Final Internship Report

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VISVESVARAYA TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY

Jnana Sangama, Belagum–590018

AN INTERNSHIP REPORT
ON
“ELECTRICAL VEHICLE TECHNOLOGY”
Submitted to partial fulfillment of the requirement for the award of the degree of
BACHELOR OF ENGINEERING
IN
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

Submitted by
B BASAVAPRABHU
(2GB19ME404)

Under the Coordinator


Proff. Bhuvaneshwari alias sunita kulkarni M-Tech (Ph.d)
Assistant Professor
Department of Mechanical Engineering, GECHH

GOVERNMENT ENGINEERING COLLEGE


DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING
HUVINAHADAGALI, VIJAYANAGARA–583219
2021-2022
GOVERNMENT ENGINEERING COLLEGE
DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING
HUVINAHADAGALI, VIJAYANAGARA–583219
2021-2022

BONAFIDE CERTIFICATE
Certified that the Internship work entitled “ELECTRICAL VEHICLE
TECHNOLOGY” carried out by bearing Name: B BASAVAPRABHU
respectively USN: 2GB19ME404 a bonafide student of Government Engineering
College Huvinahadagali, in partial fulfillment for the award of Mechanical
Engineering Programmed of the VISVESVARAYA TECHNOLOGICAL
UNIVERSITY during the year 2021-2022. It is certified that all
Corrections/Suggestions indicated for Internal Assessment have been in corporate
in the Report deposited in the library. The Internship Report has been approved as
it satisfies the academic requirement in respect of Internship work prescribed for
the said engineering programmed.

Signature of the Coordinator


Proff. Bhuvaneshwari alias sunita kulkarni M-Tech (Ph.d)

Signature of the HOD Signature of the Principal


Dr. Anilkumar S Kallimani Dr. Shashikala P Patil

External viva
Name of the Examiners Signature with date
1.
2.
CANDIDATE DECLARATION

I am B BASAVAPRABHU a student of Engineering in Mechanical


Engineering Department bearing USN: 2GB19ME404 of GOVERNMENT
ENGINEERING COLLEGE HUVINAHADAGALI hereby declare that I own
full responsibility for the information of the results and conclusion provided in
the Internship Report work titled is “ELECTRICAL VEHICLE
TECHNOLOGY” submitted to VISVESVARAYA TECHNOLOGICAL
UNIVERSITY, BELAGUM for award of engineering in Mechanical
Engineering.

To the best knowledge, the Internship Report work not been submitted in part or
full elsewhere in another Institution/Organization for the award of any
Certificate/Degree. I have completely taken care in acknowledging the
contribution of others in this academic work. I further declare that in case of any
violation intellectual property rights and particulars declare, fund at any stage, I
as the candidate will be solely responsible for the same.

Signature of candidate

Date: Name: B BASAVAPRABHU


Place: USN: 2GB19ME404
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Any achievement big or small should have a catalyst and a constant


encouragement and advice of valuable and noble minds for my efforts to bring
out this Internship Report work.

It is my privilege to express whole hearted gratitude and thanks to my


Internship Report Guide Dr. Jairaja R for his valuable guidance and constant
encouragement behind the successful completion of this Internship Report
work. In spite of his extremely busy schedule in college, he was available to
share with me his deep insights, wide knowledge and extensive experience.

I express my gratitude and sincere thanks to Internship Report


Coordinator Proff. Bhuvaneshwari alias sunita kulkarni for her
encouragement and moral support and facilities eneared towards the completion
of the Internship Report work.
I am very much thankful to our beloved Head of the Department of
Mechanical Engineering department, Dr. Anilkumar S Kallimani for
permitting me to take this Internship Report. And I also thank him for providing
the congenial environment in the college.

I would like to express my deep sense of gratitude to our beloved and


respected principal Dr. Shashikala P Patil who is the source of information and
encouragement for all the students.

I also thank all the teaching and non-teaching staff members of


Mechanical Engineering department who have directly or indirectly helped
main completing the Internship Report work successfully.

B BASAVAPRABHU
CONTENTS

ABSTRACT
1. INTRODUCTION 1-8

1.1 EV battery introduction

1.2 EV battery parameters

1.3 Processes and materials inside the battery

2. POWER ELETRONICS FOR EV 8-12

2.1 Power electronics in electric cars

3. CHARGING TECHNOLOGY FOR EV 12-19

3.1 Introduction to charging methods for EVs

3.2 Smart charging and V2G

3.3 ICT protocols for charging

4. FUTURE ELECTRIC MOBILITY 19-26

4.1 Future trends in electric cars

4.2 Wireless charging of EVs

4.3 Battery swap

5. CONCLUSION 27

REFERENCES
ABSTRACT

Fully electric vehicles are being introduced to the passenger car market in
addition to the already popular hybrid vehicles. There are existing and proposed
standards for the design of these vehicles to reduce the risk of occupants and
rescue personnel being exposed to hazards such as corrosive chemicals, toxic
fumes, fire and electric shock in the event of a crash. Some manufacturers are
understood to be working with rescue organizations to develop appropriate
procedures for dealing with these crashes. New Car Assessment Programs
(NCAPs) have subjected several petrol-electric hybrid vehicles to the 64km/h
frontal offset crash test, 50km/h barrier side impact test and the 29km/h side pole
test. No problems with the electrical systems or batteries were encountered. These
tests have generally involved vehicles with lead-acid or NiMH batteries. Lithium-
ion batteries are becoming popular and these might introduce different hazards
for crash-test and rescue personnel. In October 2010 a research crash test of an
electric car with a Lithium-ion battery was conducted by Australasian NCAP and
Japan NCAP. Additionally, Euro NCAP has also assessed a number of vehicles
powered by Li-ion batteries. This paper reviews the safety hazards and outcomes
associated with those tests and provides draft advice for crash test and rescue
organizations.
“ELECTRIC VEHICLE TECHNOLOGY”

ELECTRIC VEHICLE TECHNOLOGY

Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, GECHH 1


“ELECTRIC VEHICLE TECHNOLOGY”

1. INTRODUCTION
Electrochemical storage devices used in EV must fulfill certain requirements so that the EV
can perform in a satisfactory manner. The key requirements are as follows:
• High specific energy to ensure a satisfactory range
• High specific power so that drivers’ acceleration expectations can be met
• Long, maintenance-free lifetime
• Safe operation under a wide range of conditions
• End of life disposal has a minimum environmental impact
• High efficiency in charge and discharge cycles.
The power and energy requirements for different types of EV’s in comparison with HEV and
PHEV are listed in the table below, together with common voltage ratings. For the purposes
of this module five categories of EV batteries are described, which is similar to that described
by Van den Brosche and Westbrook. These categories are outlined as follows:
• Lead-acid
• Nickel-based: NiMH, NiCad
• High temperature: Sodium-nickel-chloride (NaNiCl or Zebra)
• Lithium-based: Lithium-ion (Li-ion) and Lithium-polymer (Li-poly)
• Metal air: Aluminum air (Al-air) and Zinc-air (ZN-air)

1.1 EV battery introduction


Batteries can store energy and are used to power a large variety of devices, ranging from
micro batteries that maintain the memory of computer chips or pacemakers up to big batteries
that power electric cars and stabilize the electricity grid. Batteries that can only discharge once
are called primary cells, for example, our well-known AAA and AA alkaline batteries.
Batteries that can be recharged are called secondary batteries. Examples of which are lead-acid,
nickel-metal hydride and lithium-ion batteries.
Batteries consist of a positive and negative pole or electrode. In a charged battery, energy
is stored in a chemical form in the electrodes which is released as electrical energy when
discharged. Vice versa, secondary batteries can be charged using electricity during which the
electrical energy is converted to chemical energy, stored in the battery. An important
characteristic of batteries is that the energy storage efficiency is very high, mostly more than
90% in Li-ion batteries.
Because a car needs to be as light as possible, the battery cannot be too heavy. This limits
the maximum amount of energy stored in an EV battery, which itself limits the driving range.
Lithium-ion batteries currently have the highest gravimetric energy density of all battery
technologies. Thus an EV battery needs to be roughly 13 times as heavy as a gasoline tank to
reach the same energy content.

Dept. Mechanical Engineering, GECHH 2


“ELECTRIC VEHICLE TECHNOLOGY”

Figure 1.1 Battery cost breakdown


The two most common lithium-ion battery shapes are cylindrical and prismatic cells.
Typically, cylindrical lithium-ion cells are used in EV technology as they provide the longest
cycle, a high safety standard and they are cheaper to produce. The disadvantage is that they
are less efficient in volume packing of multiple cells, simply because of their geometry,
however, for cooling of the cells, this is actually an advantage.
Prismatic cells are more volume efficient, and for this reason, they are typically
employed in mobile phones and tablets. Recycling will become increasingly important to
recover the elements and materials from lithium-ion batteries as increasing production
volumes of batteries will put pressure on the price of battery materials as well as on material
abundance. A cost breakdown Provide in Figure 1.1.

We will now have an overview of different battery technologies for EV


applications:-
▪ Lead acid batteries
This is a mature technology where limited progress has been made in terms of energy
and power density. Deep cycle batteries are available, which have reinforced
electrodes to avoid separation and sludge formation [1]. Prospects for use in EVs are
limited, due to low energy densities, sensitivity to temperature and life cycle [2].
▪ Nickel based batteries
Nickel-metal hydride (NiMH) batteries are used extensively for traction purposes, and
are optimized for high energy content. Nickel-cadmium (NiCd) batteries also show
good potential for high specific energy and specific power, although the presence of
cadmium has raised some environmental concerns [3].
▪ High temperature batteries
Sodium-nickel chloride (NaNiCl or Zebra) batteries have been deployed in numerous
EV applications to date [4]. The high specific energy is attractive for long range EVs.
The high operating temperature (300°C) requires pre-heating before use, which can
use quite a lot of energy if parked regularly for long periods

Dept. Mechanical Engineering, GECHH 3


“ELECTRIC VEHICLE TECHNOLOGY”

▪ Metal air batteries


Aluminum-air (Al-air) and zinc-air (Zn-air) batteries both use oxygen absorbed from
the atmosphere on discharge and expel oxygen when being charged. The energy
density of these batteries is high but, lower power densities mean that applications are
limited.
▪ Lithium based batteries
Lithium based batteries are classified by the type of active material. Two main types
exist, those with liquid (Li-ion-liquid) and those with polymer electrolyte (Li-ion
polymer). The Li-on- liquid type is generally preferred for EV applications.
▪ Lithium manganese
Lithium manganese (LiMn2O4) offers a potentially lower cost solution. It has been
largely studied for electrical vehicle application, especially in Japan. The drawback of
this type of battery is the poor battery life due to the slight solubility of Mn.

Table 1.1 gives a final qualitative comparison of the EV battery technologies that we went
through in this section [5].

Table 1.1 Qualitative comparison of EV batteries (1=poor, 2=fair, 3=good). Adapted from [9]

Dept. Mechanical Engineering, GECHH 4


“ELECTRIC VEHICLE TECHNOLOGY”

1.2 EV battery parameters


Welcome to this lecture about EV battery performance parameters. The performance
parameters of a battery are essential for safe and optimal operation. Before I will show how
we can determine the performance parameters, we need to understand the basic working
principle of a battery.
Every battery consists of three main components. The negative anode, the positive
cathode, and the electrolyte. Other words for the electrodes are the minus pole and the plus
pole. The electrolyte is typically a liquid electrolyte and together with the separator it avoids
physical contact between the two electrodes. A scheme of the working principle of a Li-ion
battery cell is given in Figure 1.2.
Taking Li-ion batteries as an example, when the battery is charged, lithium atoms are
stored in the negative electrode but they experience a driving force to migrate towards the
positive electrode. The driving force for this is chemical, which means the Li atoms
prefer to be bond in the positive electrode material. The larger the bonding strength, the larger
the potential in the electrode.

Figure 1.2 Working principle of a Li-ion battery cell


The most important battery performance parameters are the capacity, state of charge,
efficiency, energy content, the energy density, cycle life and C-rates. I am going to explain
those one by one.

1.3 Processes and materials inside the battery


Let’s consider the atomic scale working of a Li-ion battery by looking at the classical
combination of a graphite negative electrode with a Lithium cobalt oxide or LCO positive
electrode, as commercialized in 1991.
Lithium can be stored between the graphene layers in graphite, and in the interlayers of
the cobalt oxide host. Lithium is relatively weakly bonded in graphite (the negative electrode)
compared to in LCO (the positive electrode). The resulting chemical driving force for lithium
to move from the graphite towards the LCO expresses itself as battery voltage. This driving
force will cause the battery to discharge spontaneously, but only if the Li-ions are allowed to
move through the electrolyte from the negative to the positive electrode.

Dept. Mechanical Engineering, GECHH 5


“ELECTRIC VEHICLE TECHNOLOGY”

Figure 1.3.1 Li-ion battery process at the atomic scale


During discharge the negative electrode produces electrons, corresponding to oxidAtion
of the graphite, in which case the negative electrode is called Anode. At the positive
electrode, electrons are consumed, which corresponds to reduCtion of the LCO, in which case
the positive electrode is called Cathode. the battery is achieved by applying a current opposite
to discharging, which requires a voltage larger than the battery open circuit voltage. This will
drive the electrons back from the positive to the negative electrode via the external circuit and
thereby also the Li-ions. In this case electron production and consumption are reversed, and
thus also the anode-cathode assignment switches between discharge and charge, as opposed
to the negative/positive electrode assignment that remains the same.
Now we are going relate the atomic scale properties of electrode materials to the
macroscopic performance parameters. Let’s start with capacity, voltage and energy density.
The chemical reactions that occur in batteries involve electron transfer, which are called redox
reactions referring to reduction and oxidation. From the battery redox reactions, we can
calculate the capacities of the electrodes, which you can practice during exercises after this
lecture. Here you see the redox reactions at both electrodes, which to the right represent
discharging of the battery. These are called insertion reactions because the lithium ions are
inserted into a host material at the negative and positive electrode, as the battery charges and
discharges, respectively.

The approach of calculating the electrode capacities and the battery energy density is
as follows: Imagine we need to store 1 mole of Li-ions, then the capacity equals Faraday’s
constant: 96500 Coulomb.
Also, the operation conditions of Li-ion batteries have a large impact on the battery
cycle life, as graphically shown in Figure 1.3.1. High temperatures enhance electrolyte
decomposition, which as discussed, is detrimental for the cycle life. High temperatures can
occur due to the outside temperature, but also because of heat development in the battery due
to the internal

Dept. Mechanical Engineering, GECHH 6


“ELECTRIC VEHICLE TECHNOLOGY”

Figure 1.3.2 Weather and temperature effect on the battery performance and life cycle

resistance. This may require active cooling to guarantee a longer cycle life. Low temperatures
increase the internal resistance, which effectively lowers the power and energy density of
batteries, but only when kept at a low temperature.
Batteries for electric vehicles consist of many interconnected cells in combination
forming a battery pack. Individual battery cells a show a reduction in capacity with increasing
charge and discharge cycles, as well as variations in temperature. When cells are connected in
a series or parallel configuration as in a battery pack, management and control of the charge
and discharge conditions becomes crucial to extend the lifetime and limit ageing effects of
individual cells. A battery management system (BMS) is used to monitor, control and balance
the pack. The main functions of a BMS are outlined in the figure below. Without balancing the
battery pack, the battery is not only risking unnecessary damage, it is also operating sub-
optimally. Because the worst cell is limiting the performance of all cells in the battery pack, it
is very important to prevent big differences in cell’s state of charge.
The cost and complexity of a BMS depends on the functionality and intelligence built
into the management system. State-of-charge (SOC) estimation is an important parameter to
measure accurately, especially if EV’s are integrated with a smart electrical grid. Different
methods of estimating SOC are detailed in [10]. An overview of a BMS scheme is provided in
Figure 1.2.2

Figure 1.2.2 BMS structure scheme

Dept. Mechanical Engineering, GECHH 7


“ELECTRIC VEHICLE TECHNOLOGY”
Because the performance of battery cells varies with temperature, it is therefore
crucial to include a thermal management system in the battery pack. This ensures all cells are
both electrically and thermally balanced and the lifetime will be extended. Thermal
management systems can either use air or liquid as the transfer medium. For integrating into
the vehicle, the power consumption must be low and it must not add much additional mass.
The thermal management system can realize its performance requirements using either
passive or active means. A passive system using only the ambient environment may provide
sufficient thermal control for some battery packs whereas active control may be required for
others.
To understand the importance of the battery management system, we take a closer look
inside. The BMS has the possibility to monitor and control (directly or indirectly) several
different parameters of the battery:
• Voltage
• Current
• State of charge
• Temperature
• State of health
First of all, the voltage of the total battery pack and of the individual cells are monitored
by the BMS. The BMS can keep track of the difference between the minimum and the
maximum cell voltages, and estimate if there is a dangerous imbalance in the battery pack. The
charging and discharging current of the battery pack is essential to control, as too high current
can overheat a battery and lead to a failure. Further, improper control of the charging and
discharging current can lead to overvoltage and under voltage of the battery, respectively that
can harm the battery on the long run.
Another function is the temperature of the battery pack and the individual cells.
Temperature is directly related to the battery lifetime; as high temperatures can degrade the
battery faster. The individual cell temperature is important to know as well, to see if there are
local hot spots, indicating a possible failure. Using the BMS together with the battery thermal
management system can cool the battery and keep it within a nominal range. When there is a
coolant available, the temperature of the intake and output coolant temperature is an important
indicator of the temperature of the battery pack.
Almost all electric vehicle battery systems are made with the lithium-ion battery
chemistry. Lithium-ion rechargeable batteries are more sensitive to imbalance than other
battery chemistries. This is because lithium battery chemistries are more susceptible to
chemical damage, like cathode fouling, molecular breakdown and unwanted chemicals from
side reactions. The chemical damages will occur quickly in lithium-ion batteries when slight
overvoltage’s or overcurrent’s are applied. Heat accumulation inside the battery pack can
accelerate these unwanted chemical reactions.
It is clear that the BMS, through balancing, thermal management and control of voltage
and current helps in improving the battery life. Another important factor that can improve
battery life is to reduce the number of charge-discharge cycles and the maximum depth of
discharge. The battery should not be completely charged and discharged, because this is

Dept. Mechanical Engineering, GECHH 8


“ELECTRIC VEHICLE TECHNOLOGY”
detrimental to battery life. Furthermore, some EV manufacturers let their customers set the
maximum percentage until which the battery should be filled for every-day use, and they
recommend a rather low setting of around 80%, which can be increased for longer trips.
Another setting in EVs which is sometimes available is the option to limit the power
output of the car. This has the downside of having lower acceleration, but it limits the
discharge rate of the battery and therefore is less detrimental to the battery

2 POWER ELECTRONICS FOR EV


2.1 Power electronics in electric cars

In this section, we will look at the basics of power electronics. First, we will look at
what is a power electronic converter. Then will look at the different converter types based on
whether;converter operation.
A power electronic converter is an electronic device made of high power
semiconductor switches that use different switching states to change the magnitude and
waveform of the voltage and current between the input and output

Figure 2.1.1 Power converters in an electric car


An electric car, as you can see in Figure 2.1.1, uses a central DC bus for exchanging
power between the various electric components, and the converters are responsible for
controlling the power flows. The on-board charger is responsible for converting the AC
power from the grid to the central DC bus for the charging the traction batteries. Hence, it is an
AC to DC power converter.
The battery converter then controls the charging or discharging of the traction
batteries by either drawing or feeding power from the DC-link. Hence, the battery converter
is a bidirectional DC-DC converter. Similarly, the auxiliary battery converter is used to
charge the auxiliary battery by drawing power from the DC bus. Finally, the motor drive is a
DC to AC inverter used to control and operate an AC motor. The motor drive is bidirectional
and feeds power to the motor for propulsions and acts as an AC to DC rectifier by drawing
power from the motor during regenerative braking. In some cases, the motor drive can be a
DC to DC converter if the motor is a DC motor like a brushless DC motor.

Dept. Mechanical Engineering, GECHH 9


“ELECTRIC VEHICLE TECHNOLOGY”
In any power converter, energy is always conserved. Hence, the input and output
power can be related based on the losses in the power converter, as:

Pout= Pin- Ploss (3.1)


Pin= Vin∙ Iin (3.2)
Pout= Vout∙ Iout (3.3)
Pout
(3.4)
η = ∙100
Pin

Where:
• Pout and Pin are the output and input power of the power converter;
• Ploss is the losses in the power converter;
• Vin and Iin are the input voltage and current of the power converter;
• Vout and Iout are the output voltage and current of the power converter.

Table 2.1.1 Overview of EV power converters classification

Table 2.1.1 gives an overview of the power converters in an electric car and their
characteristics for AC and DC power flow, power flow direction and isolation. It is important
to note here that one or both of the on-board charger and the battery converter has to be isolated
so that there is isolation between the battery and the AC grid for safety reasons. Secondly, both
the traction battery converter and the motor drive must be bidirectional. These converters are
also shown in the car schematic in Figure 2.1.2

Dept. Mechanical Engineering, GECHH 10


“ELECTRIC VEHICLE TECHNOLOGY”

Figure 2.1.2 Power converters in an electric car schematic


Now we map the buck-boost converter back to the bi-directional battery converter of
the EV. When the regeneration power flows from the motor to the battery through the HV-
bus, the converter works as buck mode. It happens when DS1 creates average voltage on
terminals 1 and 2 larger than battery voltage. On the other side, this converter works in boost
mode when the battery powering the motor. It happens when DS1 creates average voltage on
terminals 1 and 2 smaller than battery voltage.
In other words, when recovering the kinetic energy from the vehicle, the device
operates in buck mode, where the voltage level is decreased to a level that is within the safe
voltage range of the battery as shown in Figure 2.1.3 When propelling the vehicle, the device
operates in boost mode and the DC voltage is regulated to output a higher voltage level for
the electric motor drive and motor. As already concluded, the DC-DC battery converter should
work in two quadrants as a class C converter and the current must be able to reverse.

Figure 2.1.3 Buck and boost mode of operation for the battery converter

Dept. Mechanical Engineering, GECHH 11


“ELECTRIC VEHICLE TECHNOLOGY”
In reality, the battery converter is much more complex, as shown in Figure 3.21. If
isolation is needed between input and output, a dual active bridge converter with a high-
frequency transformer can be used.
To wrap up, boost or step-up converters have one switch and can help in boosting the
voltage from a lower input to a higher output voltage. To obtain bidirectional power flow, a
buck and boost converter can be created by combining buck and boost converter. The buck
and boost converter can operate in two quadrants by changing the direction of the current.
Several other DC to DC power converter topologies are possible that can facilitate four-
quadrant operation and provide isolation as the requirements may be.

3 CHARGING TECHNOLOGY FOR EV


3.1 Introduction to charging methods for EVs

In this section we will talk about the charging methods of EVs. We all know that there
is a battery pack inside the EV and it needs to be charged from time to time. There are various
ways to charge it. The three most common ways are listed below.
As introduced, conductive charging is the most common charging method right now and it has
two categories: AC and DC charge. The users have their flexibility of choosing where to
charge: at home, at workplace or at a public charging station. The inductive charging has
already existed but still not standardized yet. The third method is battery swap. The three
methods are graphically depicted in Figure 3.1.
One of the conductive charging methods is AC charging, which you may already
familiar with. The advantages of this charger are that the battery can be recharged anywhere
there is a standard electrical outlet. It can easily communicate with the Battery Management
System (BMS) thanks to the internal wiring network. This effect leads to higher performance
and lower cost. On the other hand, this solution is suitable for the PHEV application in which
the specific energy is lower. However, the AC power has to be converted into DC power in
the car, and there is a limitation of the power output. That is because of the size and weight
restrictions on the on-board charger. And, normally, AC charge needs a relatively long time.
Another category of conductive charging method is DC charging. This solution is
suitable for high power designs, and the power output of fast charges is limited only by the
ability of the batteries to accept the charge. The charging time of fast charger is less than one
hour. The benefits of DC charge are: it can be designed with either a high or low charging rate,
and is not limited in its weight and size; off-board chargers are located outside the vehicle, and
this set up provides more flexibility in terms of the power that can be delivered; also, DC
charge with high power requests less charging time.
Nevertheless, DC charging request higher investment for installation compare to AC
charging; And you could access the DC charge port only at public charging stations. In order
have a safe and reliable DC charging service, there are some challenges need to overcome.
First is the adverse impact on power system: harmonic contamination and high current
demand

Dept. Mechanical Engineering, GECHH 12


“ELECTRIC VEHICLE TECHNOLOGY”

Figure 3.1 Conductive charge (on the left), inductive charge (in the centre) and battery swap (on the right)

Figure 3.2 Static inductive charging

Super imposing on peak hours. Second is the availability of this method is restricted
due to limitations with the supply network. Finally, since the off-board chargers and the BMS
are physically separated, reliable communication is important to ensure correct charging
conditions. Depending on the battery type, voltage, temperature and SOC supplied by BMS,
the off-board charger should adopt a proper charging method.
Inductive charge is the energy transfer from the power supply to the EV via magnetic
induction coupling, based on the principle of electromagnetic induction at high frequency. A
possible solution for an inductive charger is shown in Figure 3.2. The main idea behind
inductive charging is the use of two electromagnetically linked coils.
The primary coil is placed on the road surface, in a pad-like construction linked to the
electricity network. The secondary coil is placed on the vehicle, ideally on the bottom of the
car, at safe distance from the passengers. The AC is rectified and converted to a high
frequency AC power within the charger station, then this high frequency power is transferred
to the EV side by induction.
There is another way to charge a car wirelessly: dynamic charging, shown in Figure 3.3.
Similar to static inductive charging, the energy transfer from the charger to the car happens
through magnetic induction coupling. In practical terms, coils connected to electric cables
which used to provide the power are buried in the road. The coils emit an electromagnetic
field that is picked up by vehicles driving over them and converted into electricity to charge
the cars.

Dept. Mechanical Engineering, GECHH 13


“ELECTRIC VEHICLE TECHNOLOGY”

Figure 3.3 Dynamic inductive charging


The main barriers of the dynamic inductive charging are related to power transfer
efficiency. The foreign objects on the road, the abrasion of the road surface and the coil
structure changes inside the road building materials may impact the features of the coils and
reduce the power transfer efficiency.
The third method we are going to introduce is battery swap. It works as depicted in
Figure 3.4: basically switching out the depleted battery and replacing the same with a full
battery. The process involves driving into a battery switching bay and an automated process
will position the vehicle, switch out the current battery and replace it with a fully charged
battery.
The depleted batteries are charged in the station for later deployment. The benefits of
battery swap is obvious, since there is no range anxiety, and you can quickly and easily refill
your tank. This approach has seemingly quite some advantages over other charging
technology, but to get market acceptance is a challenge.

Figure 3.4 Battery swap working principle

The fourth challenge is from the safety perspective. The electrical connection between
the battery and the vehicle carries a very high current, and it is this connection that would
need to be made and broken each time the battery is exchanged.
At best, it will cause wear and degradation at the key link between the two
components. At worst, it has the potential to cause a massive discharge, with all the
consequences that might ensue.
As a conclusion, there is still a long way to go to charge the battery more convenient,
more efficient, stable, and economical.

Dept. Mechanical Engineering, GECHH 14


“ELECTRIC VEHICLE TECHNOLOGY”

Figure 3.5 Basic AC charging configurations

With a basic understanding of the AC charging process, let us now look at the four
main types of AC charging connectors. The EV industry has not agreed on one specific AC
connector, so depending on the car brand and country, the connector varies in shape, size and
pin configuration. One of the main reasons is the difference in AC voltage and frequency. For
example, in the USA, power is supplied using 120V, 60 Hz single phase AC or 240V, 60Hz,
dual phase AC. On the other hand, in Europe, 230V, 50Hz single phase AC or 400V, 50 Hz
three- phase AC is used. This naturally leads to differences in chargers between the two
regions. Generally, an AC connector has two or larger pins to transmit power and some
smaller pins for communication. In Figure 3.5 we can see the four types of AC connectors
used worldwide, namely:
− The Type 1 connector, which is mostly used in Europe, including those of Tesla cars;
− the proprietary connector used by Tesla for its cars in the USA

Figure 3.6 AC connectors: Type 2 (in the centre) and Tesla US connector (on the right)

Let us now look at these connectors in detail. In Figure 3.6, on the left, we show a
Type 1 vehicle connector, which is used specifically for charging with single-phase AC. It has
a round housing consisting of five pins. 2 AC pins: L1, L2 for single-phase AC; a pin for the
protective earth; and two signal pins namely, the Proximity Pilot (PP), and the Control Pilot
(CP). The proximity pilot is used for ensuring connectivity between the EV and the charger,
and the control pilot is used for controlling the charging current. The maximum voltage and
current rating of this charger are: 120 V or 240V single-phase AC with a current up to 80A
Next let us look in Figure 3.8 at the Type 2 vehicle connector, which is also called the
Menaces connector. The Type 2 connector is circular in shape, with a flat top edge. The top

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row consists of two small pins for communication, namely the proximity pilot and the control
pilot. The middle and lower row consists of five for AC power transfer, namely three pins for
three-phase AC connection and two pins for the neutral and protective earth. The maximum

voltage/current rating are : 1 phase 230V up to 80A and 3 phase 400V up to 63A.
Figure 3.8 AC charging: Type 1 and Type 2 PP and CP schemes
3.2 Smart charging and V2G
The following questions will be explained in this lecture: What is smart charging and
vehicle- to-grid and why we do we smart charging? What are the advantages and
disadvantages of vehicle-to-grid? And finally, in which cases can smart charging be applied?
Smart charging is defined as a series of intelligent functionalities to control the EV
charging power in order to create a flexible, sustainable, low cost and efficient charging
environment. It has several benefits and has a huge potential for the future. For example,
smart charging can increase the flexibility of charging by controlling the charging power,
charging time duration and charging power flow direction.
Vehicle-to-grid refers to the concept of using the electric vehicle battery to feed power
back to the grid. In order to facilitate vehicle-to-grid, we need bidirectional electric vehicle
chargers that both draw and feed power between the EV battery and the grid. Besides the grid,
the battery power can flow from the vehicle to a home, to a building, to a load, etc. and it is
called V2H, V2B, V2L, respectively. V2X is the generic term that is used to include all such
applications.
There are a number of key benefits of V2X technology. First of all, it enables the
storage of electricity in the car, especially from renewable sources which lead to emission
reductions. Also, by using the stored energy, the peak demand in the electrical grid can be
reduced. Next to that, electric cars can now serve as an essential system component in an
emergency power supply. Lastly, ancillary services can be offered to the grid using an electric
car with V2X configuration providing a revenue stream to the EV user.

At the same time, a number of main challenges for V2X are identified as well. First,
V2X needs bidirectional chargers, which are bigger and costlier than unidirectional chargers.
Second, the lifetime of the battery inside the EV is partially reduced, since the bi-directional
charging demands more charging cycles, causing additional degradation. Further, the ICT
infrastructure, the required standardization and regulatory framework and financial incentives
which are essential for the implementation of V2X are still under development. Finally, it is

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important to note that vehicle-to-grid is currently not possible using AC chargers due to
technological limitations. This is because a bidirectional on-board charger is needed for
vehicle-to-grid, but most current EVs only have a unidirectional on-board charger.
The first load balancing approach is to shift the charging time slot and to adjust the
charging power based on the grid capacity and local loading condition, as shown in Figure
3.2.1.

Figure 3.2.1 Load balancing: adjust time and power according to load

Figure 3.2.2 Load balancing: multiple charge points with priority


For example, when the load on the grid is low, the EV charging power can be
increased. Alternatively, if the load power increases, then the EV charging power can be
subsequently reduced. Finally, the EV charging can be stopped if the grid is overloaded and
remain so until the load power is back to normal. With a limited maximum power for charging
the cars, smart charging can sequentially operate multiple charge points with priority, or adjust
the power of each charging point so as to be within the maximum limit.
With the smart charging, each car can also be charged with different strategies
according to the load and the priority, for instance like shown in Figure 3.2.2. Smart charging
can help in controlling the charging power of the car based on renewable energy production,
say from solar and wind generators.

3.3 ICT protocols for charging

Charging electric cars is part of an evolving ecosystem with many different machines
and stakeholders that must be able to exchange information automatically. In this video, I will
explain how you can use a range of computer protocols to do just that.

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Let’s start with the simple case of EV charging at home. And let’s assume that you
have a dedicated charger that is managed by a remote operator. For this you need an EV
manufacturer - the OEM - the EV itself and a charging station, also referred to as an EVSE. In
order for the EV to talk to the charger, the IEC 61851 protocol is often used. The new
functionality will become available when the ISO 15118 protocol is deployed.
Thinks like authentication and smart charging (even giving energy back to the grid)
that is automatically handled by the car. Perhaps this looks simple, but to enable this scenario
in practice, the charging station should have the option to be remotely “controlled” by an
operator. Let me give you some functions for which this is necessary: metering EV electricity
usage.
This is often useful to get tax or company money back. Remote troubleshooting of the
charging process. And firmware updates for fixing bugs or adding functionality. This makes
the picture a bit more complex because we need to add the so-called Charge Point Operator.
The de-facto open standard for this is OCPP which stands for Open Charge Point Protocol.
Now let’s make it a little bit more complex: the user is not charging at home but at a
public charging station. This is shown in Figure 4.22. Here we run into the problem that we
have different operators for different charging stations. To get one bill at the end of the month,
you will need an ID, currently usually a charging card.
This is provided by a party that is referred to as the E-Mobility Service Provider, the
EMSP. To be able to use your charging card at any charging station of any operator, some
form of communication between the EMSP and the CPO, is necessary.
This communication is for authorization purposes and includes the handover of billing
data from any CSO to the EMSP to be able to provide one bill to the EV user. If you want
to enable roaming to other networks, and you are not using peer-to-peer or distributed ledger
technology, you will also need a clearinghouse

Figure 3.3.1 ICT infrastructure for charging

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Figure 3.3.2 ICT infrastructure for smart charging

With smart charging, the stakeholders on the electricity grid come into full play. Take a
look at Figure 3.3.2 The DSO, or distributed system operator, that provides local electricity and
has to watch out for voltage and local grid congestion. The TSO, or transmission system
operator, that transports electricity over larger distances and has to watch out for the
frequency and for grid congestion over larger areas. The BRP or balance responsible party is
the legal role that encompasses all the bidding that goes on to balance supply and demand on
the electricity market. The protocols for smart charging are not yet completely clear but many
developments are taking place. I recently wrote a paper about the excellent synergy between
OCPP and OpenADR. In effect, the Utilities could use their OpenADR infrastructure and by
connecting it to OCPP enabled charge point they could technically start smart charging all
connected vehicles. IEEE 2030.5 is another interesting protocol that is primarily aimed at in-
house smart grid solutions.
However, smart charging is not yet common practice and currently, protocols have limited
support for it. OCPP 2.0 is fully smart charging enabled but only a few implementations exist
where the actual state of charge and time of departure are used from the EV user. One issue.

4. FUTURE ELECTRIC MOBILITY


4.1 Future trends in electric cars

In this section we will briefly look at the important technologies and emerging trends in
electric vehicles and charging infrastructure design. We will look at the power train design,
solar electric vehicles and fuel cell electric vehicles, future charging technologies, and finally
at autonomous electric vehicles.
First, let us look at the key trends in electric vehicle power train and battery
technology. Amongst EV manufacturers, it has now become unofficially recognized that EVs
in the future must have a battery capacity that can provide 200-300-mile range. This is more
than sufficient for city commutes and removes the range highway for long distance driving in
combination with highway fast-charging.

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Secondly, manufacturers are moving towards designing electric vehicles from the
bottom up rather than building them based on existing combustion engine cars. This approach
provides more flexibility in design, scope to add larger batteries and is expected to reduce the
cost of the vehicle in the long run.
A third trend is to integrate the different power train components and controllers in the
vehicle. This allows an increase in the power density with a subsequent reduction in vehicle
weight, reduces the wiring requirements within the car and provides more efficient ways for
thermal management of power train components.
On the battery side, a vital parameter to realize more efficient EVs in the future is
energy density. Table 4.1 shows the estimated maximum energy density limits of different
battery chemistries.

Table 4.1 Battery maximum estimated energy densities

In Figure 4.1, we can see the typical drive train components of a conventional electric
car showing the battery, DC-DC converter, and DC-AC motor drive. In case of a solar electric
vehicle, solar panels are included in the drive train through a maximum power point tracking
or MPPT, DC to DC power converter. This converter ensures that solar array is operated at it
optimal power point and the voltage of the PV array is matched with that of the high voltage
bus inside the EV. While providing all the power requirements of a commercial electric car
using on-board solar cells would not be possible in the near future, several EV manufacturers

Figure 4.1 Solar EV: power flow schematic

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Figure 4.1.1 Fuel cell electric vehicle schematic

have announced to have solar cells integrated into the car roof. This will partially provide the
driving energy, thereby extending the car range.
While solar cells can help in increasing the range of an EV, fuel cells powered by
hydrogen can provide long driving range and quick fuelling times similar to a combustion
engine vehicle. A fuel cell electric vehicle is essentially an electric vehicle with a battery with
the key feature of using a fuel cell to charge the battery and power the drive train. Production
versions of Fuel cell vehicles have been offered by several leading car manufacturers including
Toyota, Honda, Hyundai, and Mercedes. While high costs of the vehicle and charging
infrastructure have limited its growth till now, fuel cell EVs are expected to emerge back in
the future and play a key role especially for long distance heavy vehicle transport such as
trucks.
As shown in the drawing in Figure 4.1.1, the primary coil is placed on the road surface
and linked to the electricity network while the secondary coil is placed on the vehicle and
charges the battery. Wireless charging systems are now commercially available for various
electric vehicles. In the future, it could come as a default charging system for electric cars
based on the SAE J2954 standard. The extension of wireless charging would be on-road
charging where inductive charge pads are placed along the roads so that electric cars can
wirelessly charge while driving. It’s a technology that can dramatically reduce the cost of
electric cars as they would need a smaller battery and move this cost to the charging
infrastructure.

Figure 4.1.2 Wireless charging on the road: a representation

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The third key charging technology is smart charging, especially from renewable
sources of energy like wind and solar and vehicle to grid technology. Smart charging of EVs
whether it is AC, DC or wireless involves the control of the charging power as a function of
time. By controlling the charging power, several benefits can be achieved in the future,
namely:

− Reducing the charging cost;


− Charging based on renewable energy generation;
− Using the car as a storage for the renewables and a grid back up with the use of vehicle-
to-grid;
− Providing demand-side management and reducing the peak load and losses in the
distribution network;
− Providing ancillary services in the form of voltage and frequency control to the grid.

Figure 4.1.3 Tesla automated electric vehicles project


Lastly, the technology that can totally change the mobility landscape is autonomous
driving. Self-driving with limited capabilities have already been built into existing electric
cars such as those from Tesla. An example of Tesla’s project is given in Figure 4.1.3. Self-
driving vehicles open up a plethora of opportunities in the future such as shared and connected
mobility, cities decongested of cars and parking spaces, higher utilization of vehicles, lower
cost of mobility and more efficient point-to-point connectivity. A combination of different
kinds of sensors such as a video camera, Light detection and ranging or LIDAR, Radar
sensors, Ultrasonic sensors, and GPS are used by the vehicles to understand the environment,
and a computer on board controls the movement of the car.
4.2 Wireless charging of EVs
Recently, wireless charging of mobile phones has become a possibility, and one does
not need to connect a charging cable to phone to charge it. This technology can be extended
for charging electric car batteries as well. During wireless power transfer, power is transferred
from a source to a load without the need for a conducting cable in between. Different types of
wireless power transfer techniques are possible based on energy carrier medium. They can be
mainly classified as inductive, capacitive, microwave, laser, and acoustic power transfer.
An inductively coupled contactless power transfer (IPT) system is capable of
efficiently delivering power from a stationary primary source to a movable or stationary
secondary source over a relatively large air gap.
Although the conductive charger has a lot of advantages such as simplicity and high

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efficiency, the inductive charger is easy to use and is suitable for all-weather conditions. This
is because there is no direct electrical contact between the vehicle and the charger preventing
the possibility of a shock or an electrical arc.
In case of stationary/static charging, parking lots can be upgraded to charge EVs with
the comfort of not plugging in any charging cables.

Figure 4.2.1 Inductive Power Transfer (IPT) components

A possible solution for an inductive charger is shown in Figure 5.7. The principle is
based on the magnetic coupling between two windings of a high frequency air core
transformer.
Operation principle
Let us understand the operation principle of an IPT system where coils exchange
power over air (air core configuration).
The air gap in a IPT transformer configuration is typically large in order of tens of
mm. So, they have a large leakage inductance (L1-M, L2-M) and low mutual coupling (k)
which implies a large magnetizing current.
Figure 4.2.1 shows the circuit representation of a inductive charging air core
transformer.
L1 and L2 represent the self-inductance of primary and secondary winding
respectively. M is the mutual inductance between the transformer winding and k is coupling
coefficient (0 ≤ k ≤ 1) such that:

M = k √L1L2 (4.2)

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Figure 4.2.2 Air coupled inductive power transfer circuit (top) and its equivalent circuit (bottom)

For IPT system with air as a power transfer medium, k is small and so is M. This
results in a large leakage inductance which reduces the power transfer efficiency. The leakage
inductances LL1 and LL2 on the primary and secondary side can be described as:

LL1=L1-M (5.2)
LL2=L2-M (5.3)

Ideally, one wants a large value of mutual inductance and a low value of leakage
inductance. In the case of a ferrite core transformer, the coupling ratio is very high, i.e. k ≈ 1
and therefore M>>LL1. But in IPT systems, since k is low, this however does not occur.
Consequently, a large amount of reactive power is drawn from the source to provide the
reactive power of the leakage inductance. Hence, very little power is transmitted to the load
resistance RL if the coupling coefficient is low, say below 0.4.
4.3 Battery swap
what is battery swap technology? What are the advantages and disadvantages of
battery swap? Fast charging and battery swap, which one is better in what perspective? And
finally, what is the suitable application case for battery swap?
First of all, let’s recall what battery swap is. The battery swap works on the basis of
switching out the depleted battery and replacing the same with a full battery. The process
involves driving into a battery switching bay, and an automated process will position the
vehicle, switch out the current battery and replace it with a fully charged battery. The depleted
batteries are charged in the station for later deployment.

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Battery swap has plenty of advantages. Battery swap can provide a new fully
charged battery, without the need to wait for the charging duration. In this case, the range
anxiety is eased, and to some extent, infinite mileage is obtained. Batteries are charged
outside the vehicles, so there is no limitation on the size, weight and power levels of the
charger. Batteries are left being charged in battery swap station, which provides high
flexibility on the charging power as well as charging time. Batteries can be charged
according to the local e vehicle may cause safety issues.
Both battery swap and fast charging are hence two possible ways for quick charge
replenishment. Now we are going to compare the battery swap with the fast charging
based on the number of visits, the serving unit, waiting time, etc.
In reality, you may not always get a battery swap or a fast charging when you
arrive at a charging station and would need to wait. Just as a petrol station, an EV
charging or a battery swap station also has a limited capacity. We performed a study
where queuing theory is used to compare the operation of a battery swap and fast
charging station. A scheme for queuing theory is provided in Figure 5.12. The key factors
considered that can influence the operation are:

Figure 4.3.1 Queuing theory scheme


- The arrival of customers: this includes the distribution of the arrival times and the
time interval in between.
- The behavior of customers: for example, are the customers willing to wait or leave
after a short time?
- The service times: in this case, it is the charging time for the fast charging and the
time for the battery replacement.
- The service discipline: here are many possibilities of service discipline like first
come-first served, random order, last come first served, priorities, etc. Usually, we
consider first come-first served order for this analysis.
- The number of service units: this is the number of fast charging points/ battery swap
lanes. The service capacity is a trade-off between providing sufficient service while
maintaining maximum utilization.
- The last factor is the waiting room: there can be limitations concerning the total
number of customers that can be served. The arriving customers could be rejected if
both the serving capacity and the queue are full. In the case of electric cars, the total
amount of parking spaces can be considered as the waiting room.

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First, let us compare the waiting time of fast charging and battery swap. The
factors that influence the waiting time of fast charging are the required vehicle range, the
charging power and the number of charging port at the station.
On the other hand, the main factors that influence the waiting time for battery
swap are the battery capacity, the number of battery swap lanes, the number of batteries in
the battery swap station, the charging power for the depleted batteries, and the number of
charging port.
Another key factor to be considered for battery swap is the extra number of
batteries required for satisfying the travel profile. For a battery swap scenario, batteries
are required on-board the vehicle for driving and extra batteries are needed at the station
for charging and to be kept ready for a swap. On the contrary, fast charging does not
require extra batteries. In the research for the Dutch scenario, it was assumed that 10
minutes is the average waiting time in the queue, the charging power in the swap station
is 10.8kW, and each simulation for battery swap was started with 80 percent extra
batteries
Let us consider Figure 4.3.2 The first example is that of fixed route logistics.
Assume there is a supermarket chain in the city, a few distribution centers responsible for
distributing goods to each store via a delivery truck fleet. In this case, the delivery trucks
can be electrical, and each distribution center can be equipped with battery swap
facilities. Whenever the electric trucks get back to the distribution centers,
they have a chance to get their batteries swapped if necessary. The second
application example is public transportation where the bus fleet normally commutes
between fixed destinations through fixed routes. This also makes it quite convenient and
suitable for battery swap implementation where the electric buses can swap their batteries
in the central bus station or one of the destinations where there is a swap facility
available.

Figure 4.3.2 Battery swap applications: fixed route logistics (on the left)
and public transportation (on the right)

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5. CONCLUSIONS
❖ Further research should be conducted into the robustness of Li-ion batteries in a crash
situation.
❖ In particular, investigation should consider the types and severities of crash that can be
expected to place severe demands on in the in-built safety systems of electric vehicles
and their batteries.
❖ Further research is also needed to develop appropriate and consistent post-crash
procedures for dealing with electric vehicles, including fires. A draft for such
procedures is provided in the Appendix.
❖ In the case of crash test organizations, there are several extra pre-crash arrangements
that should be put into place in preparation for an electric vehicle crash test (also set
out in the Appendix).
❖ Based on this initial research, consideration should be given to having available
special fire-fighting equipment, as well as thermal imaging equipment.
❖ To remotely check for hotspots around key vehicle components, and a gas monitor to
check for flammable or toxic gases) near the crashed vehicle.

REFERENCES
❖ Digges K, (2009), Crashes that result in fires, Proceedings of 21st ESV, Stuttgart,
Paper 90-0214.
❖ ECE (2010), Proposal for the 02 series of amendments to Regulation No. 94 (Frontal
collision protection), Submitted by the Working Party on Passive Safety,
ECE/TRANS/WP .29/2010/122, 4 August 2010
❖ Fischetti M (2010), Charge under control, Scientific American, August 2010
❖ Lain M,Teagle D, Cullen J and Dass V (2003) Dealing With In-Flight Lithium
Battery Fires In Portable Electronic Devices, CAA PAPER 2003/4, UK Civil
Aviation Authority 2003 ISBN 0 86039 923 0, 30 July 2003
❖ Otte D, Sferco R, Schafer R, Eis V, Thomas P & Welsh R, (2009) Assessment of
injury severity of nearside occupants in pole impacts to side of passenger cars in
European traffic accidents, Proceedings of 21st ESV, Stuttgart, Paper 90-0243.
❖ Paine M, Griffiths M, Haley J and Newland C (2009) Injury and structural trends
during 12 years of NCAP frontal offset crash tests, Proceedings of 21st ESV,
Stuttgart, Paper 90-0374.
❖ Webster H (2004) Lithium Battery Fire Tests, FAA William J Hughes Technical
Center.

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