Are you planning on getting an electric car? Well, then that’s a great idea, and we are on board with it. The most confusing thing about the electric car has to be the charging aspect of it. There are lots of theories and ideas about charging an electric car.
No wonder EV is the next big thing in the Green automotive world. The next thing that comes into our mind with Electric cars is charging. There are a lot of questions that come into our mind regarding the charging of these cars. This post is all about those frequently asked questions about electric vehicle charging.
FAQ Electric Car Charging
That’s why we are here to answer some of the most common questions regarding electric car charging. Let’s hop into it.
What happens if the electric car runs out of power?
Well, it’s only natural that your car will stop working completely when it runs out of power. The battery charge is the fuel of any electric car, so when that runs out, you can’t use your car at all. It’s very simple to understand. Then you will either have to go to a charging station or stand there on the road with your car until it’s towed.
Also, running completely out of power can have a serious negative impact on the car battery. So, you should always check on how much charge your car has and notice the mileage count as well.
Why can’t an electric car recharge itself?
It’s a pretty common and legitimate question to ask about electric cars that why can’t they charge themselves. The prime reason for that is energy conversion is not completely efficient. Every time you convert energy, some of it gets lost in the conversion process.
On an electric car, it’s possible to some of that energy in the batteries. Some cars do it through regenerative braking technology. However, it’s impossible to recharge the battery itself; it can only refill a little amount back to the battery. According to the laws of physics, all of these works, and there isn’t any machine till now that can defy those laws.
Do electric cars charge while driving?
Currently, it’s not possible to charge your car while driving. You can’t be connected to any charging medium when driving; your car won’t simply start when it’s charging. However, in the future, you might be looking at cars that can do this. They are working on inductive charging that will allow your car to charge while driving.
Although it’s not the same as charging, you can still get some battery power through regenerative braking. It turns the wheels into generators, which then convert your kinetic energy into electric energy and sends it into the battery. You get to see this feature on Tesla cars.
Why don t electric cars have alternators?
The core function of an alternator in a car is to make sure that the battery is properly charged. But on an electric car, you don’t need to have an alternator to do that job. They have something called the DC-DC converter, which does this job more efficiently.
It simply converts the core battery voltage, which can be around 350 to 400 volts, into the required voltage, 12 volts. So, this fulfills the need for a 12-volt battery on your car in a much simpler way than an alternator. And it’s very reliable as well. So, altogether your car doesn’t even need an alternator which is why they don’t have one.
Can you charge an electric car with a generator while driving?
In theory, yes, it’s possible to charge your electric car using a generator. But, in reality, there are a lot of things that come into play here.
First of all, you can’t charge your car while driving, as we discussed above. You have to stop, then take out the generator and charge the battery. Problem solved, right? Well, not really. Two more things make it difficult.
One is that the generators you can keep on the trunk of your car can’t produce enough power to charge your car. Even if it starts to charge, it will take a long time to even get enough charge for the car to start.
Now, many people will say, “Okay, we will go for a powerful generator.” Sure, you can, but powerful generators are usually larger, and they won’t fit in the trunk of your car.
So, the answer is, in reality, you can’t charge an electric car with a generator.
Is there a self-charging electric car?
Currently, there is no self-charging electric car out there because the concept of a self-charging machine defies the laws of physics. And until now, it hasn’t been possible to come up with a solution to that.
Although maybe in the future, you will get to see a self-charging car that uses induction charging. But as of now, it’s still a dream people are working to achieve someday.
Why don’t electric cars have solar panels or dynamos for self-charging?
Let’s talk about the dynamos first. Electric cars don’t need a dynamo because their drive motors do the same job as a dynamo. So, using an additional dynamo is pointless for this cause.
Coming to the solar panel, while the idea seems legit, it doesn’t result well in execution. Because you can’t have a proper surface area on a car for the solar panels to work, you won’t get enough energy through solar panels to even charge the car. And if you are thinking of modeling a car with that surface area, then leave it. Such a model will be inappropriate for regular daily driving.
That’s why none of these methods are used or self-charging an electric car.
Final Words
In short, there are lots of theories and ideas about coming up with a self-charging electric car. The farthest people have come to self-charging is regenerative braking. It is still very promising. Let’s wait for the future to surprise us with some wonders of electric car charging.