Thanks to recent innovations, we are moving away from gas-powered vehicles to electric ones. The most common battery behind electric vehicles is called a lithium-ion battery. Nowadays, most electric vehicles, such as cars and scooters, are powered by a lithium-ion battery. Although the lithium-ion battery powers both electric cars and electric scooters, we should be moving more towards scooters.
The Battery Behind Electric Vehicles
A lithium-ion battery (LIB) uses the light metal to power the battery. It has the most promising battery chemistry. Compared to other types of batters such as the nickel-cadmium battery, LIBs are far superior.
In addition to benefits such as high energy densities, another advantage of lithium-ion batteries is that they are low maintenance. Failing to fully discharge traditional batteries damage them. This can cause the batteries to lose the amount of charge that it can hold. LIBs maintain the amount of charge, meaning that their lifetime is much longer than traditional batteries. Thus, LIBs are an ideal power source for powering electric vehicles.
However, these batteries are not perfect. For one, materials used in LIBs are harder to find. Thus, the batteries are more expensive than traditional batteries.
LIBs in Cars versus Scooters
While most electric cars and scooters use the optimal type of battery, electric scooters are far more efficient. According to research conducted by Ghent University, electric scooters consume less energy per kilometer
. Electric cars use 150 watts to travel one kilometer, while electric scooters only use 45 watts. This means that electric cars are more than 3 times less efficient than electric scooters. In other words, with the same amount of energy, you can travel 3 times as far as using an electric scooter than a car.
These findings make sense. Electric cars are far bulkier than scooters, so their batteries need to power to move 2 tons worth of material. Thus, electric cars need bigger more expensive LIBs. In other words, electric car batteries are less sustainable than electric scooter batteries.
Additional Benefits of Electric Scooters
When compared to electric cars, electric scooters are also more affordable and more environmentally friendly. Amidst the coronavirus, they offer a safer way to travel. All things considered, the Wall Street Journal predicts that scooter companies will sell hundreds of millions of scooters in emerging markets.
