Electric Vehicles: The big picture

By Rebecca Spring, Manager of Sustainable Transportation at WWF-Canada.
When we talk about electric vehicles, we’ve noticed that people get confused about what an EV actually is. It’s no wonder! As EVs begin to appear in dealerships across Canada, they each have slightly different technologies that have different implications for how you ‘fill it up’. To help, I’ve put together the below descriptions as a very basic introduction to electric cars.

Photo Credit: Electric Mobility Canada

 
Hybrids : These cars have been around for 10 years. Starting with the Toyota Prius and Honda Insight, there are now many makes and models of hybrid vehicles. These cars run only on gas and cannot be plugged-in. They do have a big battery though that powers the car at low speeds and while sitting in traffic, so they are very fuel-efficient. The battery is recharged by either the gas engine or by regenerative breaks (when you step on the break, the friction recharges the battery).
 
Plug-In Hybrids : These cars have been recently introduced and perhaps the most famous is the Chevrolet Volt. Other PHEVs (Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles) will be coming to Canada later this year. These cars have two power sources – a gas engine and an electric motor. They can be powered either by plugging-in to an electrical socket or by filling up at the gas station. If you have a PHEV, you will probably use the pure electric mode most of the time, but if you want to go on a longer trip, you have the ‘back-up’ gas engine to get you there.
 
Battery Electric Vehicles : Recently introduced, BEVs run on 100% electricity and offer total freedom from gas stations. In Canada you can find the following BEVs at the dealership: the Mitsubishi i-MiEV, the Nissan Leaf, and the Ford Focus EV. While cities and businesses in Canada are starting to set up public charging stations that will allow for quick re-charging of batteries (~10-30 min), for now most BEV owners will charge their vehicle at home and maybe at work.
While both the PHEV and the BEV can be charged through a regular socket, it can take a long time to fully recharge. Most EV owners will install a charger at home that will allow for faster, overnight charging.
If you are interested in knowing more about the EV experience, keep an eye out as we’ll be starting to feature new EV owners in the WWFCanada blog.
If you’re a member of our Living Planet @ Work community and your company wants to find out more about how EVs can help reduce your transportation-related emissions, get in touch with us and consider attending the upcoming EV conference that WWF is collaborating on: “The business of Going EV“.