H3
Electric Vehicle
An electric vehicle is driven using a
battery and an electric motor. While
general vehicles use an internal
combustion engine and gasoline as
fuel, electric vehicles use electricalenergy that is charged inside the
high voltage battery. As a result,
electric vehicles are eco-friendly in
that they do not require fuel and do
not emit exhaust gases.
Characteristics of Electric
Vehicles
1.It is driven using the electricalenergy that is charged inside the
high voltage battery. This method
prevents air pollution since fuel,
like gasoline, is not required,
negating the emission of exhaust
gases.
2.A high performance motor is used in the vehicle as well. Compared to
standard, internal combustion
engine vehicles, engine noise and
vibrations are much more minimal
when driving.
3.When decelerating or driving downhill, regenerative braking is
utilized to charge the high voltage
battery. This minimizes energy lossand increases the distance to
empty.
4.When the battery charge is not suf- ficient, normal charge, quick
charge and trickle charge are avail-
able. (Refer to “Charge Types for
Electric Vehicle” for details.) Information
What does regenerative braking do?
It uses an electric motor when deceler-
ating and braking and transforms
kinetic energy to electrical energy in
order to charge the high voltage bat-
tery. (Torque is applied in the opposite
direction when decelerating to gener-
ate braking force and electric energy.)
Battery Information
The vehicle is composed of a high voltage battery that drives the
motor and air-conditioner, and an
auxiliary battery (12 V) that drives
the lamps, wipers, and audio sys-tem.
The auxiliary battery is automati- cally charged when the vehicle is in
the ready ( ) mode or the high
voltage battery is being charged.
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