EV Reference Information

Update in progress. To make sense of all the often seemingly conflicting information on "regen", one-pedal-driving, and how to best drive an EV, it can really help to understand that in most EVs the regenerative braking is fully integrated into the braking system and the two different regen system in use in EVs can suit two very different driving styles: 1. Lift-off regen: In all EVs and like engine braking in an ICEV. 2. Brake-by-wire regen, an additional regen system in most EVs. Confusion over these two systems is part of regen confusion, but there are many myths and so much misinformation about regen-braking, lift-off regen and one-pedal-driving including that "one-pedal-driving" is not the most efficient way of driving, and that the regen you feel from lift-off is not all the regen. Despite the fact there is so many myths leading to so much misinformation making it sound complex, driving an EV for optimum efficiency is usually extremely simple.

When you look deeper, battery capacity of an EV matters far more than you might think, as it effects not just range, but also battery life and vehicle power. If a battery is quite small, as is usually the case with a hybrid (HEV), and even most plug-in hybrids (PHEVs), there will be limited total distance that can be driven "emissions free" before battery degradation, which is why use of fossil fuels is a necessity for most hybrids.

Batteries for EVs have progressed: From: very expensive even while delivering an impractical range.To: Less expensive with an acceptable range. Only now in 2022, are batteries showing signs they can soon enable EVs price competitive and range competitive. With the new world of EVs, comes a whole new world of understanding cars, with batteries at the centre. This page provides background, the rethink batteries bring, the different battery technologies, though to how to car for batteries, and who makes what.

Eventually, EVs will take over, but for most people even price parity EVs are still not 'there yet', and that take over could take 30 years. This webpaper compares vehicle types from "standard" gasoline/petrol and diesel vehicles, with hybrids, plug in hybrids and battery electric vehicles (EVs). There is a separate exploration of hydrogen vs battery electric cars, so this page is pros and cons of hybrids vs "standard" vehicles, or pure battery electric vehicles (EVs).

This page covers a lot. Charging equipment and what to install and how to charge at home, and charging on road trips, through to the technical side, and a look at wireless and the future of charging. Plus, how recharging requires a complete rethink from refuelling, and how charging can be more convenient and match the speed of refueling. Public recharging infrastructure for EVs is growing but recharging at home will be most important for most people. Fully benefiting from having an EV, requires understanding, being prepared for recharging.

There is a full exploration of recharging electric vehicles on another page, but there is an a "refuelling" alternative to recharging: battery swapping. With electrical appliances in the past, when the batteries went flat, we swapped them. Then rechargeable batteries became popular so we could avoid throwing out the old batteries, but I swap first and then recharge. It turns out, we can also do that with cars, and it is happening already. Battery swapping, take only around 5 minutes, but so does recharging the latest batteries. Battery swapping will likely play a key role in the future, but not necessarily the role many expect.

This is a look at range, covering from how no one number accurately describes an EV's range and driving the full range of EV outside of emergencies just wastes time, through why range is so unlike that of fossil fuelled vehicles and optimising range is all about efficiency, through to what range a person needs around the town or for highway driving. Range with EVs is such a different experience that novices can feel anxiety, despite that in practice running out of charge in EVs happens no more than ICE vehicles run out of gas. While EV range is getting closer to ICEV range, most EVs, unlike the Lightyear One pictured here, aren't solar and most EVs still don't match the range of internal combustion engine cars for highway driving, but the convenience of background charging means range with EVs is usually only a limitation on relatively rare road trips.

The key specification for EVs so far has been 'range'. But how are the numbers measured, will range specific match reality, and can the number even be compared? It turns out there are even 3 different standards for measuring range, and they give very different answers! Further, why have we moved from 'economy' to 'range'? Is there still even economy with EVs?

I have been exploring electric vehicles. What is needed to make them affordable, and what it is like to live with them. When exploring charging, the charging systems became so complex that I have extracted what I found as its own exploration, which I plan to keep updated as a reference. It currently does need an update for wireless charging, but some information can be found on my exploration of the logistics of charging.