Science & Technology Quiz: Electric Vehicles and Battery Technology

The correct answer is B, Battery Electric Vehicle. A BEV carries no engine at all; it runs entirely on a traction battery that is charged from an external electricity supply, and it has no tailpipe emissions. The other three abbreviations in the same family are HEV for a hybrid electric vehicle, which has an engine and a small battery but no plug, PHEV for a plug-in hybrid, and FCEV for a fuel cell electric vehicle running on hydrogen.

Option A is an invented expansion, as is option D; a bi-fuel vehicle is one that can run on two fuels such as petrol and compressed natural gas, which is a different idea altogether and not an electric vehicle. Option C is wrong, though the word Bharat does appear in Indian charging standards such as Bharat AC-001 and Bharat DC-001. Learn the four categories as a set, because questions frequently describe one of them and ask you to name it.

The correct answer is A, John Goodenough, Stanley Whittingham and Akira Yoshino. Whittingham built the first working lithium cell in the 1970s, Goodenough found that a lithium cobalt oxide cathode could give a far higher voltage, and Yoshino replaced the dangerous metallic lithium anode with a carbon material, producing the safe, rechargeable cell that was commercialised in 1991. Goodenough, then aged ninety-seven, became the oldest person to receive a Nobel Prize.

Option B names the laureates of the 2000 Chemistry prize for conductive polymers. Option C names the 2013 Chemistry laureates, honoured for computer models of chemical processes. Option D names the 2020 Chemistry laureates, awarded for the CRISPR method of genome editing. The pairing to remember is the year 2019, the subject Chemistry and the three names, since the question is almost always asked in exactly this form.

The correct answer is A, graphite. The layered structure of graphite can accept lithium ions between its sheets, a process called intercalation, and release them again without breaking down, which is what makes the cell rechargeable over hundreds of cycles. Using carbon instead of metallic lithium for this electrode was Akira Yoshino's contribution and is the reason the cell is safe enough for consumer use.

Option B, lithium cobalt oxide, is a cathode material, not an anode; it belongs on the positive side, along with lithium iron phosphate and nickel manganese cobalt oxides. Option C, zinc, is the anode of a dry cell and of alkaline cells. Option D, lead dioxide, is the positive plate of the lead-acid battery used for starting engines, whose negative plate is spongy lead. Fix the pair in mind: graphite anode and lithium metal oxide cathode, with a lithium salt in an organic solvent as the electrolyte.

The correct answer is B, lithium iron phosphate. LFP cells are prized for safety, long cycle life and the absence of cobalt, which makes them cheaper and less exposed to supply disruption; their weakness is a lower energy density, so a pack of the same range weighs more. They are widely used in buses, two and three wheelers and standard-range cars.

Option A is a plausible-sounding invention. Option C has nothing to do with batteries and belongs to rocketry. Option D is also invented. The chemistry to contrast with LFP is NMC, nickel manganese cobalt oxide, which packs more energy into the same weight and so gives longer range, at the cost of more expensive metals, more heat and greater dependence on cobalt from a small number of countries. Examiners like a direct comparison question between the two, usually on safety against energy density.

The correct answer is B, it runs the motor as a generator and returns energy to the battery. When the driver lifts off or brakes, the electric motor is made to work backwards: the turning wheels drive it, it generates electricity, and that current is fed back into the pack. Part of the vehicle's kinetic energy is therefore recovered instead of being lost as heat in the brake pads, which also means the friction brakes wear more slowly.

Option A describes an ordinary friction braking system, which an electric vehicle still carries for hard stops. Option C is not a feature of any electric vehicle; compressed air braking belongs to heavy trucks and railway stock, and works on an entirely different principle. Option D is wrong because during acceleration the battery is supplying energy, not receiving it; energy can be recovered only while the vehicle slows down or runs downhill. The gain is largest in city driving, with its constant stopping and starting.

The correct answer is B, the Ministry of Heavy Industries. The scheme for Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Hybrid and Electric Vehicles is a demand and manufacturing support scheme, offering incentives that reduce the purchase price of eligible vehicles and funding charging infrastructure, and it sits with the ministry responsible for the automobile and capital goods industries.

Option A, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, frames motor vehicle rules, registration and safety standards and has exempted battery vehicles from registration fees, but it does not run FAME. Option C, the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, handles solar, wind and the green hydrogen mission. Option D, the Ministry of Power, deals with the grid and issued the guidelines for charging infrastructure as a service. A related fact worth holding is that the production linked incentive scheme for Advanced Chemistry Cell battery storage is also with the Ministry of Heavy Industries.

The correct answer is C, 1 April 2019. The second phase shifted the emphasis from private cars to public and shared transport, concentrating its incentives on electric buses, two wheelers, three wheelers and commercial four wheelers, and tying them to conditions on battery type and on the share of parts made in India, while also funding charging stations.

Option A, 1 April 2015, is the start of the first phase, so it is the closest wrong answer and must be kept distinct. Option B, 1 April 2017, is a stray date. Option D, 1 April 2021, is associated with the production linked incentive schemes rather than with FAME. Fix the sequence: the National Electric Mobility Mission Plan 2020 announced in 2013, the first phase of FAME from 2015, the second from 2019, and a successor scheme continuing the work thereafter.

The correct answer is B, Reasi in Jammu and Kashmir. The Geological Survey of India reported an inferred lithium resource in the Salal and Haimana area of that district, the first lithium find of real consequence in the country and a significant one because India had been importing virtually all its lithium and its cells. Being an inferred resource, it still requires further exploration before mining can be planned.

Option A, Korba, is known for coal and for thermal power, not lithium. Option C, Nalgonda, is associated with uranium exploration in the Nalgonda and Nagarjuna Sagar region. Option D, Hassan, is linked with earlier reports of small lithium occurrences in Karnataka, which makes it a tempting distractor, but the February 2023 announcement concerned Jammu and Kashmir. Remember the companion fact: Khanij Bidesh India Limited, formed in 2019 by three public sector undertakings, acquires mineral assets abroad for the same purpose.

The correct answer is B, Battery Management System. The BMS is the electronic brain of the pack. It measures the voltage, current and temperature of individual cells or groups of cells, balances their charge so that no cell is overworked, estimates the state of charge and state of health that the dashboard displays, and disconnects the pack when it detects an overcharge, a deep discharge, a short circuit or dangerous heating.

Option A is invented, although electric vehicles do carry brake sensors for regenerative braking. Option C is invented; India's charging specifications carry the Bharat name but there is no such standard abbreviation. Option D is invented. The reason the BMS matters in an exam answer is the concept attached to it: thermal runaway, a self-feeding rise in temperature inside a cell that can lead to fire, which the management system exists to prevent, and which is why battery safety standards were tightened after reports of scooter fires.

The correct answer is C, 2022. The Battery Waste Management Rules, 2022 were notified under the Environment (Protection) Act and replaced the Batteries (Management and Handling) Rules of 2001. They cover all types of battery, electric vehicle, portable, automotive and industrial, require producers to collect and have recycled a prescribed share of what they put on the market, set up an online registration and reporting system, and prohibit disposal in landfill or by incineration.

Option A, 2001, names the older rules they replaced, which dealt mainly with lead-acid batteries, so it is correct only historically. Option B, 2016, is the year of the Plastic Waste Management Rules, the Solid Waste Management Rules and the Bio-Medical Waste Rules, which is why it is an attractive distractor. Option D, 2024, is not the year of these rules. Extended producer responsibility, the principle that a producer owns its product at the end of its life, is common to all these waste rules and is frequently asked by name.

The correct answer is B, hydrogen combined with oxygen in a fuel cell. A fuel cell is an electrochemical device, not an engine: hydrogen fed to the anode is split into protons and electrons, the protons cross a membrane, the electrons travel through the external circuit and do work, and at the cathode they recombine with oxygen from the air to form water. The only tailpipe emission is water vapour, and refuelling takes minutes rather than hours.

Option A describes a range-extender arrangement with a small engine, which is a hybrid, not a fuel cell vehicle. Option C describes solar panels, which can trickle-charge accessories but cannot power a car's traction needs. Option D describes an internal combustion engine running on gas, which burns the fuel and so is not a fuel cell at all. In India this route is supported by the National Green Hydrogen Mission, approved in January 2023; the standing challenges are the cost of green hydrogen and the lack of refuelling stations.

The correct answer is B, the permanent magnet synchronous motor. Because the rotor carries permanent magnets instead of windings that must be energised, the motor is compact, light and highly efficient over a wide range of speeds, and it gives the strong torque from rest that makes electric cars quick off the mark. Its drawback is that those magnets use rare earth elements such as neodymium, whose supply is concentrated in a few countries.

Option A, the series wound direct current motor, was used in early electric vehicles and is still used for traction in some railway and industrial applications, but it needs brushes and commutators that wear. Option C, the shaded pole motor, is a very small, inefficient motor for fans and pumps. Option D, the universal motor, runs on either alternating or direct current and is used in power tools and mixers, not for traction. Some manufacturers deliberately use alternating current induction motors instead, precisely to avoid rare earth magnets.