A review on energy efficient technologies for electric vehicle applications

Abstract

This paper presents the technological advancements of the electric vehicles (EVs) all over the world. The first emphasis is on the various types of the EVs along with the energy management strategies (EMSs). The EVs are equipped with different energy storage elements such as lithium-ion batteries, super capacitors (SCs) and fuel cells (FCs). Hence, it is important to optimize the power split between the various energy storage systems (ESSs) under the complex driving conditions. The second imperative aspect is the utilization of the energy efficient wide bandgap (WBG) semiconductor technology. The WBG materials present the superior properties like wide bandgap, high saturated drift velocity and high critical breakdown field. This has led a path for the development of SiC and GaN based power semiconductor devices (PSDs). However, this paper mainly focuses on the utilization of the SiC devices for the EV applications. The substantial features of the various SiC devices are presented along with the performance aggrandization methods. Furthermore, this paper presents the updated survey and various performance measures of the SiC based power converter topologies. It also emphasizes the necessity of energy optimization for the EV charging systems. On the other hand, the burning issues associated with the SiC power modules other than the power converters are explored in detail. This extensive literature survey provides insightness for the design and research engineers in view of fulfilling the research gaps between the current and the desired targets.