Electric Cars - What, Why and How?

How do electric cars like the MG ZS EV run and how will they help save the environment?

The recent dip in air quality in Delhi/NCR has left many people and organisations searching for solutions to deal with pollution, and the best way to tackle this problem is to curb greenhouse gases. Vehicular exhaust gases contribute to air pollution and one way of doing away with this is to replace internal combustion engine cars with electric ones.

Carmaker like MG Motor feel that going forward, electric mobility is the solution to this problem. But how do electric cars work and how are they better than your regular internal combustion cars? Well, let us take the upcoming ZS EV from MG as an example.

Instead of the regular internal combustion engine, the ZS EV features an electric motor. And instead of a fuel tank, there is a lithium-ion battery pack. Your good old petrol pumps, in this case, are replaced by charging stations. There is also a controller, or a computer, which regulates the supply of current from the battery pack to the motor. The other major difference between an electric powertrain and an internal combustion engine is the refinement levels. As there is no explosion happening inside an electric motor, like in an internal combustion engine, the NVH levels are a lot less in the former.

This controller or computer is linked with the throttle. So if you press down fully on the throttle, the controller will supply the maximum possible amount of current to the electric motor, which in turn will turn the wheels at the maximum speed possible. Most electric cars also come with driving modes, such as Eco, Normal and Sporty. These modes alter the characteristics of the electric motor and the performance they deliver. Once the battery pack runs out of charge, it needs to be hooked up to an external power source, and once fully charged, it can provide a range of approximately 400km in case of the ZS EV.

The ZS EV is India’s First Pure Electric Internet SUV that’ll come with iSMART connected technology like we’ve seen in the MG Hector. MG will be revealing the ZS EV for the Indian market in the first week of December and launching it early next year.

Carmakers like MG Motor are taking a step towards bringing electric cars to India and the government of India has also taken the right steps to further this initiative. While under their FAME II scheme, the government is funding the installation of EV infrastructure across the country, they have also recently reduced the taxation on electric vehicles, making them more accessible to the general public.

While there are a handful of EVs in the market currently, the growing EV infrastructure will allow companies like MG to bring in more of their electric vehicles to the Indian market, which in turn will help curb air pollution and make the planet green again.