Under The Hood Of An Electric Car

When you lift the hood (bonnet) of the new Think City Electric Car, manufactured by Think Global of Norway, and look at the motor, you soon realize that there is a significant difference in size between an electric motor powered car and a gasoline engine powered one. The Think City has a 30 kW peak power electric motor that accelerates the car to a top speed of 100 km/h (62 mph). From the photo of the engine bay (in the picture above), it is clear that the space required for the electric motor is a quarter of that taken up by a conventional gasoline (petrol) engine.

The Think City's electric motor is water cooled and the cooling system is part of the same fluid system used to manage the cars central heating system. The electric motor requires water cooling because under continuous high speed use or under high acceleration, the Think City motor generates significant heat that would otherwise damage the motor if cooling wasn't circulated. There is also a 4 kW electric heater on the Think City that integrates with the cooling radiator to provide additional heating capability inside the car during cold weather conditions. The engine bay accessory components are very similar to a gasoline powered car, but one cannot miss the fact that there is very little engine to be seen in an electric car and this is probably something to get used to for the future.