An Energy Pioneer Tesla Motors named itself after Nikola Tesla a Serbian inventor who worked in the late 1800s more efficient and most of the electricity we use today is delivered using AC However computers electric cars and other technologies still use DC and early 1900s Tesla developed the alternating current AC system of transmitting electricity He famously feuded with American inventor Thomas Edison who promoted direct current DC technology In an AC system the flow of electricity regularly changes direction In a DC system it goes one way Tesla showed that AC was cheaper and Tesla filed for more than 700 patents and his many inventions include wireless communications remote controls and turbines used in power generators He also had ideas for harnessing solar energy and ocean energy harmful to the environment Processing and burning fossil fuels creates pollution and contributes to climate change Many governments are investing in renewable energy technologies which use resources that will always be available such as sunlight water and wind Renewable fuels such as biofuels are another option These can be grown or harvested from plants or organic waste Nuclear energy can also contribute to powering the future world Scientists are working hard to make it safer and more efficient Electric cars will keep driving no matter which type of energy is used Similar to laptops and cell phones EVs run on batteries that need to be plugged in and recharged The power flowing through the electric outlet could come from a coal burning power plant a nuclear reactor solar panels a wind farm or any other power source Because an EV does not produce any harmful fumes while driving it will not pollute at all if it draws its electricity from clean power
Power Plant Pollution Driving on Batteries In 2014 people in the United States purchased approximately 123 000 EVs That s less than 1 percent of total car sales for the year but it represents a big jump from EV sales in 2012 when only 52 600 of EV batteries are charged using electricity from the grid which usually gets its power from fossil fuels such as coal or natural gas How is that any different from burning the gas in the car itself Power plants are much more efficient than a car's the cars were sold The cars are becoming more mainstream and the auto industry has started paying closer attention to EVs In 2013 the Tesla Model S engine They can harvest more energy from fuel than a car can became the first all electric car to win the car of the They can also capture heat that gets produced while burning the fuel and year award from industry magazine Motor Trend In use it to produce additional power the future I think there will be no gas stations said This heat gets wasted in a car's engine Elon Musk the founder of Tesla CEO Elon Musk He believes everyone will drive Tesla Motors explains that a power electric cars plant generating electricity from natural gas can reach approximately 60 percent efficiency This means However a few important challenges remain 60 percent of the energy the plant before this future can become reality Big battery generates gets used as electricity If you put that same fuel in an internal packs increase the cost of the cars The bigger the combustion engine car you get about battery the farther the car can go on one charge 20 percent efficiency he said but the more expensive it is In addition EV batteries typically take hours to recharge In many locations you cannot easily find a place to plug in a car if the battery dies To overcome this issue Tesla is building stations throughout the country where a driver can quickly charge the battery using a high powered electricit
installed by EVs have seen a dramatic increase in popularity Researchers are working hard to develop batteries that are cheaper more powerful and quicker to recharge but big breakthroughs are rare Instead engineers keep making small improvements to current battery technology Most EVs today use lithium ion batteries This same technology powers devices such as cameras cell phones and laptop computers In the current Tesla Models rows of lithium ion battery cells take up most of the space in the floor of the car between the front and rear
Another way to improve any type of energy technology is to increase efficiency Redesigning the shape and size of a wind turbine or solar panel can Hybrids increase the amount of energy it produces Likewise redesigning an electric car can decrease the amount of energy it needs to run A light sleek car is more energy efficient than a heavy one A lower weight means it takes less battery power to propel the car forward A sleek design reduces drag from the surrounding air Tesla designed the Roadster and Model S with Hybrid EVs run on either electricity or gas This offers a solution to drivers who do not want to have to stop often to charge the battery or who worry about getting stranded in a place with no charging station nearby A typical hybrid contains an internal combustion engine along with a battery pack and electric motor Most hybrids do not need to be plugged in the combustion engine recharges the battery and the electric motor helps capture energy generated by braking Hybrids conserve fuel by automatically shutting off the gas engine when the car comes to a stop Computers in these cars determine the best times to switch between the gasoline and electric modes these facts in mind Most cars are built with a heavy steel body but the Roadster is made of carbon fiber This material is expensive but it is much lighter than steel and has comparable strength The Model S is mostly aluminum another light but strong metal Musk also runs the rocket company SpaceX and he has used some of his space technology in his cars We applied a lot of rocket design techniques to make the car light despite having a very large battery pack New Ways to Power Up Whereas some researchers are trying to build cheap powerful batteries that last a long time others are looking into different methods of powering an electric engine Supercapacitors also known as 9
