One electric car, fully understood
The car is back at its wallbox. Charging is set to start after 11 PM and to reach 80% by the morning.
One day, about 260 km, one fast-charging stop.
The questionCan you explain everything this car did today?
The day in eight moments
In the bakery car park: a between two hybrids. Only it takes all its energy from the grid.
Stop 0180% in the app. The calculated it and warmed the battery before departure.
Stop 02Silent start, full pull, no gear change. , motor and one fixed gear; the hums until 20 km/h.
Stop 03120 kW for a moment on the slip road, 54 kWh left in the battery: a rate and an amount.
Stop 04300 metres down, 1% back. The motor worked as a generator.
Stop 05130 km/h in the cold: air drag and heating, so the range falls faster than the kilometres.
Stop 0620 minutes at a fast charger, an exception. Most charging happens at home.
Stop 07Battery health 94% after four years and 61,000 km.
Stop 08
Eight moments, one car. Each one connects the vehicle to something outside it: the grid, the charger, the law.
Where to go from here
The car is one half of eMobility; charging is the other. Start with EV charging fundamentals, which follows one public charging session from tap to invoice. Later paths go deeper into charging hardware, bidirectional charging and the grid. See all learning paths.
Check your understanding
4 questions. Answer all of them to complete this stop. Each answer explains itself.
At 8:25 AM the app shows 80%. Which part of the car calculated that number?
The BMS estimates the state of charge from voltage, current and temperature.
Why did the range fall faster than the distance at 10:05 AM?
Air drag at 130 km/h and heating in the cold raise consumption, so each kilometre costs more range than the estimate assumed.
Which statement about the day's charging is correct?
Worldwide, most charging happens privately; public fast charging covers about 10% and makes long trips work.
The car regained 1% on a 300 m descent. What did that energy come from?
Climbing stores energy as height. On the way down, the motor works as a generator and returns part of it.
- BMS Battery management system: the car's electronics that decide how much power the battery accepts at each moment. EV charging fundamentals, stop 04 Glossary
- Battery electric car A car that takes all of its energy from the grid, with no engine and no fuel tank. Stop 01 Glossary
- Inverter Power electronics that turn the battery's direct current into alternating current for the motor, and back when the car regenerates. Stop 03 Glossary
- AVAS Acoustic vehicle alerting system: the sound EU law requires from electric and hybrid cars up to about 20 km/h and when reversing. Stop 03 Glossary