Cars

Electric Utility Vehicles

Electric utility vehicles (EUV) are electric vehicles that utilize chemical energy stored in rechargeable battery packs. Electric vehicles use electric motors instead of, or in addition to, internal combustion engines (ICEs). Vehicles using both, electric motors and ICEs, are called hybrid vehicles, and are usually not considered pure Electric utility vehicles. Hybrid vehicles with batteries that can be re-charged and used without their internal combustion engines are called plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, and are pure Electric utility vehicles while they are not burning fuel. Electric utility vehicles are usually automobiles, motorized bicycles, light trucks, electric scooters, forklifts, golf carts and similar vehicles. These vehicles are usually small because batteries are less appropriate for larger long-range applications.

Electric utility vehicles are among the earliest automobiles, because electric vehicles predate gasoline and diesel. Between 1832 and 1839 (the exact year is uncertain), Scottish businessman Robert Anderson invented the first crude electric carriage. Professor Sibrandus Stratingh of Groningen, Netherlands, designed the small-scale electric car, built by his assistant Christopher Becker in 1835. The improvement of the storage battery, by Frenchmen Gaston Plante in 1865 and by Camille Faure in 1881, paved the way for electric vehicles to flourish. France and Great Britain were the first nations to support the widespread development of electric vehicles.

Electric utility vehicles typically cost anywhere between two to four cents per mile to operate, while gasoline-powered ICE vehicles currently cost about five to six times as much. The total cost of ownership for modern electric utility vehicles depends primarily on the cost of the batteries, the type and capacity of which determine several factors such as travel range, top speed, battery lifetime and recharging time.

Relatively few of today's electric utility vehicles are capable of acceleration performance which exceeds that of equivalent-class conventional gasoline powered vehicles. An early solution was American Motors experimental Amitron piggyback system of batteries with one type designed for sustained speeds while a different set boosted acceleration when needed. The Venturi Fetish, however, delivers supercar acceleration despite a relatively modest 300 horsepower, a 0-100 kph time of just 4.5 seconds and a top speed of around 100 miles per hour. Some DC motor-equipped drag racer electric vehicles have simple two-speed transmissions to improve top speed. Larger vehicles, such as ectric trains and land speed record vehicles, overcome this speed barrier by dramatically increasing the wattage of their power system.

A gearless or single gear design in some electric utility vehicles eliminates the need for gear shifting, giving such vehicles both smoother acceleration and smoother braking. Because the torque of an electric motor is a function of current, not rotational speed, electric utility vehicles have a high torque over a larger range of speeds during acceleration, as compared to an internal combustion engine.

Article Published: Saturday 14th April 2007