This is the first article in a series of six that I am calling ‘Electric Vehicles – Back to Basics’. The posts are aimed at anyone who has anything to do with EVs. Front of house for example, will be expected to answer customer’s queries, valeters, recovery or delivery drivers and others who need to know the basics. I will start with examples of the different EVs and then look at safety, driving, charging, more detailed customers’ questions.
Hybrid electric vehicles
Hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) are powered by an internal combustion engine (ICE) in combination with one or more electric motors that use energy stored in batteries. HEVs combine the benefits of good fuel economy and low tailpipe emissions with the power and range of conventional vehicles. The standard type of HEV cannot be plugged in and charged from an external source. Their batteries are charged as the vehicle brakes in a process known as recuperation or regenerative braking. This makes them more efficient as the energy recovered is normally lost as heat.
Examples include the Toyota Prius, Audi A3 Sportback and BMW 3 Series
Figure 1 Toyota Prius (Source: Toyota Media)
Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles
Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) have a battery, electric drive motor and an internal combustion engine. They can be driven using the ICE, the electric drive motor, or a combination of the two. They can be recharged from an external power source. Typical PHEVs have a pure-electric range of 20 to 50 miles. Once the battery is discharged, journeys continue in hybrid mode, meaning that there is no range limit. Range-extended electric vehicles (E-REVs) are a type of PHEV but they have an internal combustion engine and generator on board to recharge the battery when it is discharged. An example was the early BMW i3 but these are not now available as new.
PHEV examples include the Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV, BMW 330e and Volkswagen Golf GTE.
Figure 2 Volkswagen Golf GTE
Pure electric vehicles
Pure electric vehicles (PEVs) have a battery instead of a fuel tank, and an electric motor instead of an internal combustion engine (ICE). They can also be described as battery electric vehicles (BEVs) or just electric vehicles (EVs). EVs are powered only by electricity and are plugged in to be re-charged. They do not produce any tailpipe emissions. Most now have a real-world range of 100-300 miles on a single charge.
Examples include the Nissan Leaf, Volkswagen ID3/4/7, Jaguar iPace, Audi e-tron and Tesla Model 3.
Figure 3 Volkswagen ID7 (Source: Volkswagen Media)
How to recognise an EV
Externally, the easiest way to recognise an EV (or HEV or PHEV!) is knowing the make or model of the vehicle, or if not, then by the badging. Many include an ‘E’ in the name, e-tron, GTE or BMW 330e for example. The other outside feature will be the charging port. This may be under what looks like a fuel filler flap or in some cases behind the manufacturers’ badge.
Inside the car, the dashboard is a little different from an ICE vehicle and, for example, will usually show the word ‘Ready’ when switched on – this is the equivalent of having the engine running. There is also likely to be a battery meter showing the state of charge.
Under the bonnet, the most obvious feature will be bright orange cables. These are the ones that carry the very high voltage. They are perfectly safe to touch, if they are not damaged, but always best left to the experts.
Many pure EVs have a green stripe on the number plates. If all else fails, when identifying a vehicle, we could look in the driver’s handbook!
