Research Paper on:
Pros and Cons of an Electric Car

Unformatted Sample Text from the Research Paper:
all advantages that electric vehicles have over fossil fuel vehicles. The attraction has been so great that in San Diego there have been grants of up to $11,000 offer to  those who will change from gasoline to electric vehicles (San Diego Business Journal, 2002), and the California Air Resources Board have even brought in a regulation that at least 2%  of cars sold by the major car producers in the state will need to be electric (Crain, 2002). With this trend from authorities and a growing public concern over  environmental factors an understanding of how electric cars operate will give a greater insight to their advantages and disadvantages. The heart of an electric car is made up of three  main components; the electric motor, the motor controller and the batteries. The motor may be an AC or a DC motor, the C motors will usually run at anything between  96 volts and 192 volts (Wakefield, 1998). If the motor used is an AC motor this will usually be a three phase motor that operates with an alternating current at  240 volts (Westbrook, 2001). The DC option is both simpler and cheaper, with the motor used typically be in the range of 20,000 - 30,000 watts (Westbrook, 2001). This  will need a controller in the range between 40,000 - 60,000 watts. For example, between 400 - 600 amps will be delivered by a 96 volt controller (Westbrook, 2001). One  advantage of a DC motor option is the overdrive facility, this can be at a ratio of up to 10:1 but only for short periods of time. This means that  100,000 watts pf energy may be put through a 20,000 watt motor and produce a quadrupled rated horse power (Westbrook, 2001). The problem is the build up of heat in