Karthik H Mtech (Automotive Infotronics) VIT University Tamil Nadu INDIA

 Why

horse-power?

James

Watt used it to compare his steam engines to the horse (which

were then the famous work machines).

Watt determined that a horse could turn a mill wheel 144 times in an hour (or 2.4 times a minute). Watt judged that the horse could pull with a force of 180 pounds

Source: Wikipedia

Brake horsepower (bhp) is the measure of an engine's horsepower before the loss in power caused by other auxiliary equipments(like transmission, exhaust etc). BHP= Engines HP + Losses.

What does Brake signify in BHP?

The name brake horsepower comes from the device called Prony Brake which was used to measure the engines BHP in those days.
Source: Wikipedia
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How BHP is measured for Electric Vehicle?

Power output from an electric motor can be measured in either horsepower or kilowatts -- the latter a measurement of electricity. 1 Electrical HP = 746W. Electrical BHP = Electrical HP + Losses due to auxiliary units.

Output power of an ICE is given for a particular RPM of engine.(which is usually peak power) The downside to a ICE is that it must build RPMs through acceleration until it reaches its maximum power and torque.
Source: BMW Z4 Technical Specification sheet
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The peak power of an EV is always at zero RPMs, which on the Tesla Roadster is 288 horsepower all of it as soon as you hit the throttle. The EV can generate large amounts of torque even at very low RPM, and the motor can always turn out major horsepower.

 EVs

BHP and Torque does not depend on the engine RPM. Hence peak power is always present unlike ICE which has peak power at particular RPM.

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As in EVs power is available immediately, we may not need cars with massive horsepower figures anymore. Tesla Roadster S is about as fast as a Corvette Z06 with almost half its horsepower

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