Intelligent and Health-Aware Smart Charging Infrastructure for Electric Vehicles: A Next-Generation Approach

Dear Colleagues,

The increasing popularity of electric vehicles (EVs) is driven by the depletion of fossil fuels and growing environmental concerns; however, current EV charging practices can pose significant challenges to the power grid and battery health.

Grid Challenges and Solar Integration: Charging EVs directly from the grid can lead to substantial power consumption, resulting in issues such as harmonics, current distortions, voltage imbalances, and rising peak demand. A solar-based, grid-connected EV charging system can mitigate these problems. However, the power output of solar photovoltaic (PV) systems is influenced by factors such as weather conditions, time of day, and season, necessitating a connection to the electricity grid for consistent power supply. To further address these challenges, hydrogen and buffer battery storage can be used as possible solutions to store excess energy and provide a stable power supply. To enhance the efficiency of this system, it is essential to develop a scheduling algorithm and intelligent energy management system that can manage EV charging based on the availability of PV energy, hydrogen, buffer battery storage, EV data, and grid loading.

Battery Health Concerns and Optimal Charging Strategies: Battery performance degrades with repeated charging and discharging cycles. Fast charging accelerates this process through factors such as elevated temperatures, increased solid electrolyte interface (SEI) layers, lithium plating, and mechanical stress. These issues compromise safety and reduce battery lifespan. Emerging technologies such as lithium manganese iron phosphate (LMFP) and solid-state batteries promise enhanced fast charging performance with reduced degradation; however, a comprehensive understanding of their charging behaviors and the development of optimized charging strategies are necessary to fully exploit their potential and maintain overall battery system reliability. While the demand for rapid charging continues to grow, it is essential to develop optimal charging strategies that balance swift charging times with effective mitigation of degradation processes.

This Special Issue invites contributions on various topics including, but not limited to:

• Algorithms for balancing fast charging speed and battery health;
• Measurement of battery aging parameters under fast charging conditions;
• State of health (SOH) and state of temperature (SOT) estimation/prediction under fast charging;
• Mechanisms and control of SEI film formation during fast charging;
• Fault diagnosis for battery systems under fast charging stress;
• Advanced thermal management techniques for fast charging scenarios;
• Fast charging protocols for different types of battery chemistries;
• Advanced materials and technologies for enhancing fast charging capabilities;
• The impact of fast charging on battery chemistry and material properties;
• The integration of renewable energy sources for fast charging stations;
• The impact of fast charging on grid stability and mitigation techniques;
• Scheduling algorithms to minimize grid impact and charge batteries at lower rates;
• The development of converters that support V2G operations with efficient control mechanisms.

Dr. Ahsan Nadeem
Prof. Dr. Remus Teodorescu
Prof. Dr. James Marco
Dr. Carlos R. Baier
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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• fast charging
• fast charging speed balancing 
• fast charging and battery aging
• fast charging and battery health
• fast charging and thermal management
• fast charging impact
• fast charging stations
• fast charging stress
• fast charging and grid stability