All you need to know about electric vehicles

Electric cars are the future as the world looks towards new green energy solutions to our current climate crisis. South Africa’s electric car market it still quite pricey but as adoption increases and technology improves, this is likely to change.

So to prep you for a future where an electric car will likely be the better option, here is everything you need to know about what they run off of their battery.

All about Lithium

Electric vehicles run off of an electric motor that is powered by a lithium-ion battery. This rechargeable battery pack contains a positive electrode with lithium and cobalt and a negative electrode with graphite. Atoms move bet ween these electrodes to create the current used to drive the motor.

Getting charged up 

Much like you fill up your current car with petrol or diesel, electric cars need to get juiced to get going. Even better, you charge your car just like you charge your cellphone, open the port and plug it in.

Across South Africa, electric charging stations have been set up so you can charge while you’re out doing other things during the day. In shopping centres, dedicated parking spots with charging ports are being installed, mostly through a partnership with Jaguar. 

A typical charging time for a 60kWh battery electric car is 8 hours, but this is from almost empty. The expectation is that as a standard most people will give their car small charges while out shopping or at stops along a road trip. Otherwise, longer charges overnight at home will keep you going.

At home you can charge your car with a standard wall socket. In many cases this would mean needing a garage with a plug point at the moment.

No Noise 

A great, but initially unnerving, thing about electric cars are that they make absolutely no noise. While first0time drivers may be frightened of the roar of an engine, this quickly becomes expected background noise. However, this is simply gone with an electric car.

Electric cars currently available in South Africa

South Africa doesn’t have a big range of electric cars on offer, but they are slowly growing. They also still come with a pretty hefty price tag.

So far BMW has brought out it’s iX3, Nissan released the Leaf last year, Jaquar has the I-Pace, Audi has the E-Tron and Mercedes the EQC.

Picture:@JaguarABQ/Twitter