EV Batteries
What you need to know about EV Batteries
How do EV batteries work?
Actually, electric vehicles use a pack consisting of thousands of Lithium-ion cells. Basically, they get charged when you plug them into an EV charger, and they discharge when you drive. Alas, slowly but surely, the capacity of the batteries to hold a charge diminishes every time you charge them. And as a result, so does the vehicle range. It is estimated, that the batteries will need to be replaced anywhere between 10 to 20 years. On average, manufacturers guarantee up to 8 years or 100,000 miles before replacement of the EV batteries is needed.
EV batteries life & safety
To make EV batteries safer, electric vehicles make use of a cooling system, and to lengthen the life of the batteries, most or all EV manufacturers limit how much of the charge stored is made available for usage. Most electric vehicles won’t have significant battery decline under normal use. To keep your battery in shape make sure the charge is always more than 5%. EV battery recycling is still a developing technology that will need to be perfected in the coming years.
Regenerative braking
Regenerative braking is mostly found in fully electric or hybrid vehicles, and actually helps to charge the battery while the car is in use. When you press the brake pedal the electric motor reverses. This causes the motor to run backwards, thus slowing down the wheels. When running backwards, the motor will work as an electric generator, producing electricity from the kinetic energy that would otherwise be wasted, but instead it is fed into the battery. A braking controller controls the entire process and decides whether to use or store the re-gained electricity.
Abbreviations related to EV batteries you need to know
- V2B - Vehicle to Building: Lowers the energy consumption of a building by using the untapped energy of a number of idle electric vehicles.
- V2G - Vehicle to Grid: Pushes the energy stored in an electric car's battery into the power grid.
- V2H - Vehicle to Home: A bi-directional system that allows the battery of an EV to power a home sized building
- V2X - Vehicle to Everything: Allows the battery of an EV to provide a source of backup power when needed.