Recent developments of electric vehicles and their propulsion systems

Major recent electric vehicle (EV) programs in North America, Europe, and Japan are reviewed. The developments discussed include electric vehicles for fleet operation and electric passenger cars for urban transit. All major auto makers have had their own concept electric vehicle programs, targeted at commercial production in the late 1990s. It Is noted that, with different objectives for various electric vehicles, considerations such as cost, reliability, efficiency, maintenance, durability, weight, size, and noise level should be compromised for the propulsion system design. Consequently, DC motor drives, induction motor drives, and permanent magnet brushless DC motor drives will continually be used for EV propulsion systems in the future, with DC drives being gradually replaced by AC drives. The rapid advances in power semiconductor devices and microprocessors have made it possible to build reliable and cost-effective AC drive systems.>