Foreword / Electric vehicle system overview
ELECTRIC VEHICLE
Electric vehicle
An electric vehicle is driven using a
battery and an electric motor. Whilst
general vehicles use an internal
combustion engine and petrol as fuel,
electric vehicles use electrical energy
that is charged inside the high voltage
battery. As a result, electric vehicles are
eco-friendly in that they do not require
fuel and do not emit exhaust gases.
Information
What does regenerative braking do?
It uses an electric motor when decelerating
and braking and transforms kinetic
energy to electrical energy in order to
charge the high voltage battery. (Torque
is applied in the opposite direction when
decelerating to generate braking force and
electric energy.)
Battery Information
Characteristics of electric
vehicles
1. It is driven using the electrical energy
that is charged inside the high voltage
battery. This method prevents air
pollution since fuel, like petrol, is not
required, negating the emission of
exhaust gases.
2. A high performance motor is used
in the vehicle as well. Compared to
standard, internal combustion engine
vehicles, engine noise and vibrations
are much more minimal when driving.
śꢀ The vehicle is composed of a high
voltage battery that drives the motor
and air-conditioner, and an auxiliary
battery (12 V) that drives the lamps,
wipers, and audio system.
śꢀ The auxiliary battery is automatically
charged when the vehicle is in the
ready (
) mode or the high
voltage battery is being charged.
3. When decelerating or driving
downhill, regenerative braking is
utilized to charge the high voltage
battery. This minimises energy loss
and increases the distance to empty.
4. When the battery charge is not
sufficient, AC charge, DC charge and
trickle charge are available. (Refer to
“Charge Types for Electric Vehicle” for
details.)
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