Electric vehicles

An electric vehicle (EV) has a different engine to a petrol or diesel fuelled vehicle – it has an electrical motor that is poweredfuelled by a battery which is charged by connectingplugging it into an external source of electricity.electric power point (a bit like charging your cellphone battery).

There are two main types of electric vehicle:

• Battery electric vehicles (BEVs) - these are a purely electric vehicle, poweredfuelled only by the battery which is charged by connectingplugging into an external source of electricity.electric power point.
• Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs)– these have two engines – one poweredfuelled by a battery which is charged by connectingplugging into an external source of electricity,electric power point, the other engine is fuelled from a fuel tank and generally uses petrol or diesel.

Conventional forms of petrol hybrids aren’t considered electric vehicles as they aren’t charged by ‘plugging in’. Their batteries are only charged by re-capturing energy when braking or from electricity generated by the engine.

Find out more about EVs, including information about safety and regulations.

Planning for electric vehicles.

Electric vehicle update–- read the latest news