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Electric Car Design:How different is it to Combustion-Engine Vehicle Design?What makes the Electric Car Design different to standard vehicle design? Maybe you're not into design - you just want your cars to work! However, while researching the right electric vehicle for myself and my family, I started to realise how important it is to understand the overall design - as much as the individual components - of an electric car. Electric car design has a HUGE impact in an all-electric vehicle as things like air resistance and weight are very important to get the range you want. There are also things to consider in electric car design like where to put the mountain of batteries while actually making the car look desireable! Here are a number of questions that occupy the minds of Electric Car designers - questions that are especially important if the E-Car is to be manufactured in quantity and reach mass appeal. I have placed links to other articles that look at design features o typical components of the Electric Car - the battery system, the Electric Motors and so on - so jump down there if that is what you are interested in. But the following questions in this article look at the larger design considerations around Electric Cars: How do we keep the weight down - Given the Problem of Heavy Batteries? 
There are lots of ways to keep the weight
down in a car and luckily car companies already address this problem with the ICE (internal combustion engine) cars.
Especially manufacturers like Lotus in England.
They specialise in lightweight sport cars and have shared a lot of that knowledge with electric car companies like Tesla
(with the Tesla Electric Car)
and ZAP.
With an electric car the weight of the body has to be very light to compensate for the amount of batteries it requires - which add tremendously to the weight. The more weight you have the more power you need to go a certain distance. Imagine you’re hiking up a hill and someone asked you to hold a heavy rock. It might not be too heavy for now but over time it's going to add up, tire you out and stop you from getting as far as you want. So, basically the lighter an Electric Car is - the closer it will come to performing just like a standard car! What safety features need to be different in an electric car? 
Different safety features don't really impact the look or shape of the electric car - but it's what powers the car that concerns people the most.
Think electricity - and we often become with electric shock - especially while sitting in a larger metal cage!
However, no matter what powers your car - diesel, electricity or even hydrogen - when that much power is needed there are always going to be
related safety concerns - real or imagined.
Electric cars require many circuit breakers to shut off the flow of electricity when they detect a collision or a short circuit - or when water gets into the system. In the event of a crash the high voltage wires are usually coloured bright orange so fire fighters know where they are - and these fire fighters are slowly being trained in this technology around the world. Nobody should be any more frightened of getting into an all-electric car than an ICE car (remember - an ICE engine features a series of controlled explosions using a highly flammable liquid) or be scared of driving in the rain as they are safe, they're just different, and that's the thing that scares people most. What's the optimum size for an electric car?
The size of the car will, like any car, usually depend on what it's being used for.
Most electric cars you see on the roads to date are usually quite small.
That's mainly because most electric cars you see still only have a small range and lowish top speed are mostly for city driving,
and who wants a big car in the city anyway?
Have a Look at my Other "How Electric Vehicles Work" ArticlesElectric Car Motors Find out about what's replacing the engine in the cars of the future! Electric Cars Available Now Find out which Electric Cars are actually available now - or in the near future. Electric Car Conversion In the past, this was the way most people created an Electric Car. Electric Car Batteries Battery technology is at the centre of the race for the perfect (mass-produced) Electric Car. Frequently-asked Questions Some of the questions - and answers - many of us have when considering an electric car for the first time Back from Electric car design to Electric Cars Back from Electric car design to All Electric Vehicles Homepage. |
New!Leave a CommentI have been writing my opinions here on the site since 2008 trying to find the perfect electric vehicle. However I would always like to read your thoughts on all-electric vehicles and comments about the site so........ You can also leave comments about any page at the bottom of each page. |
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Electric car batteries are usually always kept as low as possible to the ground.
This is to keep the excessive weight as low as possible for driving stability.
Most Electric Car designs spread them out at the base of the car and cover the largest surface possible.
I think there is a simple answer to this - electric cars are going to have to look like an ICE car to get mainstream acceptance.
However, I think that over time electric car design will change and people will start adapting the look of the electric car as they
realise how much more flexibility they have, and flexibility should be a designers dream shouldn't it? This is really becoming evident in the concept electric cars such as the 
Right, that's all I have to say on electric car design at the moment. Personnaly, I just want to see designers come up with affordable, good looking
electric cars - with a choice of designs and features.
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