Skip to main content

Different electric vehicles pioneer best technology first

According to the IDTechEx report, Electric Vehicle Forecasts, Trends and Opportunities 2015-2025, to benchmark new technology for electric vehicles it is vital to look at all of the off-road, on-road, water and airborne e-vehicles analysed in. For example, electric cars will have at least six types of energy harvesting variously converting ultra violet, infrared, visible light, vibration, vertical, lateral and forward movement into electricity but also heat differences. However, none of these first appear i
February 25, 2015 Read time: 2 mins
According to the 6582 IDTechEx report, Electric Vehicle Forecasts, Trends and Opportunities 2015-2025, to benchmark new technology for electric vehicles it is vital to look at all of the off-road, on-road, water and airborne e-vehicles analysed in the report.

For example, electric cars will have at least six types of energy harvesting variously converting ultra violet, infrared, visible light, vibration, vertical, lateral and forward movement into electricity but also heat differences.
 
However, none of these first appear in cars. Combined energy harvesting is also seen elsewhere first, from military to marine vehicles. Energy harvesting shock absorbers (Levant Power) are trialled on buses, not cars because they are most easily made viable on large vehicles first. Proponents expect to address cars about five years after buses adopt them, including taking some of the ‘free’ electricity and using it for active suspension.
 
Thermoelectric harvesting (AIST, Komatsu KELK) will be more practicable on buses, military and other large vehicles before cars. Structural electronics, where the bodywork is intelligent and power storing, was first seen in aircraft then cars, as reported by IDTechEx report Structural Electronics 2015-2025.
 
In-wheel traction motors are in production buses in the Netherlands, China and Japan. Lower cost, more rugged asynchronous motors are favoured in large then smaller vehicles. Following this, the 6861 Proton hybrid car is being launched in 2015 with in-wheel asynchronous motors. Jet engines have proved viable on some buses when used as range extenders. Rotary combustion engines, first seen in e-aircraft, will appear in Proton cars as range extenders in 2015.
 
In 2014, the first serious production of inverters with the more-efficient silicon carbide SiC power components (8010 Sumitomo Electric, 598 Panasonic) was for large vehicles. They run cooler so the weight, cost and bulk of water cooling is not needed and electricity is also saved.
 
Voltages are rising. On buses we see up to 700V systems using high-voltage, faster motors to save on copper and transfer power more efficiently. Large electric vehicles usually adopt new technology first so they are a bellwether for the future of cars and two wheelers.

Related Content

  • March 24, 2017
    IDTechEx forecasts electric motor systems to become a US$400 billion market in 2027
    IDTechEx Research finds that the traction motor business will rise to around US$400 billion in 2027. Its report, Electric Motors for Electric Vehicles 2017-2027, navigates the jargon, the design options and the disagreements. The changing needs and evolving technology are matched to create ten year market forecasts and technology timelines based on recent intensive travel and interviews by expert PhD level analysts. The report reveals how the rotating electric machine (REM) system is taking a larger sha
  • July 22, 2016
    Industrial and commercial electric vehicles: biggest market biggest profit, says report
    The new IDTechEx report, Industrial and Commercial Electric Vehicles on Land 2016-2026, provides an understanding of the EV business, hybrid and pure electric, which IDTechEx says will be responsible for around 60 per cent of the huge market of about $500 billion emerging in 2026. Indeed, it is and will remain more profitable than the highly competitive car market that gets all the press attention. The report gives information not available elsewhere, for example, putting the business in the context of w
  • December 20, 2016
    Electric vehicles in construction are the future, say researchers
    The industrial and commercial sector is the largest part of the electric vehicle value market and that will continue to be the case according to analysis in the IDTechEx report, Industrial and Commercial Electric Vehicles 2017-2027. Buses are the largest part of that and they are mainly made in China for China, where typical orders are ten times the size of orders elsewhere. Less dramatically, construction, mining and agriculture do not see 70 per cent grants for EV versions yet they are steadily becomin
  • December 18, 2015
    Profitable niches in the electric vehicles market
    Vehicles are electrifying at a breakneck speed and they are being completely reinvented with developments in many components and systems, according to a report by IDTechEx Research. Disruptive change and significant technological innovation is now being seen across all forms of electric vehicles for land, water and air. The fruits of all this are spectacular – from the vehicles themselves to over US$500 billion market opportunity that will be created by 2026. IDTechEx Research analyses and forecasts eve