The world of electromobility covers multiple technical and technological disciplines. With the following list of questions and answers we try to answer most frequently asked questions. It goes without saying that this list grows with the number of questions we, as a consulting company, are asked.

Vehicles and propulsion systems

What is an electrical vehicle (EV)?

An electrical car or EV (Electrical Vehicle) is a road vehicle with propulsion by an electric engine which uses electricity, derived from for example chemical energy stored in batteries or generated by a fuel cell.

Please click http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electric_car for more technical information.

What is a clean vehicle?

A clean vehicle is a vehicle which has minimal impact on the environment. One of the best ways to achieve this is by using electrical propulsion the "cleanliness" of a vehicle can be measured by its Ecoscore.

What is Ecoscore?

Ecoscore is a method which measures the environmental impact of vehicles, taking various environmental aspects into account (pollution, greenhouse effect, health, acid rain, noise,...) and combining these aspects into one figure. Ecoscore was developed by the Vrije Universiteit Brussels in conjunction with VITO. Please click http://www.ecoscore.be/en for more information.

What is a battery electrical vehicle (BEV)?

A battery electrical car or BEV (Battery Electrical Vehicle) is a road vehicle with propulsion by an electrical engine fueled by electricity, derived from for example chemical energy, stored in batteries.

What is an extended range electrical vehicle (EREV)?

The serial hybrid or EREV (Extended Range Electrical Vehicle) is an electrical vehicle equipped with its own electricity plant. In a serial hybrid the combustion engine is not mechanically connected to the wheels, as a result of which its RPM (Revolutions Per Minute) are no longer uniformly related to the speed of the car. The advantage of this is that the engine operates more like a stationary engine, to align more accurately with the RPM which has the lowest emissions and/or consumption This type of vehicle is sometimes called serial hybrid.

For example, see Opel Ampera: http://www.vauxhall-ampera.co.uk/index.php/eng/home

What is a fuell cell vehicle (FCEV)?

A fuel cell vehicle or FCEV (fuel cell electrical vehicle) is an electrical vehicle which is powered by a fuel cell. Instead of taking a battery on board it is necessary to provide space to store the hydrogen in a special tank. This also exposes the disadvantage of this technology, because it is not cheap to produce, transport and store hydrogen in bulk.

What is a hybrid vehicle?

A hybrid vehicle is a vehicle that has more than one energy reservoir and/or more than one propulsion system. In the EV range, one of these propulsion systems will always be electricity-based but, strictly speaking, a car with a tank for autogas, also known as LPG, is also a hybrid car.

What is a mild hybrid?

These vehicles use an integrated starter generator (ISG) which is mechanically connected to the combustion engine. The ISG is in itself an electrical engine. It replaces the flywheel on on the engine, functions as a starting engine when starting the car and as a generator during normal engine operation. The ISG can also assist the combustion engine during heavy duty engine use. By stopping the engine immediately when the car is standing still and only restarting when necessary, the carbon dioxide emissions of this car type can be reduced.

What is a full hybrid?

In a full hybrid the integrated starter generator (ISG) is replaced with a fully electrical engine which allows the vehicle, though for limited distances, to be driven fully electrically. See also parallel hybrid

What is a parallel hybrid vehicle?

In a parallel hybrid vehicle both the electrical engine and the combustible engine are connected to the wheels, however, not always permanently. Through connections there are many possible propulsion combinations, in which either the electrical engine operates, or the combustible engine, or both.

What is a "plug-in" hybrid (PHEV)?

A "plug-in" hybrid vehicle (PHEV) can replenish its energy supply from an external electricity source through plugging in a cable. This instantly gives the hybrid car a larger range in the electrical mode and therefore more flexibility and at the same time gives less carbon dioxide emissions.

What is a serial hybrid vehicle (EREV)?

Please see topic: What is an extended range electrical vehicle (EREV)?

What is regenerative braking?

Electrical engines can also function as a generator. During regenerative braking the engine can extract kynetic energy from the wheels, which slows the vehicle down, and return this energy in the form of electricity back to the battery. This can on average lead to a 10% savings on battery usage.

Note: a recent field test with the Tesla showed that the brake pedal only needs to be used for emergencies and for complete standstill.

Batteries and energy sources

What is a battery?

A battery is an electro-technical component and electrical current source, a combination of multiple electrochemical cells, used for the transformation of stored chemical energy into electrical energy. That can, in its turn, be supplied on demand as electricity (current).

Please click http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battery_(electricity) for more technical information

What is a fuel cell?

Fuel cells are electro-chemical appliances which transform chemical energy derived from a continuous chemical reaction directly into electrical energy. It is thus not necessary to first transform the chemical energy into thermal energy and mechanical energy, as a result of which there are hardly any losses, and the fuel cell is very efficient in generating energy. Unlike a battery, a fuel cell constantly needs external reagents (for example, hydrogen and oxygen).

Please click http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fuel_cell for more technical information

Wat is conductieve lading?

Conductive charge is a different way of saying that charging occurred through a continuously conducting path, existing from cables and connectors.

What is inductive charge?

Inductive charge is a charging system in which the transfer of electrical energy from the grid to the vehicle is performed through electromagnetic means, without physical contact. Think for instance of your electrical tooth brush in the bathroom. At the moment the losses during charging and discharging with this method are approximately 40%. also, the vehicle must be positioned perfectly above the charging station. This is the reason why inductive charging will not found everywhere immediately.

What is the energy density of a battery?

The energy density is the amount of potential energy (in a battery this is chemical energy) per volume unit, stored in a battery. This is indicated in kWh/kg. For the li-ion battery this value is at the moment between 0.10 kWh/kg and 0.19 kWh/kg.

What is battery capacity?

Battery capacity is indicated in kWh. In 2010, the batteries used in hybrid cars have approximately 15 kWh capacity, those in plug-in hybrids 27 kWh and those in a full EV such as the Tesla Roadster up to 56 kWh.

What is the electricity situation in Belgium?

In Belgium, most households are connected to the single phase electricity grid 2P + A with 220 V or a three-phase power grid 3P + A with 400 V (the former power network).Amperage can vary between 10A and 32A on the single phase grid and between 16A and 63 A on the three-phase grid. (Higher amperage is possible but will rarely be found on normal charging infrastructure because of the high current).

What charging capacity does this give?

The charging capacity is calculated by multiplying voltage with amperage. (Note: cosinus phi is not taken into account in this situation)

Single phase: 220V * 16A = 3.5kW

Three-phase: 400V * 32A * 1.73 (square root of 3) = 22kW

What is the average charging time for a battery?

For a li-ion battery, the charging cycle can be split into three parts. The first 80% will typically take one third of the charging period. The next 19% will consume the remaining two thirds of the charging period. That is mainly because this part must be dealt with in a controlled manner, otherwise the temperature in the battery rises too much. This is why for each li-ion battery type a separate specific charger is built into the vehicle. The final % and keeping the battery fully charged is also controlled by this specific charger through drip charging.

Imagine we have a 20kW battery and we charge via single fase 220V with 16A, which makes 3.5 kW, then we'll need at least 4.6 hours to charge the battery to 80% and approximately 10 hours for a full charge. However, if we have more power, let's say 400V with 32A, which makes 22kW, we can charge the battery 80% in less than an hour.

What is the electricity situation in Europe and the rest of the world?

In Europe, there are mainly single phase and three-phase grids. However, the voltages differ. In some countries they use 110V instead of our 220V. America and Japan, on the other hand, use only single phase, albeit up to 70A.

What is the range for a PHEV or an EV?

The range of a vehicle strongly depends on the installed capacity (the battery) and the absorbed power (the engine). Actuall, once the values are known, it can be calculated rather quickly.

An example: the "Citroen C1 EV iE" comes with 25 li-ion batteries with a total capacity of 16 kWh. The consumption of the 30 kW engine is calculated at 145 Wh/km (which is actually pretty high for an EV).

The range is therefore 16 kWh = 16,000 Wh / 145 Wh/km = 110 km.

What is the cost of use for the electrical car?

This is calculated by multiplying consumed power with electricity rate. In our example above, for the the relatively greedy "Citroen C1 EV iE" this will be

Usage: 145 Wh/km * € 0.25/kWh = € 0.03625/km or 16 kWh * € 0.25/Kw = € 4.00 for a full tank of 110 km.

Note: the "Loremo EC" http://www.loremo.com/ which was specifically designed as an EV, is considerably more economical.

The battery with a capacity of only 9.1 kWh and the estimated consumption of the 20kW engine is 60 Wh/km.

This amounts to a cost of 60 Wh/km * € 0.25.kWh = € 0.01500/km or € 1.50 per 100 km.

What is opportunity charging?

During opportunity charging the battery is partly recharged when the opportunity to do so presents itself (i.o.w. if there is a socket available), for example when parking near a supermarket or in a parking area equipped with electricity connections. This allows for an increase in the daily travel distance and is therefore an important obstacle for electrical driving to overcome.

What is semi-rapid charging?

Semi-rapid charging usually demands power in the range of 7 to 10 kWh and facilitates charging speed rates two or three times faster than normally charging. This demands a specific socket (32A single phase or 16^ three-phase), both models can be implemented in our eQuip series.

What is rapid charging?

Rapid charging uses large powered grids (22kW or higher) that enable 80% battery charging in 30 minutes. This is usually done through a DC connection and requires heavy and costly infrastructure and electrical connection.

What is "Type 1" charging?

"Type 1" charging is within international standards defined as the use of standard sockets (single phase, usually Schuko type) which are not exclusively made for electrical vehicles. In some countries, Type 1 charging is not allowed in public charging stations near road sides. The many disadvantages will make this type of charging obsolete in the near future.

What is "Type 3" charging?

"Type 3" charging uses sockets which are designed specifically for electrical vehicles, equipped with additional safety measures such as the "pilot contact" protecting the continuity of the protective conductor and that ensures that only properly connected vehicles can be charged. If no vehicle is connected, the socket is without voltage. The vehicle can also indicate that ventilation is necessary to charge this type of battery.

Note: our charging systems are standard equipped for type 3 charging

Smartgrid en V2G

What is V2G?

Vehicle-to-grid (V2G) describes a system in which electrical vehicles communicate with the electricity grid to receive the desired charging current (price-wise) on the one hand or to be properly prioritised in relation to other vehicles in the smart grid on the other hand. This form of communication also offers the possibility to, under certain conditions, supply electricity back to the smart grid.

What is carbitrage?

This is a fusion of the words 'car' and 'arbitrage'. A term used in the V2G environment. A user can define parameters in which he or she wants to supply electricity back to the grid from the car battery. If all parameters are met, we speak of carbitrage.