What Is Automobile Vehicle Electrification – Advantages And Overview

Vehicle electrification is the method of powering the commercial vehicle by electricity, replacing vehicle elements that work on a traditional energy source with elements that operate on electricity. As usual, commercial vehicle electrification concentrates on the powertrain made by electricity and its supporting systems such as off-board and onboard charging methods and wireless power variation. 

Vehicle electrification also includes many other vehicle functionalities in a standard non-electric vehicle, such as electronic stability program, electronic power-assisted steering electronic traction control, intelligent light system, innovative electromagnetic suspension, all-wheel run, airbag deployment system, and more.

The central driving portions for vehicle electrification are:

• The decrease of pollutants
• The expansion of new original transport systems
• The consequent lack of availability of trace fuels

The performance of conventional gasoline vehicles is only about 17% to 21%, whereas the performance of an electric motor is between 85% and 90%. In addition to an internal combustion engine (ICE), other construction, pneumatic, and hydraulic substitution power systems in a conventional vehicle. These pneumatic, automatic, and hydraulic systems are bulky, heavy, and less valuable than an electrical system. 

Electrical systems are usually efficient as they can be monitored and interacted with more efficiently than the others, which means they can be controlled optimised for performance efficiency. Therefore, a 100% electric vehicle (EV) will result in high performance and zero ejections of pollutants, thus demoting the overall carbon footprint and engaging designs.

Requirement of Vehicle Electrification

The need for vehicle electrification is very high. We can see the pollution level in our environment and petroleum driven vehicles are the prime reason for this. To minimize this pollution, several manufacturers are planning to manufacture electric cars as well as trucks. Nowadays, Volvo company is planning to produce a Volvo FM electric truck to preserve the environment. It is not only one but also many companies trying to do the same. 

Work of Vehicle Electrification

The fundamental and critical objective of vehicle electrification is replacing a gasoline drive with an electric powertrain. In an electric powertrain, the battery pack uses the power stored in it to drive the electric motor with the guidance of a power electronics converter. During braking or when the vehicle’s speed is reduced, the electric power is pushed back to the battery using a regenerative braking system. 

Based on the class of electric motor used, the control method and topology of the converter will change. The different types of electric motors generally practised in an electric vehicle are the following:

1.  BLDCM (Brushless DC motor): Used in lightweight two-wheeler and three-wheeler EVs like battery-operated scooters and motorcycles

2. PMSM (Permanent-magnet synchronous motor): Used by many EV producers for high-performance electric bikes, cars, and buses 

3. ACIM (AC induction motor): Used by the company for 2-wheeler and 4-wheeler EVs

4. IPMM (Interior permanent magnet Motor): Used by some companies for high-performance, two-wheelers

5. PMSRM (Permanent-magnet switched reluctance motor): Used in four-wheeler EVs

Vehicle electrification depends on help from interdisciplinary teams such as: 

1. Motor drives, Power electronics, electric machines
2. Systems integration, Advanced electro-mechanical powertrains and thermal management
3. Electronic control units (ECUs) and Vehicle controllers
4. Energy storage systems and Batteries 
5. Energy storage systems’ management, electronic controls, and packaging
6. Hybrid battery/ultra-capacitor energy storage systems
7. Vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I), Vehicle-to-grid (V2G), and vehicle-to-home (V2H) integration

Vehicle Electrification Technologies

It is challenging to replace gasoline fuel with electric fuel with existing battery technology and still meet all customers’ demand. The main factor is the limitation of supreme energy that can be stored in a battery cell. But hybrids, an ICE, and an electric motor union can bridge this gap between electric vehicles and traditional vehicles. Combinations can also improve the power of regular gasoline vehicles. There are several types of technologies that breathe for vehicle electrification, including:

1. HEVs (Hybrid Electric Vehicles): HEVs have a combination of the electric propulsion system and ICE. ICE produces most of the energy, and the electric system is used only to increase fuel efficiency.

2. PHEVs (Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles): PHEVs also combine electric propulsion systems and ICE. A PHEV reserves energy from the electric power grid or by regenerative braking. The PHEV moves on electric power until the battery is approximately depleted, and then the car auto shifts over to use the ICE. There are 2 principal PHEV types. Blended PHEVs use electricity and gasoline when the battery charged and then shift totally to gasoline when the battery depleted. On the other hand, Extended Range Electric Vehicles (EREVs) are PHEVs that utilise only electricity when the battery charged and shift to gasoline when the battery discharged.

3. BEVs (Battery Electric Vehicles): BEVs have bigger battery packs to reserve more energy from the electric power grid for a more extended range. They have no backup petroleum engine. BEVs are also pointed to by some as “all-electric vehicles” (AEVs) or “pure-electric vehicles”.

4. FCEVs (Fuel Cell Electric Vehicles): FCEVs refuel with hydrogen, including using a fuel cell to produce current to move the vehicle. FCEVs are also pointed to as fuel-cell vehicles or FCVs.

Vehicle Electrification’s Challenges

Challenges related to BEVs carry a limited driving range, battery issues, long charging time, high costs, and inadequate charging infrastructure. Also, with vehicle electrification, there are problems with different power semiconductors and other devices.

Will Vehicles Be Fully Electric within 10 Years?

According to a report from BloombergNEF, electric vehicles are expected to be 35% of the global new car business by 2040, which is a milestone related to 3% of current EVs sales. Leading car companies and customer nations in the world have admitted to banning ICE vehicle sales by 2040.

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