ABSTRACT
Future vehicles will be powered by cleaner and more efficient energy conversion systems. Since the oil price has been shown to fluctuate dramatically in recent years, there are many incentives to switch to a new alternative fuel. Battery electric vehicles (BEV) and hydrogen vehicles are regarded as feasible Zero emission vehicles (ZEV) solutions. For BEV applications, the specific energy is obviously important for a large driving range. The key concern for BEVs is the availability of a battery that can provide an acceptable driving range with cost targets competitive with gasoline cars. The plug-in HEV (PHEVs) are functionally the same as BEVs when the daily driving pattern is restricted to a commuting range and the battery is recharged overnight. Battery designs can be optimized for high-capacity or high-power rating. The battery life and cost are the key issues in accelerating the market penetration of the commercial BEVs.
