Do cars still have alternators?
Alternator (automotive) An alternator is a type of electric generator used in modern automobiles to charge the battery and to power the electrical system when its engine is running. Until the 1960s, automobiles used DC dynamo generators with commutators. As silicon diode rectifiers became widely available and affordable, the alternator ...
Why don't electric cars have alternators?
Why Don’t Electric Cars Have Alternators? With the above in mind, it may seem obvious to note that an electric vehicle doesn’t have a combustion engine. The combustion engine is the driving force which generates the electric current via the alternator, without this in an electric vehicle an alternator is at best not worth it.
Can you jump start a car with a dead alternator?
Yes, you can jump start a car with a bad alternator. Anytime you jump start a car you are charging the battery as well. Also, the battery is rarely completely dead, just too dead to crank the engine, but it probably still has enough power to run the engine once it is started. Click to see full answer.
How long does it take alternator to charge battery?
Usually, the alternator takes about 30 minutes to charge your car’s battery, but this will depend on your car’s system. Usually, new versions of cars have more upgrade systems, which is why in just a few seconds, it charges the battery, and the car is ready to go.
Why do they not use alternators in electric cars?
Electric cars don't have alternators for two good reasons: Alternators don't generate electricity from thin air. In gas cars they get it from mechanical power, which is supplied by running the engine and burning fuel. EVs don't have engines, so an alternator would be lacking its power source.
Can an electric car charge while driving?
The short answer to your question is no, right now electric cars unfortunately can not charge while driving. This is because to charge your electric car, it needs to be manually plugged into a charging port.
Does a Tesla have an alternator?
Electric cars like Tesla don't have alternators. Instead, they have DC to DC converters that power the 12v battery. Thus electric cars don't need to have an alternator. Understanding why electric cars don't have an alternator can be confusing.
Can you charge electric vehicle with alternator?
Answer provided by We're thankful for your work, and yes, an alternator can technically charge an electric car, but it wouldn't do much good. As you know, to produce electricity, your alternator would require constant revs, which isn't something that would make very much sense when considering an electric vehicle.
How long does it take to charge an electric car at a charging station?
Charging an electric car can be done at home or at any public charging stations. Fully charging a car can be done in just 30 minutes, or it may take as long as half a day.
How long will it take to fully charge an electric car?
A typical electric car (60kWh battery) takes just under 8 hours to charge from empty-to-full with a 7kW charging point. Most drivers top up charge rather than waiting for their battery to recharge from empty-to-full. For many electric cars, you can add up to 100 miles of range in ~35 minutes with a 50kW rapid charger.
Is there an electric car that charges itself?
An electric car that charges itself? Lightyear has developed a solar-powered electric car and claims you can drive their car for months without charging. They've just released their first production vehicle Lightyear 0 of which there are only 946 of these being made, setting you back around NZ$420,000.
Do electric cars use oil?
Electric vehicles are powered by a battery and an EV engine with an electric motor. There are no pistons, valves, or other moving parts that require lubrication, and therefore, EVs don't use the traditional engine oil that would help maintain those parts.
Do electric cars have catalytic converters?
Because many people don't know what a catalytic converter is, they might ask themselves if catalytic converters are present in EVs. Well, the answer is no. Fully electric vehicles don't have catalytic converters, and they don't need them.
How long does a Tesla battery last?
300,000-500,000 milesTesla car batteries are said to be designed to last 300,000-500,000 miles (as purported by Tesla CEO Elon Musk), or about 21-35 years, based on the average amount of miles driven by Americans in one year, which is typically around 14,263.
Why don't electric cars have solar panels on the roof?
Simply, an electric car's body is too small to fit enough panels to charge its batteries in a timely way. That may well change as solar tech becomes more developed, but for now, that's the reality.
Do electric cars have transmissions?
“A significant difference between conventional vehicles and EVs is the drivetrain. Simply put, the majority of EVs do not have multi-speed transmissions. Instead, a single-speed transmission regulates the electric motor.”
Can a Tesla charge while driving?
Why can't you charge a Tesla while driving? The main reason you can't charge a Tesla while driving is that the vehicle requires access to an electrical outlet in order to recharge. Also, charging a Tesla takes longer than filling up a gas tank, so it's not practical to do while driving.
How do you charge an electric car on the road?
Nonetheless, you should be able to map out your travel routes and find stations that are conveniently located. Public charging is as simple as plugging in your car and waiting until it has enough capacity to get you to your destination – or the next public charging station.
How do I charge my battery while driving?
Take your car for longer drives to charge the battery. To keep things ticking over, take the car for a decent spin (at least 30 minutes) every so often to give it a chance to charge up the battery fully and balance out the shorter journeys.
Do electric cars charge while braking?
Regenerative braking is a mechanism found on most hybrid and full-electric vehicles. It captures the kinetic energy from braking and converts it into the electrical power that charges the vehicle's high voltage battery. Regenerative braking also slows the car down, which assists the use of traditional brakes.
What is an alternator?
Alternators are neat technology, allowing us to convert mechanical energy into electrical energy. Similar technology is used on a large scale to generate electricity at power plants. Alternators work great for fossil-fuel-burning vehicles, but are complicated, inefficient, and high-maintenance compared to DC to DC Converters used on Electric Vehicles.
How does an alternator work?
In the case of the alternator, the fossil fueled engine (connected by a belt and pulley) provides MECHANICAL* energy to the alternator which converts that energy to ELECTRICAL energy . The electricity isn’t “created”, it’s just some other form of energy which is converted. That means an equal amount is given up from the engine. The engine has to work harder and burns more fuel to be able to provide this additional energy.
Why is an electric car not an engine?
2) There’s a BETTER device to use than an alternator. Remember, the ENERGY that powers the alternator is actually the mechanical energy created by the engine through combustion of fossil fuel. An electric car doesn’t have an engine or gas/diesel fuel.
What is an alternator generator?
ALTERNATORS: An automotive alternator is a type of generator which creates Alternating Current (AC). A belt from the vehicle’s engine spins a pulley which is connected to the rotor of the alternator. On the shaft are either permanent magnets or copper wire coils with a small DC current flowing through them.
Can an electric car be used to make electricity?
An electric car doesn’t have an engine or gas/diesel fuel. Instead, it has an electric motor and rechargeable battery. We COULD use the battery to spin the motor to spin the alternator to generate electricity. BUT at best, we would simply be using electricity to make electricity.
Does an engine burn more fuel?
The engine has to work harder and burns more fuel to be able to provide this additional energy. Another important concept to remember is that the mechanical energy of the engine is not PERFECTLY converted to electricity. Some of it is converted to noise, heat, and vibration.
Do batteries need to be fully charged for regenerative braking?
It should be noted that the battery needs to be at least partly discharged to have a place for the electricity to go for regenerative braking to work. Better to live at the bottom of a mountain than the top of a mountain, as a fully charged battery won’t be able to accept any more charge through regenerative braking.
What is an alternator that is not attached to a gas engine?
An alternator which is not attached to a gas engine won't produce electricity. Pierce Arrow 1931 Nickola Tesla conversion. Tesla electric car was a converted Pierce-Arrow, from 1931 ..In place of the engine, there was an AC motor. This measured a little more than 3 feet long, and a little more than 2 feet in diameter.
Where does energy come from in an electric car?
To get down the road, SOMETHING has to provide the energy to do the work of turning the wheels; if it's an electric car, the batteries provide stored energy from the grid (or your solar panels) to turn those wheels...but the energy has to come from somewhere.
How to increase range of car?
You could use the alternator to increase the range of your car by hooking it up to the battery and motor system. Therefore reducing the load on the batteries. This would increase your range but not get an equal system.
Is an alternator 100% efficient?
Perpetual motion is impossible. An alternator is not 100% efficient -- it produces less power than it takes to run it.
Can alternators be charged at home?
The batteries can be charge at home for the initial boost, but after that an alternator can be connected to the electric motor and every time it runs it should power the alternator that will provide charge as the car drive. There is more than one way to power the alternator, for instance the drive shaft have to rotate when the car runs, that rotating power can be connected to something else. I will try it myself if I had the $$$$ means and proper location (shop)
Can an alternator power a car?
An alternator for sure cannot by itself power a car but through batteries to release that needed extra power. i have a model, perhaps you can picture this: an alternator is connected to a motor which is connected to the wheels. The alternator is further connected to a set of batteries for charging.
Can a gas generator charge an electric car?
Now, if a gas generator provides the energy to charge the batteries of an electric car, then the car runs on gasoline - not an ideal solution, but better than an internal combustion engine (because electric motors are more efficient than ICE-machines), and the range is limited only by the size of the gas tank; )
Why can't an alternator charge an electric car?
An alternator cannot charge an electric car because the power source in such a vehicle is already generated from electricity. As such, it would not make any sense to first convert it one way, only to then revert to electricity. This would result in a net loss in terms of energy, which defeats the purpose.
Why is an alternator used in cars?
Its reason for being in a car is to use the electricity that is generated while it is running to charge the battery. Every vehicle that has a combustible engine will have an alternator. This component is usually located near the engine. You will recognize it because it has a belt running around it.
What causes an alternator to spin?
It all starts with the engine. Again, this is something that an electric vehicle does not have. Most vehicles produced today will have an alternator that becomes activated when the crankshaft from the engine is put into action as you start the car. The belt will start to move. This causes the rotor attached to the alternator to spin rapidly.
Why do we need an alternator?
The reason that an alternator exists is to keep the battery charged in a vehicle. We are talking about a 12-volt battery. As we have discussed, that purpose works well in a traditional vehicle, but not in one that runs on all electricity. In such a car, the 12-volt battery is separately charged via a DC-DC converter.
How does a rotor create electricity?
Some magnets are strategically placed around the rotor. These create a magnetic field as they pass directly over some of the copper wiring that is there in the stator.
What happens when a hybrid car is pressed?
An example of this is what happens at a stoplight. The combustible engine shuts down. When the accelerator is pressed, electricity drives the car for a short distance before the engine turns back on.
Can a hybrid car use an alternator?
Even a plug-in hybrid vehicle can make use of an alternator is certain situations. It contains a larger battery back that will allow the vehicle to travel between 20 and 80 miles purely on electricity before having to switch back to gasoline. This battery pack can be charged two different ways:
