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GM EV1
General Motors EV1
Large-scale electric transport
Most large electric transport systems are powered by stationary sources of
electricity that are directly connected to the vehicles through wires. Due to
the extra infrastructure and difficulty in handling arbitrary travel, most
directly connected vehicles are owned publicly or by large companies. These
forms of transportation are covered in more detail in maglev trains, metros,
trams, trains and trolleybuses. A hypothetical electric vehicle design is the
personal rapid transit, a cross between cars and trains optimised for
independent travel.
In most systems the motion is provided by a rotary electric motor. However, some
trains unroll their motors to drive directly against a special matched track.
These are known as linear motors and are most commonly used in maglev trains
which float above the rails through magnetic force. This allows for almost no
rolling resistance of the vehicle and no mechanical wear and tear of the train
or track. The levitation and the forward motion are independent effects; the
forward motive forces still require external power, but Inductrack achieves
levitation at low speeds without any.
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