Lightning Under the Floor

Follow the energy through one real electric car, a 2018 Model 3: how it pushes the road, how its motor and inverter make a field that turns, what one icy wheel does to the push, where its weight and its heat go, and how it cruises, brakes, charges and copes with winter. Twelve investigations in a working model of the car, for ages 12 and up.
Library
Course cover

The push

Lesson 1
The Shove From a Standstill image

The Shove From a Standstill

The motor never touches the road, yet the car leaps forward.
Start
Lesson 2
Why the Shove Fades image

Why the Shove Fades

The pedal stays on the floor, but the shove fades.
Start
Lesson 3
One Wheel on Ice image

One Wheel on Ice

Ice under one rear wheel, dry road under the other, and the accelerator on the floor.
Start

Inside the motor

Lesson 4
Spinning Without Touching image

Spinning Without Touching

Copper coils that never move turn a rotor they never touch.
Start
Lesson 5
Take the Magnets Out image

Take the Magnets Out

Magnets buried in slotted iron, and a field that runs well ahead of them.
Start

The battery in the floor

Lesson 6
Balanced on a Fingertip image

Balanced on a Fingertip

Nearly two tonnes of car, balanced at knee height.
Start
Lesson 7
The Lost Volts image

The Lost Volts

Ask the battery for more and its voltage sags.
Start
Lesson 8
Why Carry a Radiator? image

Why Carry a Radiator?

A car that burns no fuel still carries a radiator.
Start

The journey

Lesson 9
Cruising Isn't Free image

Cruising Isn't Free

Steady speed on a flat road, and the battery still drains.
Start
Lesson 10
Braking Into the Battery image

Braking Into the Battery

Slow down gently, and the battery’s charge creeps up instead of down.
Start
Lesson 11
The Last Twenty Percent image

The Last Twenty Percent

A charger that could give 250 kW, and a car that takes less and less.
Start
Lesson 12
The Winter Road Trip image

The Winter Road Trip

The same trip at the same speed, and winter adds a charging stop.
Start

Review and assessment

Lesson 13

Test: Lightning Under the Floor

Review the course ideas by applying them to new situations, with kind feedback after every answer.
Locked till you take the prior lesson