EE Day Reflection

What have I learnt?

Today I learnt how electric cars work and did research on what makes an electric car more efficient. I also learnt that charging a car by its motion with roads that have magnetic fields is not feasible as there is a resistive force that is also induced that goes against the motion of a car.

What am I proud of?

I am proud of my new research and also refining my research question. Because of the fact that motion of the car will not work I have decided to focus my research on solar panels which will be feasible and also effective in a place like Singapore. I am proud that my extended essay is now more confined to a specific area. I am also proud of the experiment idea that I have which involves changing the surface area of the solar panel exposed to the sun and using that panel to recharge some batteries to investigate the inefficiency.

What I’ll be doing next

My next step will be to model my experiment and do some research into how I am going to conduct the experiment. Furthermore I will now do more research into solar panels and how they work to theorise how I can make them more efficient. I will also research companies that have invested money into solar cars and understand the science behind it.

Initial Reflection

In the last meeting with my supervisor we addressed the research needed for this extended essay. My EE title is what are the sustainable ways to charge electric cars. This topic requires a deep understanding of the batteries of electric cars and the factors that influence their efficiency. In the meeting I showed the research I had conducted for example the different types of batteries such as lithium ion and also the different uses. I also did some research on what factor affect how fast a battery charges. I have also watched videos of projects that companies are envision regarding electric cars for example the TED talk with Elon Musk that demonstrates underground networks. In the meeting we also discussed the potential experiments that I could do. This involve charging and discharging the batteries according to the power generated by a solar panel to see if a solar panel can charge a Tesla car.