EV MISCONCEPTION
What is a battery EV?
A battery electric vehicle (BEV) is a vehicle that uses an electric motor to convert chemical energy stored in rechargeable batteries into forward or reverse motion. Pure BEVs have no on-board internal combustion engine.
What is a plug-in-Hybrid?
A plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) is like a conventional hybrid in that it retains a petrol or diesel engine. However larger battery size increases electric-only range, while the biggest difference is the ability to charge via mains electricity.
It is different to drive an electric vehicle?
Driving an electric car certainly feels different the first-time round. Most notably an electric car is almost silent (except for wind and road noise). Apart from that electric vehicles are like most automatic petrol or diesel equivalents. One noticeable difference is that the torque (driving force) is much higher than conventional vehicles at lower speed, which means electric vehicles can accelerate fast from standstill.
Electric vehicles don’t have good battery range?
A 30kW Pure Electric Nissan Leaf can carry 155 miles worth of charge. This means you can travel 155 miles before needing to recharge. For example, you can travel from London to Sheffield without needing to recharge till you are in Sheffield. The battery is a 150kw for a full charge on a 22kw fast charger this would take 6 hours and 40 minutes. While travelling for long distances you can also stop at motorway services and find a rapid charger which will charge the leaf in approximately 15 minutes from the battery being flat.
You can’t start an electric car on a cold morning?
Starting an electric car in the cold weather is easier than starting a combustion engine car. This is because electric cars use electricity from the grid to warm and condition the battery while charging overnight.
Electric vehicles are horrible to drive in the snow?
Driving an electric vehicle in the snow is no different, if not better than a combustion engine car. Other electric drivers have said that they placed the car in eco mode so that they could drive slow and smooth and stops spinning of the wheels. Electric vehicle drivers also said that with snow tires they could see no difference to combustion engine cars.
Is there a priority at charging stations?
No one has priority although out of courtesy Hybrids should give priority to pure electric cars. This is due to that hybrids have petrol to fall back on whereas pure electric does not and might be stranded until they can charge their battery. Although you should never unplug someone else’s vehicle from charging. If you are aware that a car has been charging for a long time and you need to charge you should ask a member of staff to make an announcement to find the owner and ask them if they would mind moving.
