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OCR for page 39
Vehicle Electrification
Michael W. Degner
Ford Motor Company
Sanjeev Naik
General Motors
The automobile industry is undergoing one of the most dramatic and rapid
transformations in its history. This transformation, toward vehicle electrification,
is being driven by concerns about global warming, sustainability, and national
security. In response to these concerns, many countries have implemented regu-
lations that mandate dramatic improvements in automobile fuel economy over
the next 10 to 15 years—more than double that of just a few years ago. And
in efforts to meet these regulations, automobile manufacturers are developing
advanced powertrain technologies, of which hybrid electric, plug-in hybrid elec-
tric, and attery electric vehicles (HEVs, PHEVs, and BEVs) are some of the
b
most promising.
The concept of vehicle electrification is not new. In fact, battery electric
vehicles were the most common type of vehicle in the late 1800s and early 1900s.
But they were quickly displaced by improved internal combustion engines, which
have dominated the automobile powertrain landscape for more than 100 years.
That dominance is now being challenged by vehicle electrification, thanks to
dramatic improvements in energy storage systems, electric machine drives, and
electrical system integration and control.
The speakers in this session discuss some of these advances, research to make
further improvements, and some of the challenges that need to be addressed to
enable widespread vehicle electrification.
The first speaker, Jeff Sakamoto (Michigan State University), describes efforts
to improve automobile electrical energy storage systems. Reducing the cost, size,
and weight of such systems is a key challenge preventing the widespread adop-
tion of PHEVs and BEVs, which show the most promise to dramatically reduce
the world’s dependence on petroleum. His paper reports recent improvements in
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40 FRONTIERS OF ENGINEERING
battery technologies (particularly with the use of lithium-ion technology), industry
targets required to enable widespread adoption of plug-in vehicles, and some of
the ongoing research to meet these targets.
In the second talk, Matthew Willard (Case Western Reserve University),
outlines the challenges and research under way to develop improved magnetic
materials, which are used in electric machine drives. Magnetic materials of both
the hard (permanent magnets) and soft (electrical steels and magnetic cores) type
are critical in the design of high-performance electric machines and power elec-
tronic converters. This presentation covers the desired material characteristics,
some of the research challenges to develop better materials, and efforts to reduce
the use of critical, strategic materials—rare earths—in these magnetic materials.
Widespread adoption of plug-in electric vehicles could represent a significant
increase in the load on the electrical transmission and distribution system. Arindam
Maitra (Electric Power Research Institute) presents the results of an EPRI study
on the potential impacts of this increased load and the changes necessary in the
electrical transmission and distribution systems to address such impacts.
Today’s drivers have high expectations for the safety, reliability, comfort, and
connectivity in their vehicles. The final paper by Rahul Mangharam (University of
Pennsylvania) discusses technical approaches to enhance vehicle safety through
remote diagnostics, networking, recalls, and software upgrades.
