What is the power requirement in kilowatts for an electric car equipped with a 175 hp motor running at 80% efficiency?
The electric car with a 175 horsepower motor running at 80% efficiency requires 163.19 kW of power.
Calculation Process
Converting Horsepower to Kilowatts: To answer this question, we first need to convert horsepower (hp) to kilowatts (kW). The conversion factor is 1 hp = 0.746 kW. Therefore, the power of the car's motor in kW is 175 hp x 0.746 = 130.55 kW.
Adjusting for Efficiency: However, the motor is not 100% efficient, in fact, it is 80% efficient (which is 0.80 in decimal format), meaning it requires more power to operate. The extra power required can be calculated by dividing the measured power by the efficiency (in decimal format). So the power required to run the motor is 130.55 kW / 0.80 = 163.1875 kW. Therefore, to operate the car's 175 horsepower motor at 80% efficiency, it would need approximately 163.19 kW of power.