An electric vehicle, also referred to as an electric drive vehicle is a vehicle which uses one or more electric motors for propulsion. Depending on the type of vehicle, motion may be provided by wheels or propellers driven by rotary motors, or in the case of tracked vehicles, by linear motors. Electric vehicles can include electric cars, electric trains, electric airplanes, electric boats, electric motorcycles and scooters and electric spacecraft
Electric vehicles first came into existence in the mid-19th century, when electricity was among the preferred methods for automobile propulsion, providing a level of comfort and ease of operation that could not be achieved by the gasoline cars of the time. At one time the internal combustion engine (ICE) had completely replaced the electric drive as a propulsion method for automobiles, but electric power has remained commonplace in other vehicle types, such as trains and smaller vehicles of all types
Electric vehicles are different from fossil fuel-powered vehicles in that they can receive their power from a wide range of sources, including fossil fuels, nuclear power, and renewable sources such as tidal power, solar power, and wind power or any combination of those. However it is generated, this energy is then transmitted to the vehicle through use of overhead lines, wireless energy transfer, or a direct connection through an electrical cable. The electricity may then be stored onboard the vehicle using a battery, flywheel, supercapacitor, or fuel cell
Vehicles making use of engines working on the principle of combustion can usually only derive their energy from a single or a few sources, usually non-renewable fossil fuels. A key advantage of electric or hybrid electric vehicles is their ability to recover braking energy as electricity to be restored to the on-board battery or sent back to the grid. When fossil fuel vehicles brake, they simply dump the energy into the environment as waste heat. This gives electric vehicles a greater efficiency gain in city traffic
Electric boats, points out the Electric Boat Association, are "becoming commonplace on Britain's inland waters, Broads and rivers, but no-one seems to have taken electric power seriously as a direct alternative to diesel engine in an offshore cruising yacht. Yet the technology, arguably, is so nearly there".
Demonstrating the robustness and the possibilities of the solar electric boat, Collinda, a 22ft (6.7m) catamaran owned by EBA President Malcolm Moss, made the first-ever solar-powered crossing of the English Channel in 1997
The Electric Boat Association’s fleet includes a growing number of solar boats. Some are run as passenger boats by business members, others are privately owned. The boats are extremely diverse, ranging from small lightweight craft designed to take just one or two crew up to passenger boats capable of carrying 50 or more people, and a private 68ft canal barge which is presently the largest electric boat on the UK’s inland waterways. What all these craft have in common is their use of onboard solar photovoltaic (PV) modules to charge propulsion batteries, producing a very environmentally benign method of transport
PhotoVoltaic - solar panels
Using already-available technology, solar power alone could provide almost four times the world's current energy use..
Photovoltaics are best known as a method for generating electric power by using solar cells to convert energy from the sun into electricity. The photovoltaic effect refers to photons of light knocking electrons into a higher state of energy to create electricity. The term photovoltaic denotes the unbiased operating mode of a photodiode in which current through the device is entirely due to the transduced light energy. Virtually all photovoltaic devices are some type of photodiode
Solar cells produce direct current electricity from light, which can be used to power equipment or to recharge a battery. The first practical application of photovoltaics was to power orbiting satellites and other spacecraft, but today the majority of photovoltaic modules are used for grid connected power generation. In this case an inverter is required to convert the DC to AC. There is a smaller market for off-grid power for remote dwellings, boats, recreational vehicles, electric cars, roadside emergency telephones, remote sensing, and cathodic protection of pipelines
PV + EV
Electric Vehicles will put to use, in due course, the energy that can be delivered by Photovoltaic cells, with panels built into the fabric of the car, most likely in the roof
Developments in the size and efficciency of batteries for storage will be of benefit to both Electric Vehicles and Photovoltaic installations.
Vehicles will make use of lighter batteries, with longer range than can be offered by battery tecnology at present, even the lithium-ion batteries
With batteries connected, Photovoltaic installations will be able to time-shift to night hours the solar energy generated during daylight hours - and that energy stored in the batteries will be available not only for lighting and other uses but also to recharge the electric vehicles parked close by the installation...
Very soon now, the PV home and EV car owner will have no costs for his home's electricity and no fuel costs for his car !
The generation of one kilowatt-hour of electricity for use by the consumer by a central-generating station, coal-fired, causes the emission of one kilogram of CO2 e
Put PV installations on 20 million buildings in Britain and replace 20 million cars with EV's and the problem the Government is having to find the way to meet UK's carbon-reduction target is solved !