What are electric vehicles?
Electric vehicles (EVs) refers to cars or other vehicles with motors that are powered by electricity rather than liquid fuels.
There are currently four main types of EVs:
- Battery electric vehicles (BEVs): fully electric, meaning they are solely powered by electricity and do not have a petrol, diesel or LPG engine, fuel tank or exhaust pipe. BEVs are also known as ‘plug-in’ EVs as they use an external electrical charging outlet to charge the battery.
- Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs): powered by a combination of liquid fuel and electricity. They can be charged with electricity using a plug and contain an internal combustion engine that uses liquid fuel.
- Fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs): use a fuel cell instead of a battery, or in combination with a battery or supercapacitor, to power their electric motors. FCEVs are typically fuelled by hydrogen and usually provide a greater range than BEVs.
- Non-plug-in hybrid EVs (HEVs): instead of using an external plug to charge the vehicle, the electricity generated by the HEV’s braking system is used to recharge the battery. This is called ‘regenerative braking’ and is also used in BEVs, PHEVs and FCEVs.