PHEVs: Latest Advances and Prospects

Dear Colleagues,

Plug-In Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEVs) can use both electric energy and liquid fuel energy. There are many advantages to such a vehicle but their usefulness is dependent on component sizing and system design, which vary among current models. Data on customer use have been collected by the USDOE Idaho National Labs and vehicle manufacturers but have not been disseminated in an understandable fashion. In addition, there is a lot of misunderstanding surrounding the usefulness of the PHEV concept because of biases towards pure EVs being the final solution towards achieving Zero CO₂.

The benefits of PHEVs include the following:

1. They represent the lowest vehicle costs, due to I/C engine simplification and downsizing, their low cost battery pack, and the lack of transmission needs.
2. No electrical infrastructure changes are needed for vehicles distributed worldwide.
3. Charged directly by low-powered rooftop solar and wind sources.
4. Can act as a form of energy storage for the home and industry through V2G and system management, thus greatly improving the efficiency of the existing grid with no range anxiety.
5. Eventually, they will become the integrator of energy for both the home and transportation with no changes to the current energy infrastructure.
6. Vehicles of all sizes can follow this model.
7. Their use preserves all major industries, from the car companies to the fossil material companies.
8. The goal is to preserve the fossil industry to use their materials for recyclable products rather than energy. This strategy has the potential to provide a much more profitable and sustainable industry
9. Data collected by Idaho National Labs show correlations over the whole electric range in a fleet of similar PHEVs with annual electric energy use and liquid fuel use for all vehicles. This data has not been incorporated into vehicle design due to biases in the industry.
10. Simple low-cost additional hardware is needed to make the transition from fossil to solar, wind, and biofuel energy completely seamless with no change to the current energy infrastructure and utility. This can be provided using PHEVs.

Prof. Dr. Andrew A. Frank
Guest Editor

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• PowerTrain simplification in PHEVs
• low-cost charging infrastructure for PHEVs
• low-cost PHEV system vs. other concepts
• Zero CO₂ PHEVs
• direct solar and wind charging
• energy collection and management
• energy reliability and durability
• separation of energy and power in vehicle design
• energy storage for reliable solar and wind systems by managed PHEVs