How electric car works.

If you want to understand how electric cars, or EVs, work and then you have to understand what the difference between hybrid and pure electric cars.

There are a few different types of electric vehicle (EV). Some run purely on electricity, these are called pure electric vehicles. And some can also be run on petrol or diesel, these are called hybrid electric vehicles.

• Plug-in electric - This means the car runs purely on electricity and get all their power when they're plugged in to charge. They don't need petrol or diesel to run so don't produce any emissions like traditional cars.

• Plug-in hybrid - These mainly run on electricity but also have a traditional fuel engine so you can use petrol or diesel too. If you run out of charge, the car will switch to using fuel. When it's running on fuel, these cars will produce emissions but when they're running on electricity, they won't. Plug-in hybrids can be plugged in to an electricity source to recharge their battery.

• Hybrid-electric - These run mainly on fuel like petrol or diesel but also have an electric battery too, which is recharged through regenerative breaking. These let you switch between using your fuel engine and using 'EV' mode at the touch of a button. These cars cannot be plugged in to an electricity source and rely on petrol or diesel for energy.

Plug-in electric Working:

All-electric vehicles (EVs) have an electric motor instead of an internal combustion engine. The vehicle uses a large traction battery pack to power the electric motor and must be plugged in to a charging station or wall outlet to charge. Because it runs on electricity, the vehicle emits no exhaust from a tailpipe and does not contain the typical liquid fuel components, such as a fuel pump, fuel line, or fuel tank.

Key Components of an All-Electric Car

Battery (all-electric auxiliary): In an electric drive vehicle, the auxiliary battery provides electricity to power vehicle accessories.

Charge port: The charge port allows the vehicle to connect to an external power supply in order to charge the traction battery pack.

DC/DC converter: This device converts higher-voltage DC power from the traction battery pack to the lower-voltage DC power needed to run vehicle accessories and recharge the auxiliary battery.

Electric traction motor: Using power from the traction battery pack, this motor drives the vehicle's wheels. Some vehicles use motor generators that perform both the drive and regeneration functions.

Onboard charger: Takes the incoming AC electricity supplied via the charge port and converts it to DC power for charging the traction battery. It monitors battery characteristics such as voltage, current, temperature, and state of charge while charging the pack.

Power electronics controller: This unit manages the flow of electrical energy delivered by the traction battery, controlling the speed of the electric traction motor and the torque it produces.

Thermal system (cooling): This system maintains a proper operating temperature range of the engine, electric motor, power electronics, and other components.

Traction battery pack: Stores electricity for use by the electric traction motor.

Transmission (electric): The transmission transfers mechanical power from the electric traction motor to drive the wheels.

Some Plug-in Electric cars on Market:

1.TATA Nexon EV

2. MG ZS EV

3. Mahindra -Reva e20 Plus

Plug-in hybrid Working :

Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) typically use batteries to power an electric motor and use another fuel, such as gasoline, to power an internal combustion engine (ICE). PHEV batteries can be charged using a wall outlet or charging station, by the ICE, or through regenerative braking. The vehicle typically runs on electric power until the battery is depleted, and then the car automatically switches over to use the ICE

Key Components of a Plug-In Hybrid Electric Car

Battery (auxiliary): In an electric drive vehicle, the auxiliary battery provides electricity to start the car before the traction battery is engaged and also powers vehicle accessories.

Charge port: The charge port allows the vehicle to connect to an external power supply in order to charge the traction battery pack.

DC/DC converter: This device converts higher-voltage DC power from the traction battery pack to the lower-voltage DC power needed to run vehicle accessories and recharge the auxiliary battery.

Electric generator: Generates electricity from the rotating wheels while braking, transferring that energy back to the traction battery pack. Some vehicles use motor generators that perform both the drive and regeneration functions.

Electric traction motor: Using power from the traction battery pack, this motor drives the vehicle's wheels. Some vehicles use motor generators that perform both the drive and regeneration functions.

Exhaust system: The exhaust system channels the exhaust gases from the engine out through the tailpipe. A three-way catalyst is designed to reduce engine-out emissions within the exhaust system.

Fuel filler: A nozzle from a high-pressure dispenser attaches to the receptacle on the vehicle to fill the tank.

Fuel tank (gasoline): This tank stores gasoline on board the vehicle until it's needed by the engine.

Internal combustion engine (spark-ignited): In this configuration, fuel is injected into either the intake manifold or the combustion chamber, where it is combined with air, and the air/fuel mixture is ignited by the spark from a spark plug.

Onboard charger: Takes the incoming AC electricity supplied via the charge port and converts it to DC power for charging the traction battery. It monitors battery characteristics such as voltage, current, temperature, and state of charge while charging the pack.

Power electronics controller: This unit manages the flow of electrical energy delivered by the traction battery, controlling the speed of the electric traction motor and the torque it produces.

Thermal system (cooling): This system maintains a proper operating temperature range of the engine, electric motor, power electronics, and other components.

Traction battery pack: Stores electricity for use by the electric traction motor.

Transmission: The transmission transfers mechanical power from the engine and/or electric traction motor to drive the wheels.

Some Plug-in Hybrid cars on Market:

1. Kia Niro

2.Land Rover P400e

Hybrid-electric Working:

Hybrid electric vehicles are powered by an internal combustion engine and an electric motor, which uses energy stored in batteries. A hybrid electric vehicle cannot be plugged in to charge the battery. Instead, the battery is charged through regenerative braking and by the internal combustion engine. The extra power provided by the electric motor can potentially allow for a smaller engine. The battery can also power auxiliary loads and reduce engine idling when stopped. Together, these features result in better fuel economy without sacrificing performance.

Key Components of a Hybrid Electric Car

Battery (auxiliary): In an electric drive vehicle, the auxiliary battery provides electricity to start the car before the traction battery is engaged and also powers vehicle accessories.

DC/DC converter: This device converts higher-voltage DC power from the traction battery pack to the lower-voltage DC power needed to run vehicle accessories and recharge the auxiliary battery.

Electric generator: Generates electricity from the rotating wheels while braking, transferring that energy back to the traction battery pack. Some vehicles use motor generators that perform both the drive and regeneration functions.

Electric traction motor: Using power from the traction battery pack, this motor drives the vehicle's wheels. Some vehicles use motor generators that perform both the drive and regeneration functions.

Exhaust system: The exhaust system channels the exhaust gases from the engine out through the tailpipe. A three-way catalyst is designed to reduce engine-out emissions within the exhaust system.

Fuel filler: A nozzle from a high-pressure dispenser attaches to the receptacle on the vehicle to fill the tank.

Fuel tank (gasoline): This tank stores gasoline on board the vehicle until it's needed by the engine.

Internal combustion engine (spark-ignited): In this configuration, fuel is injected into either the intake manifold or the combustion chamber, where it is combined with air, and the air/fuel mixture is ignited by the spark from a spark plug.

Power electronics controller: This unit manages the flow of electrical energy delivered by the traction battery, controlling the speed of the electric traction motor and the torque it produces.

Thermal system (cooling): This system maintains a proper operating temperature range of the engine, electric motor, power electronics, and other components.

Traction battery pack: Stores electricity for use by the electric traction motor.

Transmission: The transmission transfers mechanical power from the engine and/or electric traction motor to drive the wheels.

Petrol Engine and Diesel Engine

The petrol engine and diesel are used in most cars are highly similar. In essence, they are internal combustion engines that work using a two or four-stroke cycle. In an internal combustion engine, the power cycle is made up of four phases: intake, compression, power and exhaust.

In the intake phase, air is drawn into cylinder through the opening intake valve. In the compression phase, the intake valve closes and air is compressed with fuel. At this point, the mixture of fuel and air is ignited to cause an explosion. It is this explosion that causes the piston to downwards and drive the crankshaft to produce motion. This is the power phase. The final phase is exhaust where the spent air-fuel mixture is expelled out of the cylinder through the opening exhaust valve so that a new cycle may begin.

Petrol and diesel engines operate using the same principle, but the difference lies in the spark plug. Diesel engines don't have any.

The main difference between diesel and petrol engines is that petrol engines use spark plugs to ignite the air-fuel mixture, while diesel engines rely solely on heavily compressed air. As mentioned earlier, Rudolf Diesel found that the temperature of air could be made to increase high enough if it was heavily compressed. The temperature would rise so high to the point where it could cause the ignition of diesel fuel. 

Therefore in diesel engines, air in cylinder would be very heavily compressed, typically to around 14 to 23 times its original volume. In petrol engines, the compression ratio is generally much lower, because they rely more on the spark plug to begin the power phase. The compression ratio is petrol engines is typically around only around 7 to 10, with high performance vehicles having higher compression ratios of up to 13.

High compression ratios are desirable because it results in higher thermal efficiency. In other words, more energy can be extracted out of the air-fuel mixture. This also explains why diesel engines are considerably more efficient than petrol engines. In fact, diesel engines have the highest thermal efficiency of any internal combustion engine

Petrol or diesel. This is seen often at the gas station when you refuel your car. You would then double check the label on the pump handle to ensure you’re filling it right. For owners with diesel cars, the fuel cap or door would be distinctly labelled. What makes these engines different that different fuel types are required?

To start things off, in terms of form, petrol is lighter and has a more evaporative consistency compared to diesel, which is thicker and denser. Although the fuels are different, the internal combustion engines that power petrol and diesel cars are similar in essence – which is a powerplant that converts chemical energy (ie petrol or diesel fuel) into mechanical energy.

Similarities include the fuel and air mixture that is compressed inside the engine’s cylinders before it is combusted to turn the crankshaft. The crankshaft is connected to the vehicle’s transmission, which is then responsible to power the wheels.

Differences between these two engines is in the ignition stage. For a petrol engine, the compressed mixture of petrol and air is ignited by the spark plug for combustion. However, in a diesel engine, the combustion is an effect from the heat of the compressed air, which then ignites the diesel fuel mixture. Hence why spark plugs are non-existent in diesel engines and only require glow plugs to heat the combustion chamber. In older generation diesel engines, the pre-heating was done when the key is turned, while modern vehicles will automatically start the heating upon unlocking the car.

Both petrol and diesel engines employ the four strokes of intake, compression, combustion and exhaust.

Differences in Power Output for Diesel and Petrol Engines

Petrol engines have a lower compression ratio compared to diesel engines thanks to the aid of the spark plug and higher volatile fuel. On the opposite, diesel engines’ higher compression ratio results in higher torque. (Torque is the twisting force that is produced by the engine’s crankshaft.) This is one of the reasons why it is used in heavier vehicles. However, diesel engines in passenger cars have caught on and gained popularity due to the torque benefits and increased mileage.

Reliability

Diesel engines tend to be more reliable and require little care, but is also more expensive to make. These days, cars and SUVs that run on diesel have performance levels similar to a petrol engine, but with added mileage. In short, a diesel engine will be more cost efficient in the long term, and it saves up on repair bills as well.

Environmental Concerns

While diesel cars in the past have been known to burn much dirtier than petrol cars, some modern diesel fuels and engines have improved significantly. However due to recent developments in regards to diesel car emissions, vehicles are still unable to meet stricter European emission standards. It is expected that European cities will follow Germany’s ruling on banning older diesel vehicles; with Hamburg being the first to do so for Euro-5 standard cars and older.

The Pros and Cons

Besides being very efficient, what other advantages do diesel engines have over their petrol counterparts? And what disadvantages do diesel engines have? Let’s take a look at some of the important ones briefly here.

Pros

• Not only are diesel engines more efficient, diesel fuel is also cheaper to purchase. At the time of writing, diesel fuel is around 40% cheaper per liter than petrol. This means diesel vehicles will be cheaper to run, which also explains why buses and most taxis have diesel engines.

  

• Because diesel engines are so efficient, cars can get incredible mileage out of them. It is not uncommon for passengers cars with modest 50 liter fuel tanks to be able to travel over 1000km on a single tank. This means more time spent traveling and less time spent refueling.

• To withstand the high compression of gases within the cylinders, diesel engines are built to be extremely hardy and will generally last longer than their petrol counterparts. They can also go longer between maintenance.
  

• Diesel engines can be made to run on alternative and renewable fuels like biodiesel with little or no modifications. Biodiesel generally refers to used vegetable oil that has been used for cooking, and is then recycled and treated so that it can be used to power diesel cars.

Cons

• Diesel engines need to be built stronger to withstand the high compression of gases, as a result, they usually cost more to manufacture. Consequently, diesel cars can sometimes cost more than their petrol equivalent. This depends heavily on the manufacturer.
  

• Diesel engines produce a distinctive knocking sound that is referred to as diesel clatter. This sound is the result of the sudden ignition of fuel which causes a pressure wave. It makes diesel engines sound less refined and noisier.

• Diesel engines are heavier and less eager to rev than petrol engines, which makes them undesirable in sports cars. This also makes diesel powered cars less peppy and engaging to drive.

• In Singapore, diesel cars are subjected to a special tax on top of the typical road tax which can add to the running costs of the car. Since this tax can be substantial, we will address it in greater detail below.

Special Tax

Diesel cars used to be a rarity in Singapore, and that’s not surprising considering the bad reputation it has had. Diesel cars are often considered to be polluting and slow, and it didn’t help that a huge special tax was levied on diesel cars. This special tax is placed on diesel cars because there’s no duty on diesel fuel. Petrol, on the other hand, are subjected to a petrol duty which, according to the LTA, encourages fuel conservation and discourages excessive use of petrol cars that may contribute to congestion and pollution.

But times have changed dramatically in the past decade. Diesel technology has improved rapidly, and governments are recognizing the environmental benefits that diesel cars have and have put legislations in place to promote their sales. As a result, sales of diesel cars have been on the rise. In many European countries, such as Austria, Belgium and Germany, sales of diesel cars are on a par with or have even surpassed that of petrol cars.

In Singapore, sales of diesel cars are on the rise, albeit slowly. Knowledgeable car buyers are now open to trying out diesel and that has been helped in part by the government, who has revised the special tax on diesel cars. For modern diesel cars which meet the Euro V standards, the special tax has been drastically reduced. To get a sense of how much cheaper it is to drive a diesel car now, one only has to look at the tax rates.

For a pre-Euro IV compliant car, the special tax is a whopping 6 times the road tax of the petrol equivalent. In other words, if we take a 1600cc diesel car as an example which has a 6-month base road tax of S$372, the special tax levied on a pre-Euro IV compliant diesel car would be a whopping S$2,232. The total 6-month tax would therefore be S$2,604.

For a Euro IV compliant car, the special tax is calculated to be $0.625 per cc of engine capacity and subjected to a minimum of S$625. This means that on top of the 6-month base road tax of S$372, we have to add a special tax of S$1000. Hence, the total road tax would be S$1,372 for 6 months. It’s substantially less, but it’s still a significant markup over a petrol equivalent car.

However, if you got a new diesel which is Euro V or JPN2009 compliant, the special tax is calculated at a lower rate of $0.20 per cc and subjected to a minimum of $200. This means that for a 1600cc diesel, the special tax levied would be just S$320, bringing the total 6 month road tax to a much more reasonable and affordable S$692.

Heavy construction equipment are used for various purposes in large projects. Selection of different types of heavy equipment depends on the size of the work and economy of the project. These make construction process easier and faster.

Types of Heavy Construction Equipment

Different types of heavy equipment commonly used in the construction are as follows:

1. Excavators

2. Backhoe

3. Dragline Excavator

4. Bulldozers

5. Graders

6. Loaders

7. Tower Cranes

8. Pavers

9. Compactors

10. Telehandlers

11. Feller Bunchers

12. Dump Trucks

13. Pile Boring Machine

14. Pile Driving Machine

1. Excavators

Excavators are important and widely used equipment in construction industry. Their general purpose is to excavation but other than that they are also used for many purposes like heavy lifting, demolition, river dredging, cutting of trees etc.

Excavators contains a long arm and a cabinet. At the end of long arm digging bucket is provided and cabinet is the place provided for machine operator. This whole cabin arrangement can be rotatable up to 360^o which eases the operation. Excavators are available in both wheeled and tracked forms of vehicles.

Excavator

2. Backhoe

Backhoe is another widely used equipment which is suitable for multiple purposes. The name itself telling that the hoe arrangement is provided on the back side of vehicle while loading bucket is provided in the front.

This is well useful for excavating trenches below the machine level and using front bucket loading, unloading and lifting of materials can be done.

Backhoe Loader 

3. Dragline Excavator

Dragline excavator is another heavy equipment used in construction which is generally used for larger depth excavations. It consists a long length boom and digging bucket is suspended from the top of the boom using cable.

For the construction of ports, for excavations under water, sediment removal in water bodies etc. can be done by dragline excavator

Dragline Excavator

4. Bulldozers

Bulldozers are another type of soil excavating equipment which are used to remove the topsoil layer up to particular depth. The removal of soil is done by the sharp edged wide metal plate provided at its front. This plate can be lowered and raised using hydraulic pistons.

These are widely used for the removal of weak soil or rock strata, lifting of soil etc.

Bulldozers

5. Graders

Graders also called as motor graders are another type of equipment used in construction especially for the construction of roads. It is mainly used to level the soil surface. It contains a horizontal blade in between front and rear wheels and this blade is lowered in to the ground while working. Operating cabin is provided on the top of rear axle arrangement.

Motor Graders are also used to remove snow or dirt from the roads, to flatten the surface of soil before laying asphalt layer, to remove unnecessary soil layer from the ground etc.

Graders

6. Loaders

Loaders are used in construction site to load the material onto dumpers, trucks etc. The materials may be excavated soil, demolition waste, raw materials, etc. A loader contain large sized bucket at its front with shorter moving arm.

Loader may be either tracked or wheeled. Wheeled loaders are widely used in sites while tracked or crawled loaders are used in sites where wheeled vehicles cannot reach.

Loader

7. Tower Cranes

Tower cranes are fixed cranes which are used for hoisting purposes in construction of tall structures. Heavy materials like pre-stressed concrete blocks, steel trusses, frames etc. can be easily lifted to required height using this type of equipment.

They consists mast which is the vertical supporting tower, Jib which is operating arm of crane, counter jib which is the other arm carries counter weight on rear side of crane and an operator cabin from which the crane can be operated.

Tower Crane

8. Paver

Paver or Asphalt paver is pavement laying equipment which is used in road construction. Paver contains a feeding bucket in which asphalt is continuously loaded by the dump truck and paver distributes the asphalt evenly on the road surface with slight compaction. However a roller is required after laying asphalt layer for perfect compaction.

Paver Machine

9. Compactors

Compactors or Rollers are used to compact the material or earth surface. Different types of compactors are available for different compacting purposes.

Smooth wheel rollers are used for compacting shallow layers of soil or asphalt etc. sheep-foot rollers are used for deep compaction purposes. Pneumatic tyred rollers are used for compacting fine grained soils, asphalt layers etc.

Soil Compactor

10. Telehandlers

Telehandlers are hoisting equipment used in construction to lift heavy materials up to required height or to provide construction platform for workers at greater heights etc. It contains a long telescopic boom which can be raised or lowered or forwarded.

Different types of arrangements like forklifts, buckets, cabin, lifting jibs etc. can be attached to the end of telescopic boom based on the requirement of job.

Telehandler

11. Feller Bunchers

Feller buncher is tree cutting heavy equipment used to remove large trees in the construction field. They cut the tree and grab it without felling, likewise gathers all the cut down trees at one place which makes job easier for loaders and dump trucks.

Feller Buncher

12. Dump Trucks

Dump trucks are used in construction sites to carry the material in larger quantities from one site to another site or to the dump yard. Generally, in big construction site, off-road dump trucks are used.

These off-road dump trucks contains large wheels with huge space for materials which enables them to carry huge quantity of material in any type of ground conditions.

  

Drum Truck

13. Pile Boring Equipment

Pile boring equipment is used to make bore holes in the construction site to install precast piles.

                                                                                   Pile boring equipment

14. Pile Driving Equipment

Another heavy equipment used in construction site is pile driving equipment in case of pile foundation construction. This equipment lifts the pile and holds it in proper position and drives into the ground up to required depth.

Different types of pile driving equipment are available namely, piling rigs, piling hammer, hammer guides etc. in any case the pile is driven into the ground by hammering the pile top which is done hydraulically or by dropping.

Pile Driving Equipment

Best Super Luxury cars 2020

Super Luxury Cars 2020

The best of the very best on four wheels: only the ultra-rare, ultra-expensive and ultra-luxurious cars you ever heard.

1. Rolls-Royce Phantom

Rolls-Royce Phantom

The grandest and greatest luxury conveyance in automobile was replaced by Roll-Royce in 2017 and given a glittering five-star road test welcome by our road testers shortly thereafter.

Owners will love it at least as much for the extravagant statement of wealth and status it endows and for the unmatched sense of occasion you enjoy when travelling in one. But, while many won’t ever know as much, the latest Phantom is also an utter joy and a rare pleasure to drive.

Its superbly comfortable and singularly isolating ride comfort can be sampled from the back seats, of course, and is like nothing else you’ll encounter in a car: gently loping and deliciously indulgent-feeling but also supremely quiet and smooth, despite Rolls-Royce's fitment of the latest run-flat Tyre technology.

Yet the precision feel and perfect weight of the car’s large-rimmed steering wheel is remarkable, likewise the ease with which you can place such a huge car on the road; the tolerance it has for whatever rate of progress suits your trip; the supreme refinement and flexibility of its V12 engine; and the progressiveness of its throttle pedal on step-off.

Even though it’s a near three-tonne love song to splendid isolation, this car will accelerate from 0-100mph and from 30-70mph through the gears Rolls-Royce Phantom. The integrity of its engineering is simply breathtaking.

2. Bentley Flying Spur

Bentley’s four-door ‘Continental’-series limousine started off its modern life as the Continental Flying Spur in 2006, only dropping the nomenclative prefix that links it with Crewe’s current two-door GT with its biggest model overhaul yet in 2014. 

Of course, there is the same calling-card 6.0-litre twin-turbo W12, which makes 626bhp plus bottomless torque and fires the car to 62mph in comfortably less than four seconds and on to a top speed of more than 200mph. Versions of the Spur equipped with Bentley's lighter, more freely revving V8 and a six-cylinder hybrid powertrain are also.

Bentley Flying Spur

3. Mercedes-Maybach S650

Mercedes-Maybach S650

The richest and most special car in what might be the most universally respected and admired limousine range in the world, the S650 is the modern standard-bearer for Daimler’s Maybach super-luxury brand.

To judge by appearances, you’d say it was at least as much S-Class as Maybach, and that’s the result of Daimler’s strategic decision, taken a few years ago, to broaden the reach of the Maybach marque by creating ‘halo’ Maybach models across some of its more normal Mercedes passenger car ranges. The ultra-rare, Simon Cowell-spec, Maybach-only 57 and 62 limousines were at the same time consigned to history.

The S650's 621bhp, 737lb ft twin-turbocharged petrol V12 is barely audible, and its dedication to comfort and good manners is outstanding.

4. Bentley Mulsanne

Bentley Mulsanne

A limousine that’s singularly aristocratic, whose presence announces itself from hundreds of yards away and whose agenda is all about serving the interests of the passenger first and the driver a definite second may sound appealing in theory. But if you suspect the reality of ownership of such a car might not appeal quite as much, don't worry, because the super-luxury class has something for you too: the Bentley Mulsanne.

Deliberately more modest and discreet in its appearance than a certain key British limousine rival, the Mulsanne is a top-level luxury four-door that’s grand with a small g. It feels less formal than the Rolls-Royce Phantom, and its interior ambience is more like that of the paneled smoking room of an old gentleman’s club than the Phantom’s chandeliered ballroom. The material quality, the lustre and natural appeal of its wood veneers and the tactile allure of so many of its fittings are second to none.

A good helping of driver appeal has always been part of this big Bentley’s motive character. And so while the Mulsanne doesn’t ride quite as serenely as some of its closest competition, it handles and responds with more vigour and verve, thanks not least to its torquey turbocharged petrol V8.

What results is a car that may not hit quite the same luxury high-notes as the very best cars in the class, but that you might end up using more often: not just for special occasions, but because it feels ready to enrich a wider range of journeys.

5. Rolls-Royce Cullinan

Rolls-Royce Cullinan

Goodwood’s Marmite addition to the super-luxury segment arrived in 2018, in response to a significant amount of Rolls-Royce customer feedback that a more daily-usable, all-surface-capable, family-practical model would be a very welcome way to augment the firm’s showroom range.

There is certainly as much to like about life onboard this car as there might be to dislike about either the idea or the appearance of it. This is a true Rolls-Royce, and among its dynamic strengths are outstanding mechanical refinement, unimpeachable ride comfort and excellent drivability.

Height-adjustable air suspension and BMW-derived four-wheel drive gives the Cullinan all the off-road capability that many owners are likely to require, and while towing capacity is currently capped at 2.6 tonnes, it’s due to increase to a more fulsome 3.5 tonnes before long. Which is probably enough for a speedboat considerably more expensive than the car.

6. Bentley Bentayga

Bentley Bentayga

The Bentayga has had an eventful passage through the Autocar road test evaluation process. Being the first in a barrage of £100,000-plus super-SUVs to come to market in 2016, we first rated it highly, with a caveat or two, in W12-engined form, and then rated it higher still when Bentley introduced an Audi-sourced 4.0-litre, 429bhp turbocharged diesel V8 in 2017, which made exactly as much torque as the twelve-cylinder petrol motor but at more accessible crankspeeds.

Then, in 2018, amid the spreading toxicity surround diesel engines, Bentley removed the Bentayga Diesel from sale in Europe, and with it removed from view what we considered the definitive version of the car. A V8 petrol model augmented the model range in the same year, while a plug-in hybrid arrived in 2019. There is now also the Speed – a 626bhp, £182,000 paean to excess.

7. Rolls-Royce Ghost

Rolls-Royce Ghost

The Ghost was a line in the sand for Rolls-Royce when it appeared in 2009: the beginning of a transformation that took the company's annual production volume from hundreds of to several thousand cars per year.

Using mechanical underpinnings adapted from those of the BMW 7 Series, the Ghost made Rolls-Royce ownership more accessible – only slightly but significantly so. The management’s view now on the decision to use those BMW Group mechanicals may reasonably be imagined to differ somewhat from what it once was, since the next Ghost will move onto the same all-aluminium Rolls-Royce-only platform that the Phanton and Cullinan use.

8. Range Rover SVAutobiography

Range Rover SVAutobiography

The top-rung, long-wheelbase Range Rover has come a long way as a luxury car since the genesis days of the famous SUV upon which it’s based. The modern SVAutobiography, hand-finished as it is by Land Rover at its Special Operations base near Coventry, is a car that’s now fully 5.2 metres long and 2.6 tonnes in weight at its heaviest. It was conceived to take full advantage of the embryonic market for super-expensive SUVs and the high regard some have for the Range Rover brand, and it does so quite effectively.

Offering a choice of a petrol V8, a diesel V8 or a four-cylinder petrol plug-in hybrid powertrain, the SVAutobiography is a strict four-seater with ‘lounge’ rear chairs, around each of which you can arrange a fold-out aluminium tray table, while a sliding panoramic sunroof contributes to the remarkable senses of light and space onboard. The interior materials are more tactile and expensive than those of the standard Range Rover, too.

9. Rolls-Royce Dawn

Rolls-Royce Dawn

The super-luxury four-seat convertible is a rare type of car indeed. Mercedes offers an open-top four-seat S-Class, while Bentley has had its Azure drop-top and now Continental GTC. But Rolls-Royce has, at times, offered more than one four-seater super-cabriolet within its model range over the last decade. And while the convertible version of the current-generation Phantom has yet to materialize, its equivalent from the smaller Ghost/Wraith model strata – the Dawn – remains very much a part of Goodwood’s model mix.

The company used uncharacteristically racey terms to describe this car when it was launched in 2016, billing it as “the sexiest Rolls-Royce ever built”. Whether you agree or not, there’s no denying the car’s blue-blooded credentials: it uses the same platform and 6.6-litre twin-turbocharged petrol V12 as the Wraith coupé, producing 563bhp and 575lb ft of torque, which is down from 624bhp in Wraith tune but still enough to eclipse the vitals of the earlier Phantom Drophead Coupé.

10. Mercedes-AMG S65 L

Mercedes-AMG S65 L

The mechanical make-up of the top-of-the-range performance version of the Mercedes S-Class limousine hasn’t changed much in more than a decade. Since this car has a leviathan of a twin-turbocharged petrol V12 that produces 621bhp and 738lb ft of torque, you could argue it hasn’t needed to.

It’s an engine capable of sending a two-and-a-quarter-tonne, 5.3-metre-long, rear-driven limousine from 0-62mph in just 4.2sec – and that’s before it’s really settled down, found its legs and got going, don’t forget.

And yet the S65 is still a proper luxury car, with uncompromising ride comfort and refinement, which is why it gets a mention at the foot of our super-luxury class rankings. It offers onboard comfort unknown to anything else of quite the same performance level, and its huge reserves of torque make it so effortlessly potent to drive that it’s hard to believe how little you need to do to make something so large travel so quickly.

The S65 isn’t a super-saloon, though, and it chassis much prefers smooth, wide roads to testing narrower ones, the latter giving its air suspension and stability control a lot to think about. Even so, when in its element, very few cars in existence manage to seem at once so naughty and so wonderfully nice as this.