Access to clean, affordable and reliable energy has been a cornerstone of the world's increasing prosperity and economic growth since the beginning of the industrial revolution. Our use of energy in the twenty–first century must also be sustainable. Solar and water–based energy generation, and engineering of microbes to produce biofuels are a few examples of the alternatives. This Perspective puts these opportunities into a larger context by relating them to a number of aspects in the transportation and electricity generation sectors. It also provides a snapshot of the current energy landscape and discusses several research and development opportunities and pathways that could lead to a prosperous, sustainable and secure energy future for the world.

Opportunities and challenges for a sustainable energy future

A review on the key issues for lithium-ion battery management in electric vehicles

Over the past 30 years, significant commercial and academic progress has been made on Li-based battery technologies. From the early Li-metal anode iterations to the current commercial Li-ion batteries (LIBs), the story of the Li-based battery is full of breakthroughs and back tracing steps. This review will discuss the main roles of material science in the development of LIBs. As LIB research progresses and the materials of interest change, different emphases on the different subdisciplines of material science are placed. Early works on LIBs focus more on solid state physics whereas near the end of the 20th century, researchers began to focus more on the morphological aspects (surface coating, porosity, size, and shape) of electrode materials. While it is easy to point out which specific cathode and anode materials are currently good candidates for the next-generation of batteries, it is difficult to explain exactly why those are chosen. In this review, for the reader a complete developmental story of LIB should be clearly drawn, along with an explanation of the reasons responsible for the various technological shifts. The review will end with a statement of caution for the current modern battery research along with a brief discussion on beyond lithium-ion battery chemistries.

30 Years of Lithium-Ion Batteries.

A new energy paradigm, consisting of greater reliance on renewable energy sources and increased concern for energy effi ciency in the total energy lifecycle, has accelerated research into energy-related technologies. Due to their ubiquity, magnetic materials play an important role in improving the effi ciency and performance of devices in electric power generation, conditioning, conversion, transportation, and other energy-use sectors of the economy. This review focuses on the state-of-the-art hard and soft magnets and magnetocaloric materials, with an emphasis on their optimization for energy applications. Specifi cally, the impact of hard magnets on electric motor and transportation technologies, of soft magnetic materials on electricity generation and conversion technologies, and of magnetocaloric materials for refrigeration technologies, are discussed. The synthesis, characterization, and property evaluation of the materials, with an emphasis on structure‐property relationships, are discussed in the context of their respective markets, as well as their potential impact on energy effi ciency. Finally, considering future bottlenecks in raw materials, options for the recycling of rare-earth intermetallics for hard magnets will be discussed.

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Magnetic materials and devices for the 21st century: Stronger, lighter, and more energy efficient

The science and technology of ultracapacitors are reviewed for a number of electrode materials, including carbon, mixed metal oxides, and conducting polymers. More work has been done using microporous carbons than with the other materials and most of the commercially available devices use carbon electrodes and an organic electrolytes. The energy density of these devices is 3¯5 Wh/kg with a power density of 300¯500 W/kg for high efficiency (90¯95%) charge/discharges. Projections of future developments using carbon indicate that energy densities of 10 Wh/kg or higher are likely with power densities of 1¯2 kW/kg. A key problem in the fabrication of these advanced devices is the bonding of the thin electrodes to a current collector such the contact resistance is less than 0.1 cm2. Special attention is given in the paper to comparing the power density characteristics of ultracapacitors and batteries. The comparisons should be made at the same charge/discharge efficiency.

Ultracapacitors: Why, How, and Where is the Technology

With the more stringent regulations on emissions and fuel economy, global warming, and constraints on energy resources, the electric, hybrid, and fuel cell vehicles have attracted more and more attention by automakers, governments, and customers. Research and development efforts have been focused on developing novel concepts, low-cost systems, and reliable hybrid electric powertrain. This paper reviews the state of the art of electric, hybrid, and fuel cell vehicles. The topologies for each category and the enabling technologies are discussed

The State of the Art of Electric, Hybrid, and Fuel Cell Vehicles

With ever-increasing concerns on our environment, there is a fast growing interest in electric vehicles (EVs) and hybrid EVs (HEVs) from automakers, governments, and customers. As electric drives are the core of both EVs and HEVs, it is a pressing need for researchers to develop advanced electric-drive systems. In this paper, an overview of permanent-magnet (PM) brushless (BL) drives for EVs and HEVs is presented, with emphasis on machine topologies, drive operations, and control strategies. Then, three major research directions of the PM BL drive systems are elaborated, namely, the magnetic-geared outer-rotor PM BL drive system, the PM BL integrated starter-generator system, and the PM BL electric variable-transmission system.

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Overview of Permanent-Magnet Brushless Drives for Electric and Hybrid Electric Vehicles

In a world where environment protection and energy conservation are growing concerns, the development of electric vehicles (EV) and hybrid electric vehicles (HEV) has taken on an accelerated pace. The dream of having commercially viable EVs and HEVs is becoming a reality. EVs and HEVs are gradually available in the market. This paper will provide an overview of the present status of electric and hybrid vehicles worldwide and their state of the art, with emphasis on the engineering philosophy and key technologies. The importance of the integration of technologies of automobile, electric motor drive, electronics, energy storage, and controls and also the importance of the integration of society strength from government, industry, research institutions, electric power utilities, and transportation authorities are addressed. The challenge of EV commercialization is discussed.

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The state of the art of electric and hybrid vehicles

With the advent of more stringent regulations related to emissions, fuel economy, and global warming, as well as energy resource constraints, electric, hybrid, and fuel-cell vehicles have attracted increasing attention from vehicle constructors, governments, and consumers. Research and development efforts have focused on developing advanced powertrains and efficient energy systems. This paper reviews the state of the art for electric, hybrid, and fuel-cell vehicles, with a focus on architectures and modeling for energy management. Although classic modeling approaches have often been used, new systemic approaches that allow better understanding of the interaction between the numerous subsystems have recently been introduced.

https://www.eee.hku.hk/doc/ccchan/Electric,%20Hybrid,%20and%20Fuel-Cell%20Vehicles-%20Architectures%20and%20Modeling.pdf

Electric, Hybrid, and Fuel-Cell Vehicles: Architectures and Modeling

A general analytical technique predicts the magnetic field distribution in brushless permanent magnet machines equipped with surface-mounted magnets. It accounts for the effects of both the magnets and the stator windings. The technique is based on two-dimensional models in polar coordinates and solves the governing Laplacian/quasi-Poissonian field equations in the airgap/magnet regions without any assumption regarding the relative recoil permeability of the magnets. The analysis works for both internal and external rotor motor topologies, and either radial or parallel magnetized magnets, as well as for overlapping and nonoverlapping stator windings. The paper validates results of the analytical models by finite-element analyses, for both slotless and slotted motors.

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C.C. Chan

Papers

The State of the Art of Electric, Hybrid, and Fuel Cell Vehicles

Overview of Permanent-Magnet Brushless Drives for Electric and Hybrid Electric Vehicles

The state of the art of electric and hybrid vehicles

Electric, Hybrid, and Fuel-Cell Vehicles: Architectures and Modeling

Improved analytical model for predicting the magnetic field distribution in brushless permanent-magnet machines