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A longer-range battery carries more than stored energy

Adding battery capacity can extend an electric car's range, but a larger pack can also add weight. That extra mass affects the energy needed to move the vehicle and may change other design requirements. Explore why increasing capacity and increasing range need not be a one-to-one trade.

3–7 min

Questions you could explore

  • What determines how far a fixed amount of usable energy will take a car?
  • Which parts of a battery system contribute weight without storing energy?

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Energy

A solar cell's route from light to electricity

Shining sunlight onto a piece of silicon is only the first step in making solar power. When incoming photons knock electrons loose inside the semiconductor, an internal electric field built into the solar cell's layers must separate those charges and guide them into an external circuit before they simply recombine.

4–5 min
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