'The role of an automotive technician is a dangerous one and in particular workon electric vehicles can be dangerous and can result in fatal accidents. I have written many textbooks about automotive technology that have highlighted safe working practices, but the one I am in the process of completing goes beyond this and should help reduce the number of accidents and fatalities within the electric vehicle industry. My book, Alternative Fuel, Hybrid And Electric Vehicles, will be out early in 2016.

The term electric vehicle (EV) is used to cover several different types of vehicle, such as hybrids and pure-EVs. Did you know that the voltages on some EVs can be several hundred volts, which is almost three times the mains voltage in our houses? The majority of EV batteries are well over 300 volts. If the human body experiences a current of just fifty thousandths of an ampere (50mA, which is not very much) for over two seconds it can be fatal.This can happen because under some circumstances the electrical resistance of a ‘short circuit’ through a human body is quite low, 6000 ohms for example. Remember that current is voltage divided by resistance so 300/6000 means 50 milliamps of current will flow.

Before I scare you away from ever touching high voltage components (which are all labelled and usually coloured orange) I should add that working on EVs is perfectly safe! You just need to be well-trained and know what you are doing. Driving an EV is also perfectly safe. But don’t expect poor performance from an EV either! My EV will do well over 80 miles per hour (on a private track of course!) just using the battery and electric motor.

Alongside the essential safety procedures, this book is packed with indispensable information and technology relating to EVs and will have amazing eLearning resources to support the book. I have also included a short case study on charging my own EV (actually a PHEV – a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle) from solar panels. This may or may not work towards saving the planet but in the meantime it does save me money; I can now do a large proportion of my motoring for about 1p a mile.

To help with boosting confidence, my book also explores the following issues:

Is it safe to plug in the charging lead in the rain?

Why most motors on EVs are AC motors but we call them DC motors?

What should ‘first responders’ do if a lithium-ion battery is burning after an accident?

All requirements for the Institute of the Motor Industry (IMI) EV awards and accreditations are also covered.

Here are three more interesting facts to finish on:

A formula-e (fully electric racing car) will accelerate from 0 to 100 kilometres per hour in under 3 seconds

The Tesla Model S (a fully electric car) has a range of up to 330 miles

In the year 1900, electrically powered cars were the best-selling road vehicles in the USA

Tom Denton titles to be published in 2016

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