How to charge the battery of electric and hybrid cars?
How to charge an electric and hybrid car
The electric car can be considered a revolution in the automotive industry. The electric car causes the least damage to the environment and reduces the emission of greenhouse gases. These cars consume little energy and cause little noise pollution to their surroundings. With the presence of electric cars on the streets and roads, the issue of charging their batteries was more and more considered. The most important question is where and how should we recharge the car battery if it runs out of charge.
What is a hybrid electric car?
Cars that use two power transmission systems are called hybrid cars. The most common hybrid car is the gasoline electric car. This car works with both gasoline and battery. In these cars, a rechargeable battery is the energy source that drives the electric motor. If the car battery is empty, it must be recharged.
Types of hybrid electric cars
Electric cars are produced in the following three types:
- Hybrid Electric Vehicles (HEVs)
- Plug-in Hybrid (PHEVs)
- Full Electric Vehicles (BEVs)
Hybrid cars and how to charge their batteries
These cars have two engines: gasoline engine and electric engine. The distance covered by these cars is covered by a combination of battery power and fuel, and the driver has no involvement in choosing it. To charge the battery of this type of car, a 120-volt charger that connects to a three-prong socket is necessary. It takes about 20 hours to fully charge the battery. Toyota Prius, Honda Insight and Volkswagen Jetta are examples of these hybrid cars.
Plug-in hybrid cars and how to charge its battery
These types of cars have almost the mechanism of fully electric cars. In the design of plug-in hybrid vehicles, the gasoline engine is considered as a generator to recharge the electric motor. This means that after discharging the car battery, gasoline energy is used. These cars have large batteries and are more suitable for daily traffic. The battery charging of these cars is done with a 240 volt charger, which takes about 8 to 12 hours. The Hyundai Sonata plug-in covers a distance of about 44 kilometers with a single charge of the battery in an all-electric manner. Some Chevrolet models are plug-in hybrids.
All-electric cars and their battery charging
All-electric cars are single-engine and travel 250 kilometers per charge. For this reason, they are mostly used for intra-city traffic. These cars are charged at special stations on the roads. The battery charger of these cars is 480 volts and 80% of the battery volume is charged with 30 minutes of connection. The most well-known all-electric car model is Tesla. But Nissan Leaf is also considered as one of the BEVs.
How to charge electric and hybrid car battery?
Nowadays, hybrid electric cars are available in our country and there is a great demand to buy them. Unfortunately, the battery charging stations for these cars have not been built yet. Hybrid car owners should always carry their car charger with them and preferably charge the car battery before leaving home. Before connecting the car charger, match the voltage of the house with the charger. An important issue related to the battery of an electric car is that the battery of these cars is of the lithium-ion type, and if it is not used for a while, its charge will be empty and it will be discharged. Hybrid car chargers are divided into 3 categories:
- Level one (voltage 120 volts)
- level two (voltage 240 volts)
- level three (voltage 480 volts)
Level 1 car battery charger (120V voltage)
Level 1 charger is the easiest way to charge electric cars. These chargers can easily charge the car battery by connecting to the city electricity. This method is a bit slow and it takes 16 to 20 hours to fully charge the battery.
Charger for two levels of car batteries (voltage 240 volts)
The second level charger requires a voltage equal to 240 volts. Using this charger, the battery charging time is halved. But due to the fact that in Iran, the city electricity voltage is 220 volts, in order to use these chargers, you have to request more electricity from the relevant organizations, which is troublesome. Or you have to buy a special 240V charger. With these chargers, the full charging time of the car battery will be reduced to 8 hours. We remind you that these chargers are not installed on the car and must be purchased and installed by an electrician.
Car battery level 3 charger (voltage 480 volts)
Level 3 charger is common in countries where electric and hybrid cars have more buyers. These are 480 volt chargers and fully charge the car battery in just 30 minutes. Level 3 chargers are installed as charging stations on streets and roads. These chargers are plugged into the car. Before using these chargers, you must be sure that this level of voltage is compatible with your car battery and does not damage it.
Effective factors in car battery charging speed
Several factors are effective in car battery charging. including:
Battery size: the bigger the car battery, the more capacity it has and the longer it takes to charge.
Amount of remaining charge in the battery: The remaining charge in the battery has an effect on the speed of its completion. 80% of the battery capacity is filled faster than the remaining 20%.
Internal car adapter: The charging speed of the car battery is directly related to the internal car adapter. Whatever the capacity of the adapter, the battery is charged the same way.
Length of distance: The amount of distance that is covered on a daily basis depends on the battery charge.
Air temperature: When the weather is cold, battery charging is done at a slower speed. For this reason, some batteries have a heating system to reduce charging time.
Advantages of hybrid cars
Now that we are familiar with hybrid cars and how to charge them, it is better to know more about the advantages and disadvantages of these cars:
- Ability to drive with quality
- Optimal fuel consumption
- More durability of car parts: These cars have very low depreciation and durable parts.
- A suitable choice for intra-city trips
- Having multi-engine energy
- Operation without noise pollution: Hybrid cars work with the lowest possible noise. This is due to the fact that hybrid cars use an electric motor at the start of their movement and the gasoline engine does not work.
- Keeping the car warm: The water in hybrid cars stays warm for up to three days. For this reason, the driver’s time will not be wasted to warm up the car at the start of the movement.
- A very strong battery that fails very late and usually has a long warranty.
- Less depreciation
Disadvantages of hybrid cars
Along with the advantages that hybrid cars have, its disadvantages have not escaped the attention of automotive industry experts. Critics of this new technology consider the following disadvantages to be the biggest drawback of hybrid cars:
- Hybrid cars are more expensive than regular cars
- Not having enough strength to move
- Unsuitable for cold weather
- Poor car handling
- Not knowing when to change the battery
- Lack of car battery charging stations
- Lack of specialized repair shops for hybrid cars
- Tax problems of hybrid cars
- Poor acceleration in movement
- Sellers not having full knowledge about hybrid cars and their features
- Low power compared to sports mode
- The existence of dangers caused by the use of batteries
- Heavy maintenance and repair costs
Should we buy a hybrid car or not?
Today, there are many reasons for car buyers to buy hybrid cars. Lower fuel consumption is one of the main reasons. By putting these cars in fully electric mode, the owner can travel the distance from home to work without consuming fuel with a single battery charge. Another factor encouraging the purchase of these cars is the incentive schemes that governments consider for buyers of hybrid cars. In Iran, the entry of hybrid vehicles into the even and odd limits is unimpeded and there will be no fines. In addition, the customs duties and taxes of these types of cars are also lower than other imported cars.
Variety of hybrid car production
Today, for the reasons mentioned earlier, the importance of producing and using hybrid cars is clear to everyone. For this reason, large and well-known car companies around the world have entered the field of hybrid car production. These automobile companies are trying to market diverse products that are compatible with different tastes.
last word
Nowadays, electric and electric cars are very popular because they cause little damage to the environment. In addition, the acceleration and the lowest level of noise pollution are another reason to pay attention to these cars. But the point that is of interest in these cars is how to charge them. The owners of these cars can charge it at home by just connecting the car battery charger to the city power outlet. Due to the lack of charging stations in Iran, necessary planning should be done before traveling with an electric car. In other countries, using some applications, you can find out the location of battery charging stations. If you charge the car battery at home, we suggest that you postpone this until late at night. In this case, you will incur a lower cost.
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