Electric battery common fuels such as gasoline. In automobiles, this is somewhat offset by the higher efficiency of electric motors in converting chemical energy to mechanical work, compared to combustion engines. The usage of "battery" to describe a group of electrical devices dates to Benjamin Franklin, who in 1748 described multiple Leyden jars by analogy to a battery of cannon (Benjamin Franklin borrowed the term "battery" from the military, which refers to weapons functioning together). Italian physicist Alessandro Volta built and described the first electrochemical battery, the voltaic pile, in 1800. This was a stack of copper and zinc plates, separated by
Electric vehicle battery modern electric cars are lithium-ion and Lithium polymer battery, because of their high energy density compared to their weight. The amount of electricity (i.e. electric charge) stored in batteries is measured in ampere hours or in coulombs, with the total energy often measured in watt hours. The battery makes up a substantial cost of BEVs, which unlike for fossil-fueled cars, profoundly manifests itself as a price of range. As of 2018, the few electric cars with over 500 km of range such as the Tesla Model S are firmly in the luxury segment. Since the late 1990s, advances in battery