Nanoelectronics: Key Enabler for Energy Efficient Electrical Vehicles

Future Electric (EVs) and Hybrid Electric Vehicles (HEVs) will provide more flexibility when choosing between primary energy sources, including those which are renewable. In general conventional ICEs vehicles transform between only 17 and 22% (depending on power train) of the fuel chemical energy with a typical primary energy consumption of 550-600 Wh/km (0.06 l/km). Efficient electrically powered trains can achieve conversion efficiencies greater than 75% from the batteries to the wheels, which corresponds to consumption in primary energy of about 390 Wh/km in the case where electricity is produced by conventional carbon based power plants, or only 180 Wh/km where the electricity is produced solely by renewable energy. The partial recovery of kinetic energy during braking gives rise to further improvement in the overall efficiency. The development of advanced smart electronic systems in power trains is therefore essential for delivering a considerable energy saving in terms of the most critical sources (oil and natural gas - NG). This paper presents the advances made in the overall power electronic modules for electric and hybrid vehicles, and which are addressed in the E3Car project.