Power Management

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Onboard Chargers

EV users who need to prioritise safety and running costs should look to onboard chargers. Rory Jackson examines the engineering and technology inside them. The viability of electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles depends on how quickly, efficiently and safely their battery packs can be recharged. At the moment, the charging times are...

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Cables

There is a complexity to producing cables for EVs that some may find surprising. Rory Jackson has the details. The importance of cables for channelling power and data throughout electric and hybrid vehicles over thousands of hours cannot be overstated. However, before selecting and specifying cable requirements, the mechanical stresses they...

Dossier

John Deere 944k Hybrid Wheel Loader

Peter Donaldson reports on the design and development of this bulk material mover, the first in its class to become commercially available. In construction and mining, wheel loaders move material in bulk, often scooping it from piles with a bucket and then lifting and dumping it into a truck or crusher. Most are powered by diesel engines coupled to...

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Battery management systems

BMS technology is still evolving, so EV designers need to know the nuances of incorporating one into an electric powertrain. Nick Flaherty reports. A battery management system (BMS) is key to the reliable operation of an electric vehicle. The functions it has to handle vary from balancing the voltage of the battery cells in a pack to monitoring temperature and...

Deep Insight

Artificial Intelligence

Nick Flaherty looks at the latest advances in – and uses for – AI in the electric vehicle market. There are many uses for machine learning and predictive algorithms, often combined as Artificial Intelligence (AI), in the development and operation of electric vehicles. AI techniques can be used as part of...

Deep Insight

Power Semiconductors

Nick Flaherty reports on how new semiconductor technologies with wider bandgaps will improve the efficiency of electric powertrains. Most power systems for electromobility use semiconductor devices built using a silicon process, but new technologies are maturing that provide higher efficiency and so dissipate less...
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