are the car batteries the same as non-hybrid cars? if it’s lithium batteries, why are there no charging ports like ev vehicles?
In: Engineering
Hybrids will have two batteries. A regular car battery like you’re used to seeing and a battery for running the electric motor and maybe a few other things. The regular car battery usually runs the lights, stereo, and accessories. The lithium battery runs the motor. We still use regular car batteries in most hybrids for safety reasons.
Non plug in hybrids don’t use charging ports because the get all the charge they need from the electric motor.
Fun thing about motors is that if you put power into them, they spin. But even cooler is that they can do the opposite. They can generate power and send it back the other way, into the battery, if you find some way to spin them.
So how do you spin the motor? Just let off the gas. When the car is coasting, it’s wheels are turning that motor and generating power.
If you ever drive a hybrid, you might notice that one difference between it and a gas car is that when you let off the accelerator, they tend to slow down a lot quicker. The reason is that the wheels aren’t just free spinning. They’re turning that electric motor which is taking that kinetic energy of the moving car and charging the battery.
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