Rethink EV, hybrid power management architectures

Electric vehicle characteristics introduce a new paradigm in the electric/electronic (EE) architecture design. They impact more than 30% of essential classic vehicle functions, such as lateral dynamic control, in-car thermal management, fuel/mileage estimation, telematics, and human-to-machine interface and, of course, electric energy management. New life phases are surfacing, requiring new functions to be developed: Battery re-charging, thermal preconditioning, and specific EV services.

The future EV generations offer opportunities in developing and inserting new technologies in electrical motors, chassis, and power mechatronics. They will embed new components that are presently in research and development by engineers around the world. The long-awaited benefits of this massive ongoing research might be partly compromised by inefficient or non adapted vehicle EE architecture.

The present first EV generation is mostly based on technical solutions that are derived from existing combustion vehicles, comprising a similar EE platform with specific add-ons. The second generation will integrate optimized power subsystems. We believe that EE platform breakthrough will arise within the 2018-2020, enabling a fully optimized third generation to reach the market. This paper shares our vision and provides a status of some research that was conducted on breakthrough EE EV platforms.

For the complete article, leading to a super capacitor hybrid vehicle using power line communication to tie into the Smart Grid, click here, courtesy of Automotive Designline Europe.

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