Final Internship Report
Final Internship Report
Final Internship Report
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)
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.
External viva
Name of the Examiners Signature with date
1.
2.
CANDIDATE DECLARATION
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
B BASAVAPRABHU
CONTENTS
ABSTRACT
1. INTRODUCTION 1-8
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”
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)
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]
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
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
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
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 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
Figure 2.1.3 Buck and boost mode of operation for the battery converter
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
Figure 3.1 Conductive charge (on the left), inductive charge (in the centre) and battery swap (on the right)
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.
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.
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
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
Figure 3.2.1 Load balancing: adjust time and power according to load
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
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)
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.
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:
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)
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
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❖ 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,
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❖ Webster H (2004) Lithium Battery Fire Tests, FAA William J Hughes Technical
Center.