New energy vehicles are mainly divided into the following categories:
● Pure Electric Vehicles: These rely on an onboard rechargeable battery, with an electric motor driving the wheels. Their advantages include relatively low price, low maintenance, and zero pollution during operation, emitting no harmful gases that pollute the atmosphere.
● Range-Extended Electric Vehicles: These are pure electric vehicles with an internal combustion engine added to charge the battery or drive the motor to increase range; the engine does not directly propel the vehicle.
● Hybrid Electric Vehicles: These include conventional hybrid vehicles and plug-in hybrid vehicles. Conventional hybrid vehicles have two drive systems, resulting in low operating costs and high fuel economy. Plug-in hybrid vehicles combine the components of both conventional vehicles and pure electric vehicles, with large battery capacity and charging ports. They combine the advantages of both, offering both pure electric driving and hybrid driving for extended range.
● Fuel Cell Electric Vehicles: Fuel cells convert chemical energy from fuel into electricity, which is used to drive the motor and wheels. Hydrogen is a common fuel, and the core powertrain typically consists of a fuel cell system, hydrogen storage system, and drive motor. These vehicles emit purified water, achieving true zero emissions and zero pollution, but are more expensive.
In addition, there are some other types of new energy vehicles, such as natural gas vehicles that use natural gas as an alternative fuel, biomass vehicles that use biomass fuels such as bioethanol, and new energy vehicles that use high-efficiency energy storage devices such as supercapacitors and flywheels.