04/15/2023
Today: Traction Battery
The batteries that store energy to power the electric motors in an electric vehicle (EV) or Hybrid Vehicle (HV) typically use 300 volts or more. That's "kill-a-fella" levels of Direct Current Voltage (VDC). The common term of art for these things is the "traction battery", to distinguish it from the "low voltage battery" operating at 12V. The low voltage 12V battery is involved in the old-school parts of the car's functionality. Like starting the engine and powering the lights.
In the early days of internal combustion engines, the most common type was a STATIONARY ENGINE, which sat still, or was moved around on a sledge, to power tools, often by way of a belt of some sort. They often only had one cylinder drawing in air and compressing it, and they might not fire every revolution, but only when the big flywheel slowed down, creating the term "hit-or-miss" for these one-lungers. If you put an engine on a frame with wheels and turned the wheels with the engine, it became a Traction Engine - shortened to Tractor.
I think it's hilarious that the battery to drive the wheels on a new-fangled EV recalls those early devices so directly.
For a fun read on traction batteries, there's this: https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a15345397/battery-taxonomy-the-differences-between-hybrid-and-ev-batteries/
and the source of the diagram below: https://www.evfiresafe.com/what-is-ev-firesafe
Peace. -W
