Dear Colleagues,

As the global economy begins to strain under the pressure of rising petroleum prices and environmental concerns, research has spurred the development of various types of clean energy transportation technologies, such as hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs), battery electric vehicles (BEVs) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs). However, the establishment of the energy storage technology, for which the required output power during acceleration, achieving efficient use of the regenerative energy and considerable life cycle are the critical aspects. Moreover, no current battery technology can meet these often-concurrent objectives.

In the last decade, numerous rechargeable battery technologies have been developed, such as nickel-metal hydride and Li-ion based batteries. These technologies realised a high market penetration due to the high performances in terms of energy and power for (PH)(B)EVs. In this Special Issue, we welcome review articles and original research papers focusing on recent progress and developments in the field of batteries.

Potential topics include, but are not limited to:

• Recent battery technologies
• Next Generation battery technologies for automotive and state stationary applications (LiS, solid state, Li-air, etc.)
• Aging mechanisms
• Battery thermal management
• Battery management systems
• State functions (state of charge, state of power, state of health)
• Safety investigation
• Battery pack/system design
• Integration into the application
• Life cycle assessment
• Dismantling and recycling
• Cost assessment