Electrical Vehicles: Current State of the Art, Future Challenges, and Perspectives

• Main Authors: Theodoros A. Skouras, Panagiotis K. Gkonis, Charalampos N. Ilias, Panagiotis T. Trakadas, Eleftherios G. Tsampasis, Theodore V. Zahariadis
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2019-12-01
• Series: Clean Technologies
• Subjects: electric vehicles; charging stations; wireless power transfer; v2g technology; smart grids
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/2571-8797/2/1/1

The goal of the study presented in this article is to provide a general overview of the various aspects related to electric vehicles (EVs), along with all associated emerging challenges and perspectives. In this context, the basic types of EVs and the corresponding charging technologies are analyzed. Since EVs are expected to be a key component of future smart electrical grids (SEG), connection to the grid issues, along with advanced charging techniques (i.e., wireless power transfer), are analyzed as well. To this end, the main features, the requirements of vehicle to grid (V2G) communications, as well as future developments and scenarios of electrification, are also presented and analyzed. Moreover, integration issues with currently deployed fifth generation (5G) mobile wireless networks are also outlined, in order to ensure optimum transmission and reception quality in V2G communications and improved user experience. This integration is also expanded in autonomous vehicles (AVs) technology (self-driving objects), since optimized information processing from various diverse sources is required in order to ensure advanced traffic management aspects.