Electric vehicle
A streetcar (or Tram) drawing current from a
single overhead wire, returning current
through the rails and ground
An electric locomotive, taking power through
a pantograph
An electric vehicle (EV) is a vehicle with
one or more electric motors for propulsion.
This is also referred to as an electric drive
vehicle. The motion may be provided either
by wheels or propellers driven by rotary mo-
tors, or in the case of tracked vehicles, by lin-
ear motors.
Unlike an internal combustion engine
(ICE) that is tuned to specifically operate
with a particular fuel such as gasoline or
diesel, an electric drive vehicle needs electri-
city, which comes from sources such as bat-
teries or a generator. This flexibility allows
the drive train of the vehicle to remain the
same, while the fuel source can be changed.
The electricity used to propel the vehicle
may be provided in several ways, some of
them more ecological than others:
• on-board rechargeable electricity storage
system (RESS), called Full Electric
Vehicles (FEV). Power storage methods
include:
• chemical energy stored on the vehicle
in on-board batteries: Battery electric
vehicle (BEV)
• static energy stored on the vehicle in
on-board electric double-layer
capacitors
• kinetic energy storage: flywheels
• direct connection to generation plants as
is common among electric trains, trolley
buses, and trolley trucks (See also :
overhead lines, third rail and conduit
current collection)
• renewable sources such as solar power:
solar vehicle
• generated on-board using a diesel engine:
diesel-electric locomotive
• generated on-board using a fuel cell: fuel
cell vehicle
• generated on-board using nuclear energy:
nuclear submarines and aircraft carriers
It is also possible to have hybrid electric
vehicles that derives electricity from multiple
sources. Such as:
• on-board rechargeable electricity storage
system (RESS) and a direct continuous
connection to land-based generation
plants for purposes of on-highway
recharging with unrestricted highway
range
• on-board