Electric Auto

What is an Electric Auto (EA) ?

Very simple : an Electric Auto is an automobile with electric propulsion.

More exactly : in the 1990s the "US Department of Energy" (DOE) specified and adopted 33 "Minimum Requirements for an Electric Auto".

Also the EAA Europe has adopted these minimum requirements for the definition of an "Electric Auto".

Other common names for an "Electric Auto" (EA) are :

"Electric Vehicle" (EV), "Electric Car" (EC), "Zero Emission Vehicle" (ZEV) or "Plug-In Car" (PC).

In the automobile industry "EV" (Electric Vehicle) is the most popular name, like in Toyota "RAV4 EV", for example.

This picture of a "RAV4 EV" was taken by EAA Europe founder Rüdiger Hild at the meeting of the "EAA Silicon Valley" in Palo Alto/California in May 2008.

For more pictures and information about this Californian "Toyota RAV4 EV" please click here.

Electric Autos = "Zero Emission Vehicles"

A "Zero Emission Vehicle" (ZEV) is a vehicle that does not emit exhaust gases while driving, or very simple : a vehicle without tailpipe.

As Electric Vehicles (EVs) don't need tailpipes to emit exhaust gases, EVs are ZEVs.

The Toyota "RAV4 EV" has no tailpipe, as you can (not) see on the picture above, and so the "RAV4 EV" could also be called "RAV4 ZEV".

Of course, also the "ZEBRA-A-Class" by Daimler is an EV without tailpipe, and hence also a ZEV, and Daimler wrote it in big letters on the side of this amazing car.

For more pictures and information about the "ZEBRA-A-Class" by Daimler please click here.

By the way : Bicyles, for example, are also "Zero Emission VEHICLES", and all bicycles (vehicles with 2 wheels) with an electric motor ("E-Bikes", "SEGWAYs", "Electric Motorcycles"...) are also "Electric AUTOS" (auto-mobiles).

So, the EAA Europe wants to promote not only "Electric CARS", but also "Electric BIKES" and bicycles of all kind, the most efficient way of private transportation.

Electric Autos = "Plug-In Cars"

Generally, the batteries of Electric Cars must be recharged by connecting a plug to an electric power source, meaning that you don't need a fuel pump nozzle, but an electric plug for "refueling" an Electric Car, i.e. recharging it's batteries.

That's the reason, why Electric Cars are often also called "Plug-In Cars".

The "ZEBRA-Twingo" of EAA member Olaf Ungerer from Bavaria/Germany, for example, is an Electric Car with an Electric Plug under it's filler cap instead of a fuel filler.

To find out more about Olaf Ungerer's "ZEBRA-Twingo", please click here.

As the RAV4 EV, the ZEBRA-A-Class or the ZEBRA-Twingo are Electric Autos (EAs) powered by Batteries, these EAs are also called "BEAs" (Battery Electric Autos), in contrast to "FCEAs", EAs powered by Fuel Cells.

For more info about "EAs", "EVs", "BEAs", "ZEVs", ... , please visit the "EV Glossary" on the website of the EAA umbrella organization in California :