Hello everyone.

Welcome to the NPTEL online course on electric

vehicles.

In our previous interaction we have covered

the topic benefits of using EVs compared to

other modes of transport.

Now let us discuss the next topic which is

overview of types of EVs and their challenges.

So EVs can be classified in various phase.

It can be classified in terms of propulsion

devices, or energy sources, or even the energy

carriers which are used as medium to transfer

energy from energy sources to propulsion devices.

So based on propulsion systems, EVs can be

classified as pure electric vehicle or hybrid

electric vehicle.

A pure electric vehicle uses electric motor

as a sole device for propulsion.

While in HEV uses both electric motor and

IC engine for propulsion.

Popularly pure electric vehicles are also

known as EVs while HEVs are known as HVs.

If we classify the EVs on the basis of energy

sources pure electric vehicle will be further

classified into battery electric vehicle and

fuels electric vehicle.

For HEV usage both liquid fuel and energy

source while a battery electric vehicle uses

battery as a sole energy source.

On the other hand a fuel cell electric vehicle

uses both battery and fuel cell as energy

sources.

A similar classification can be done on the

basis of energy carriers where the energy

carrier for battery is electricity while the

energy carrier for a fuel cell is hydrogen.

So four types of EVs come under the family

of pure electric vehicle.
They are battery electric vehicle, fuel cell
electric vehicle, ultra-capacitors electric

vehicle and ultra-flywheel electric vehicle.

In all these vehicles the battery is a common

energy source.

While a BEV uses battery as sole energy source,

Fuel cell electric vehicle, ultra-capacitor

electric vehicle and ultra-flywheel electric

vehicle uses battery as a hybrid energy source.

In a fuel cell electric vehicle battery is

primarily used for observing the regenerative

power.

Since fuel cell is incapable of storing the

renewable energy.

While in ultra-capacitor and ultra-flywheel

based EVs batteries are required for storing

energy since ultra-capacitor and ultra-flywheel

have very low specific energy.

So as we know a hybrid electric vehicle uses

both motor and IC engine for propulsion.

So on the basis of ratio of hybridization

between electric motor and IC engine it is

classified into five types.

Micro hybrid, mild hybrid, full hybrid, plugin

hybrid and range extended hybrid electric

vehicle.

So the rating of electric motor is very low

in micro hybrid vehicle and is high in REVs.

On the
other hand, the rating of IC engine is high

in a micro hybrid while it is low in a REV.

So micro hybrid, mild hybrid and full hybrid

are clubbed and known as conventional hybrid

electric vehicle.

While plugin hybrid or PHEVs and range extended

hybrid which is known as REV are clubbed under

grid-able HEVs.
So the difference between these two types
is that the conventional HEVs can be refueled

only at the filling stations or petrol buns.

While grid-able HEV can be refueled both electrically

and at the filling stations.

So a grid-able HEV enables direct charging

of battery using charging ports in addition

to refueling by liquid fuels at a filling

station.

So the classification of all types of electric

vehicles in terms of propulsion devices energy

carries and energy sources is elaborated here.

So in terms of propulsion systems a hybrid

electric vehicle primarily use an engine and

electric motor while a pure electric vehicle

uses solely electric

motors for propulsion.

On the other hand if we classify the EVs on

the basis of energy carriers hybrid vehicles

uses either liquid fuel electricity as carriers

while a pure electric vehicle uses either

battery or hydrogen as energy carriers.

If we classify the EVs on the basis of energy

sources you will see that hybrid vehicles

use either liquid fuels or battery as an energy

source.

While the pure EV uses battery and other types

of energy sources alternative are ultra-flywheel

fuel cells as energy sources.

The vehicle configuration of a typical battery

electric vehicle is elaborated here.

So we can see that the battery bank in a BEV

is normally charged directly from the grid

using a battery charger and the electrical

energy stored in the battery is transferred

to the wheels using a electric drive

consisting of a power converter and electrical
machine via transmission gears and driving
axle.

This power converter has to be designed to

carry bidirectional power flow since it can

also be used to regenerate the power coming

from the wheels during breaking.

You can also see that the clutch is normally

not required in a battery electric vehicle

as in conventional IC engine based vehicle.

This is the configuration of a typical fuel

cell electric vehicle.

So it uses fuel cell as a source of energy

which is connected to hydrogen tank.

A boost converter is required to step up the

voltage of the fuel cell to charge the battery

and store the energy.

And electric drive and the mechanical propulsion

system similar to battery electric vehicle.

Battery bank enables two purposes.

First it allows fuel cell to operate at optimum

efficiency.

Secondly it can support the transient mechanical

energy requirements in the wheels.

It can also help to store the regenerative

energy coming during breaking since fuel cell

is incapable of storing the regenerative energy.

As we all know an IC engine requires a starter

motor for starting IC engine, an alternator

to recharge the battery once the IC engine

started functioning.

So these two functions can be kept together

in a device called integrated starter generator

or ISG in short form.

So an ISG in an electrical machine which have

been - which can be connected to the IC engine

either using a belt driven system or it can

be directly mounted to the crankshaft.

So what is the role of an ISG?

So it can assist IC engine in various ways.

Among the different types of conventional

HEVs the micro hybrid, mild hybrid and full

hybrid provides and offers different types

of capabilities to the system.

In a micro hybrid.

And ISG of around 3 to 5 kilowatt with a system

voltage of 14 to 42 volts is used.

So the ISG supports not only the starting

of ICEV engines it can also support the stopping

of ISG engine when the vehicle is at rest.

So this is known as start, stop feature.

So this feature enable fuel economy in each

vehicles.

Energy can also help in recovery of regenerative

power able during braking.

Generally this is a low power ISG and they

are connected using belt driven systems.

In a mild hybrid an ISG if slightly higher

rating is used typically 7 to 15 kilowatts

with a system voltage of 100 to 150 volts.

So this ISG enables not only start stop feature

and regenerative braking but it can also support

the IC engine in power sharing during normal

operation which means the IC engine rating

can be reduced to a little extent.

In a mild hybrid the ISG cannot support a

pure electric motor based launching or starting

of the vehicle.

Different from the operations of micro and

mild hybrids a full hybrid offers more versatile

operation.

The vehicle will operate in IC engine mode

along an electric motor, along or in combination

of both the IC engine and water together.

It requires a complicated transmission system

which is known as electronic variable transmission

which is generally a high power device of

50 to 60 kilowatt.

The system voltage of 500 to 600 volts.

For this.

High.

Energy enables not only scratched off feature

and rigidity braking but it can also support.

Dicey engine.

And power sharing.

During normal operation which means the icing

generating can be reduced to a Latin accent.

In a male hybrid.

The and you cannot support.

April electric motor based.

Launching or starting of the vehicle.

Differing from the operations of micro and

mild hybrids a full hybrid offers more versatile

operation.

The vehicle operate in IC engine mode alone,

an electric alone or a combination of both

the IC engine and motor together.

It requires a complicated transmission system

which is known as electronic variable transmission

which is generally a high power device of

50 to 60 kilowatt with the system voltage

of 500 to 600 volts.

So this device allow us a connection of IC

engine and motor together or in its sole way

to the wheels and that allows various kinds

of operations possible such as start-stop,

regenerative braking, power assist and also

electrical launch means a full hybrid can

start an all electric board using an electric

motor alone.
Since full hybrid can work in various modes
the IC engine can now operate in high efficiency

mode in optimum operation line which is known

as OOL in IC engine terminology.

So among grid-able HEVs the PHEV Or plugin

hybrid vehicle is derived from the configuration

of full hybrid.

For this system mostly operates in the blended

mode the electric motor and IC engine complements

each other such a way that the fuel economy

is maximum.

A PHEV requires a higher battery bank compared

to a full hybrid and it can also be charged

using charging ports.

On the other hand REV or range extended vehicle

is derived from a battery electric vehicle.

So it mostly operates in pure electric mode

with electric motor alone as propulsion device.

So it operates in pure electric mode until

a threshold of battery pack voltage is reached

where it starts the smaller rated IC engine

to charge the battery to support the electric

motor.

A full hybrid HEVs can be further classified

into four types series hybrid, parallel hybrid,

series-parallel hybrid and a complex hybrid.

So let us see the configurations of few of

them.

So this is the configuration of a typical

series hybrid electric vehicles where an IC

engine is connected to a typical electric

drive using a electric generator and a battery

charger.

So this configuration allows high efficiency

operation of IC engine.

This is the configuration of the conventional

parallel HEV where both the IC engine and

battery based electric drive is coupled to

the transmission system using a clutch known

as dual clutch transmission or DCT.

So the system offers three modes; an IC engine

mode alone.

An electric motor mode alone or a combined

IC engine and electric motor mode.

So the electric motor can not only be used

to operate the vehicle it can also be used

to recharge the battery during regenerative

braking.

This motor can also be used as generator to

recharge the battery when the power required

at the wheels is less than the power available

from the IC engine.

This is a configuration of a typical series-parallel

HEV which combines both the features of a

series hybrid and a parallel hybrid.

Such a configuration is possible only because

of a special gearing system which is known

as continuously variable transmission system

or CVT which allows all the modes of a series

hybrid and parallel hybrid together.

So what are the challenges of a typical battery

electric vehicle.?

The energy storage capacity of a battery electric

vehicle is lower compared to a IC engine based

vehicle because of low specific energy and

low energy density of battery compared to

a liquid fuel.

Therefore it offers a limited driving range.

For similar conditions it is around 120 kilometers

per charge for BEV compared to around 500

kilometres per charge for a IC engine based

vehicle.

PEV suffers from the problem of range anxiety

among customers.

So what is done is more battery banks are

used to match the operation of IC engine based
vehicles.

Therefore it is not only oversized, it is

very costly.

Also since the battery have a limited cycle

life of around 1500 which means four to five

years it requires replacement of battery bank

in around five years which again increases

the cost of battery electric vehicle.

The battery electric vehicle also faces the

challenge of lack of charging infrastructure

compared to a IC engine based vehicles.

Charging requirements of BEV lead to this

continuous operation of the vehicle.

In normal charging it takes around five to

eight hours for a typical 110-240 volt 13

to 40 amphers and 2 to 4 kilowatt system but

it can be reduced to less than half an hour

if you the system which is 200 to 400 volt,

100-200 amps and 50 kilowatt system which

is also known as fast charging.

These systems put a lot of pressure on the

power grid since it is drawing very high currents

from the utility grid and it requires a costly

charging infrastructure.

One of the solutions for this is battery swapping

technique where the battery bank will be mechanically

replaced at a battery swapping station but

this solution requires standardization of

battery packs and sizes.

A conventional HEV suffers from non-zero emissions,

low energy diversification as we know that

it can be only refilled using oil and natural

gas.

The system is very complex and it requires

a lot of coordination to achieve fuel economy.

It requires a device called variable transmission

system which has its own losses.
It creates a lot of noise and it requires
regular lubrication.

The system is quite heavy and also bulky.

Grid-able HEVs faces all the challenges faced

by a conventional HEV that we have seen.

It is more costly since it requires more battery

capacity.

In some vehicles it requires installation

of onboard charges also.

A fuel cell electric vehicle requires a very

high initial cost since the cost of fuel cell

is very high.

It also suffers from a lack of hydrogen refueling

infrastructure since it is not commonly available.

The storage of hydrogen is is very challenging.

There are three ways in which hydrogen can

be stored.

One is methods similar to CNG which is compressed

hydrogen gas.

Second is liquid hydrogen.

It requires technology similar to cryogenic

storage technology which is also costly.

It can also be stored in a solid form as metal

hydrides.

So this system is very similar to battery

swapping.

A hydrogen based vehicle has high safety concerns

of explosion and therefore it requires lot

of safety factors to be in place before it

can be commercially viable.

Ultra-capacitor and ultra-flywheel based system

are upcoming.

The challenges they're facing are it is very

costly.

It has low specific energy.

Therefore it cannot be used as a sole energy

source and it requires battery as a hybrid

energy source along with it.

In addition ultra-flywheel which stores mechanical
energy at high speed of flywheels often have

safety concern and is less reliable.

So this is the end of session of our topic

overview of types of EVs and we will start

discussion on our next topic which is motor

drive technologies used in EV in our next

interaction.

So thank you for listening.