A battery electric vehicle (BEV), pure electric vehicle, only-electric vehicle, fully electric vehicle or all-electric vehicle is a type of electric vehicle (EV) that exclusively uses chemical energy stored in rechargeable battery packs, with no secondary source of propulsion. BEVs use electric motors and motor controllers instead of internal combustion engines (ICEs) for propulsion. They derive all power from battery packs and thus have no internal combustion engine, fuel cell, or fuel tank. BEVs include – but are not limited to – motorcycles, bicycles, scooters, skateboards, railcars, watercraft, forklifts, buses, trucks, and cars.
The Nissan Leaf (left) and the Tesla Model S (right) were the world's all-time top-selling all-electric cars in 2018.
Charging Peugeot e208 at a high power charging station
Charging point
EV-E301 battery electric multiple unit on the Karasuyama Line, Japan
An electric vehicle (EV) is a vehicle that uses one or more electric motors for propulsion. The vehicle can be powered by a collector system, with electricity from extravehicular sources, or can be powered autonomously by a battery or by converting fuel to electricity using a generator or fuel cells. EVs include road and rail vehicles, electric boats and underwater vessels, electric aircraft and electric spacecraft.
Thomas Edison and George Meister in a Studebaker electric runabout, 1909
A charging station in Seattle shows an AMC Gremlin, modified to take electric power; it had a range of about 50 miles (80 km) on one charge, 1973
General Motors EV1 electric car (1996–1998), a subject of the film Who Killed the Electric Car?
A passenger train, taking power through a third rail with return through the traction rails