I remember going to visit my mom at work one day last summer and seeing this little yellow thing that looked like a covered 3-wheel bike parked in a spot where cars are supposed to be parked. I asked my mom about it and of course she knew the person that owned it and she said it was an electric car.

I had heard of them but I had never seen one before. I asked the owner about it and she said she bought an electric car kit and she put it together herself with a little help from her husband. I thought the concept of an electric car kit was the craziest thing I had ever heard of until I was reminded of a purchase I had almost made several years before that.

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The major difference between an electric car engine and a gasoline engine is the lack of internal combustion. While most often, a motor that is powered by gasoline is called an engine and one powered by electricity is called a motor, one powering an electric car is commonly misnamed as an electric car engine, probably out of habit of a car being powered by an engine.

When designing an electric car engine the differences between it and one operated with fossil fuel are numerous. The horsepower rating is usually figured the same way, but gearing may be necessary to overcome the reduction in torque typically associated with gasoline-powered engines. All vehicles use a transmission to transfer power from the motor to the drive wheels, with higher gear ratios supply the power to move from a dead to stop and in the highest gear, typically being a straight drive from the engine to the drive wheels.

With an electric car engine, the gearing is close to that of a gas engine, and the method used to adjust the speed is similar as well. With a gas engine, the more gas and air that is injected into the engine, the faster the speed. With an electric car engine, the more electricity that is allowed to flow, the greater the speed. This would be comparable to an adjustable light in the house that uses a rheostat to control the amount of electricity flowing to the device.

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