3 ms·
What matters is energy but what's being carried by the wire is charge. A given amount of charge can have more or less energy, which is what voltage is. So if yo
by rcxdude 3y ago
What matters is energy but what's being carried by the wire is charge. A given amount of charge can have more or less energy, which is what voltage is. So if you give each unit of charge more energy then you can carry more power by only moving the same amount of charge. You get a similar thing in mechanical systems: a shaft is sized based on the maximum amount of torque it can withstand, but the amount of power going through it also depends on the RPM. More RPM = more power, for the same amount of torque, so if you are for some reason limited in the size of the shaft, you can use a gearing mechanism to rotate it faster and then gear down the other side and get more power through a smaller shaft. It's just that in mechanical systems gears are a lot less convenient than changing voltages is in electrical systems.
(RPM and voltage are in fact related in EVs as well: generally speaking a higher voltage motor will be able to produce more power for the same amount of space and materials, but mostly by spinning faster, not producting more torque. You then need to gear it down to be practical in a car. But the trend is that things that make higher voltages and higher RPMs possible (the technology in transistors, insulation, bearings) are already cheap or getting cheaper, while things that make higher currents and torques possible (generally more raw material like copper and steel) are staying the same or getting more expensive. So EVs in general are pushing to higher voltages for lots of things)