Electric cars are powered by a battery and an electric motor instead of a traditional internal combustion engine that uses petrol or diesel. These are sometimes referred to as EVs (Electric Vehicles) or BEVs (Battery Electric Vehicles) these are umbrella terms that refer to all vehicles that are powered by electricity.
You won’t need to refuel an electric car, as you simply recharge the battery instead, by plugging into a charger at home or at a public charging station. Find out more about Electric Car Charging.

There are three main types of electric vehicle:

• Fully-Electric – With fully-electric vehicles, the source of power comes solely from a rechargeable battery, and they don’t have petrol or diesel engines.

• Traditional Hybrids – These use a petrol or diesel engine alongside an electric motor and battery. They don’t need to be plugged into an external power source to recharge - the battery recharges itself as you drive, using the energy created from the car’s brakes and engine.

• Plug-In Hybrids – These are similar to traditional hybrids, as they use a petrol or diesel engine alongside an electric battery. However, these regularly need to be plugged into an external power source to top the battery up.

The mechanics of an electric car are quite different to a conventional car.

Petrol and diesel cars powertrains have an internal combustion engine, fuel tank and transmission, their power on the road comes from a multi-speed transmission of some description. Their efficiency is measured in the number of miles covered with a gallon of liquid fuel burned in the engine.

Electric cars have an electric powertrain that is made from an electric motor, battery, control system and transmission. An electric motor is powered from a single-speed transmission and their efficiency is calculated by the number of miles covered in a kilowatt hour (kWh) powered by the battery pack.

Yes, all electric cars are automatic. As most electric cars motors don’t require a multi-speed gearbox unlike petrol or diesel engines.

When it comes to local air quality, electric cars are better because they create no polluting exhaust fumes. It is also expected that electric cars overall environmental impact will be less than petrol or diesel cars.

From 2030, in the UK, all new cars that are sold will have to be electrified, this includes hybrid cars that have petrol or diesel engines as well as fully electric cars.
By 2035 the current government plans are that all new car models will be fully electric.
Used petrol and diesel cars can still continue to be sold and driven for years after 2035.