Sales of electric vehicles (EV) and hybrid electrics (HEV) are predicted to surpass those of traditional purely Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) vehicles by 2038, while achieving cost parity a decade or earlier. Much of the challenge around the EV and the electrical part of the high-voltage (HV) design is in the powertrain.
Here, advancements in power devices, including silicon carbide (SiC), along with innovations in power topologies mean that delivering energy to electric motors is highly efficient. Charging (piles) stations for electric vehicles also benefit from >97% efficiencies while delivering fast charge capabilities of up to 350 kW in an attempt to compete timewise with refueling at the gas station.
It is in the batteries, however, where significant room for improvement lies.
Part of this has to do with the composition of the battery cells themselves, an area that has seen leaps and bounds improvements in energy density in the past decade. The other part lies with the management of the energy in those cells when formed into the power delivery system at the heart of the EV: the battery pack.