrids with up to 6750€. If certain requirements are met by the manufacturer, the customer can therefore obtain his electric car at a fair price. This puts the cost argument of all gasoline or diesel drivers into perspective. For example, a Tesla Model 3 with KfW funding can be had for just over 30,000€.Another conservative issue is safety. Electric cars are too quiet, they say. It is possible to drive almost silently through the city, which is why the so-called AVAS (Acoustic Vehicle Alert System) will be mandatory for all new electric and hybrid cars in the EU from July 2021, so that pedestrians and other road users are more aware of approaching electric cars. Much more important, however, is the issue of range. Many people are still not comfortable enough to drive an electric car on vacation, for example, because they have to stop more often for charging than for refueling with a gasoline-powered car. However, most people forget how suitable an electric car is for everyday use. The average German road user drives less than 40km a day (according to the Federal Environment Ministry). Ranges between 300km and 400km are now standard, and even with less you can easily get through the week. Fortunately, car manufacturers regularly outdo each other on this issue. So we can expect battery technology to become more and more innovative and ranges to increase. In addition, the charging network is being steadily expanded by a wide variety of providers, so electric makes sense not only in the big city.