A Few Facts About Electric Vehicles
Electric cars have been around for 170 years.The first electric car was developed in Aberdeen in the mid-19th century. Robert Anderson was a 19th-century Scottish inventor, best known for inventing the first crude electric carriage in Scotland around the time of 1832–1839. The carriage was powered by non-rechargeable primary power cells.
The Nissan Leaf was the world's best-selling electric car from 2011 to 2014 and 2016. Sales fell in 2015 with overall sales led by the Tesla Model S. As of December 2019, the Leaf listed as the world's all-time best-selling plug-in electric car.
The Electric vehicle with the current longest range is a Tesla. Tesla has just updated its Model S and Model X to offer a little more range, thanks to changes made to the cars’ drive units. This update, which was rolled out in late April 2020, grants the Model S Long Range the capability to travel up to 379 miles (610 Km) on a single charge.
The first solar car is here. The Sion was developed by the Munich start-up Sono Motors and is the first electric vehicle to use built-in solar cells to charge the battery. Its range is given as 250 kilometers. You can buy the Sono for only 16,000 euros (approx. 25,000 CDN). The price for the battery comes on top. The car can generate up to 30 kilometers of additional range per day with its solar cells. Normal charging is of course also possible.
Batteries can age - even in electric cars. A long-term test with the Nissan Leaf showed that the battery does not last forever. After 80,000 kilometers and 1,450 charges, the battery capacity decreased noticeably. This is due to the so-called "memory effect" of lithium-ion batteries, which every consumer knows from their cell phone battery. Two main factors contribute to the loss of capacity: cyclical aging that occurs with every charging process and the unused battery capacity that loses its capacity over time. This means that the battery must be changed at least every ten years.
Incorrect towing of electric cars can lead to accidents. The movement of the drive axle during towing can generate electricity in the motor. This can lead to malfunctions in the vehicle's electrical system. The car may only be moved with the drive axle raised. If you get stranded with an empty battery, you should call the towing professionals instead of trying it yourself.