# Electric Vehicle 3D Explorer

How an electric car's paint, slippery body, floor battery, charging and motor drive work together, viewed from any side in different settings\.

By Christoph Walz

Topic: Engineering

[Open the interactive Jig](https://ask.jig.com/j/dWwcSNUIoVa0)

## Transcript

### 1. Meet the new electric car

Here it is, waiting under the studio lights\. Drag anywhere on the picture to walk around it and look from any side\. Then follow the steps to change its colour, take it somewhere new and peek at the clever parts inside\.

This is an original design study, not a real model you can buy\.

### 2. Choose a colour

Car paint is built in layers: a coloured base coat sits under a hard, clear top coat\. That clear coat is what makes the body shine almost like glass\. Try each colour and watch the reflections slide over the curves\.

Metallic paints hide tiny flakes in the base coat that sparkle as you move around\.

### 3. Take it somewhere new

Pick a place and the car comes with you: a calm studio, a rainy city at night, a mountain road or a coast at sunset\. Each sky paints different reflections on the body and on the ground\.

### 4. A shape that slips through air

From the side, the body is low and smooth, with a closed front and handles that sit flush with the doors\. Air has to be pushed aside as a car moves, so a slippery shape uses less energy and helps the car go farther on each charge\.

Look at the back: there is no exhaust pipe, because an electric car burns no fuel\.

### 5. The battery in the floor

Let the body fade away\. The big battery lies flat under the floor, between the wheels, and it is made of many small cells grouped into modules\. Keeping all that weight low helps the car feel steady in corners\.

In moderate climates, an electric car battery is expected to last about 12 to 15 years\.

### 6. Charging up

Plug in at the charging post and electricity flows through the cable into the battery\. A fast charger can fill it from low to about 80 percent in roughly half an hour\. At home, a full charge takes a few hours, often overnight\.

Charging slows down near the top to protect the battery\.

### 7. Power to the wheels

Press Drive and follow the glow\. Energy leaves the battery through thick orange cables built for strong electric power\. A controller, the car's power manager, shapes it, and the electric motor turns the wheels\. Over three quarters of the energy from the grid ends up moving the car\.

A petrol car turns only about 12 to 30 percent of its fuel's energy into motion\.

### 8. Your car, your way

The body is back\. Mix any colour with any place, and turn the car to find your favourite view\. Every electric car shares the same simple idea: a battery, a motor and a plug\.