What are the different types of EVs?
Modern electric vehicles typically have a 300 to 600km range per charge and fall into three categories:
Battery Electric Vehicles (BEV)
- Have both an electric motor and a battery.
- Can be recharged by plugging into a wall outlet or, ideally, a charging station.
Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEV)
- Have an electric motor and battery that can be recharged by plugging in but also include a gas engine that may be used to recharge the vehicle’s battery or take over for the electric motor.
- Because PHEVs can be recharged by plugging in, most daily driving can be done without ever using a gas engine.
Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle (FCEV)
- Work with an electric motor and battery, but instead of plugging in, the battery is charged by converting hydrogen to electricity onboard.
- Are refuelled at public hydrogen stations and are similar to pumping gas.
Note that traditional hybrids (i.e. non plug-ins) have an electric motor but a very small battery that can only be recharged by the gas engine or regenerative braking systems. So, they aren’t considered to be electric vehicles.
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