EV Barriers and Solutions
Traditionally, EVs have been 2 to 2.5 times more expensive than conventional internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles, and this cost has recently further risen with base metal and rare earth prices going higher due to the crisis in Ukraine. However, this can be offset by increasing production, providing government incentives and tax credits to EV buyers, and improving battery technology.
Speaking of production, early in 2022, both General Motors Company (GM) and Ford Motor Company unveiled plans to boost EV production in the United States. To significantly expand battery cell manufacturing and electric truck production capacity, GM announced an investment of more than US $7 billion in four Michigan manufacturing sites. Meanwhile, Ford revealed plans to spend US $50 billion and build more than 2 million EVs in 2026, accounting for about one-third of its annual expected global production. Additionally, Tesla’s Gigactories in Texas and Berlin were readied for ramping up production in 2022.
Like the key auto manufacturers in the U.S., major auto players in Europe are also planning to boost EV production and transition to all-electric cars by 2030. As EV sales grow, electric cars are coming closer to achieving price parity with traditional ICE vehicles in Europe.
EV range is another deterrent. While a few years ago the driving range was limited, today’s models are flaunting 300+ miles per charge. A recent report from Edmunds shows that the 2022 model Mercedes-Benz EQS demonstrated a range of 450 miles, while the EPA estimate was rated at 350 miles. Similarly, the 2021 Tesla Model 3 placed second with a range of 345 miles and an EPA estimate at 353 miles.
In all, there are 32 EV models listed on Edmunds’ EV Range Leaderboard. The #32 model on this board is the 2022 Mazda MX-30, offering a range of 114 miles with an EPA rating of 100 miles. Efforts continue to improve the range per charge. Recently, Lucid Motors’ first EV, the Lucid Air, designed in Silicon Valley and produced in Arizona, delivered an industry-leading 500+ miles of range using a proprietary powertrain technology. For performance and range, the Lucid Air won the MotorTrend’s “2022 Car of the Year” award. Its built-in Wunderbox is an ultrafast battery charger that implements a 900V+ architecture to deliver up to 300 miles of charge in just 20 minutes. In addition to fast charging, it is compatible with nearly every public charging station in the country and is expected to offer bidirectional charging capabilities soon.
Ford has also taken the next step in bidirectional (two-way) charging with its new F-150 Lightning EV. At the 2022 CERAweek conference in Houston, TX, Ford and PG&E announced a collaboration to explore how Ford’s F-150 Lightning EV with bidirectional charging capability can interact with the electric grid and provide electric reliability benefits to PG&E customers. “Through collaborations with automakers like Ford, we are innovating together for a cleaner, safer, and brighter future for all,” said PG&E’s CEO Patti Poppe. Through such EV charging infrastructure programs, PG&E is helping reduce one of the biggest barriers to EV adoption: the limited availability of charging outlets.
For e-mobility to be practical and appealing to the majority of car users, a larger network of charging stations and outlets is essential. As of January 2022, according to research firm Statista, there were nearly 113,600 charging outlets in the U.S. for plug-in EVs, with 36% located in California. Additionally, President Biden announced a US $7.5 billion investment to expand the EV charging infrastructure nationwide. It’s no surprise that China remains a leading market for EV adoption, supported by a robust infrastructure with approximately 800,000 charging stations across the country.
Simultaneously, manufacturers are developing ultrafast chargers to reduce charging time to under 20 minutes. At the Future Propulsion Conference 2022 (FPC2022) in the U.K., McLaren Applied announced progress toward full production of its Inverter Platform Generation 5 (IPG5), an 800V silicon carbide (SiC) inverter designed for ultrafast charging, improved efficiency, and extended range. IPG5 is a next-generation architecture that supports modern EV platforms, enabling lighter electric cabling and faster charging while lowering drivetrain weight and cost.
In short, charging architecture is moving from a 400V to an 800V architecture in the near future. At this high voltage, battery management systems (BMS) need mechanically robust plug connections and must provide high levels of safety and reliability with constant communication with the charging station. All this translates into a need for very high-performance, high-voltage AC/DC converters and high-isolation DC/DC converters. For this monitoring task, RECOM has developed the RAC05-xxSK/480 family of AC/DC converters that can handle input voltages up to 528VAC. Additionally, RECOM has readied a series of 1W isolated DC/DC converters used in BMS applications in electric cars. Here, each battery module requires a separate DC/DC converter to isolate monitoring electronics equipment operating at several floating voltages delivered from the controller area network bus.
Furthermore, charging stations are using highly isolated DC/DC converters to control power semiconductors such as IGBTs, SiC or Si-MOSFETs, and GaN-FETs. This requires optimal gate drivers that can precisely provide positive and negative voltages to control the switching process and avcapable of precisely delivering positive and negative voltages to manage the switching process and prevent misfires. Since these power switches operate at high floating voltages, the gate driver’s voltage supply must provide robust electrical isolation. To address this, RECOM has developed asymmetric output reinforced isolation DC/DC converters with output voltages of +15V/-9V (IGBT), +15V/-3V and +20V/5V (SiC), and +6V (GaN). To ensure long system service life, these converters offer wide operating temperature ranges and low isolation capacitance.
Speaking of production, early in 2022, both General Motors Company (GM) and Ford Motor Company unveiled plans to boost EV production in the United States. To significantly expand battery cell manufacturing and electric truck production capacity, GM announced an investment of more than US $7 billion in four Michigan manufacturing sites. Meanwhile, Ford revealed plans to spend US $50 billion and build more than 2 million EVs in 2026, accounting for about one-third of its annual expected global production. Additionally, Tesla’s Gigactories in Texas and Berlin were readied for ramping up production in 2022.
Like the key auto manufacturers in the U.S., major auto players in Europe are also planning to boost EV production and transition to all-electric cars by 2030. As EV sales grow, electric cars are coming closer to achieving price parity with traditional ICE vehicles in Europe.
EV range is another deterrent. While a few years ago the driving range was limited, today’s models are flaunting 300+ miles per charge. A recent report from Edmunds shows that the 2022 model Mercedes-Benz EQS demonstrated a range of 450 miles, while the EPA estimate was rated at 350 miles. Similarly, the 2021 Tesla Model 3 placed second with a range of 345 miles and an EPA estimate at 353 miles.
In all, there are 32 EV models listed on Edmunds’ EV Range Leaderboard. The #32 model on this board is the 2022 Mazda MX-30, offering a range of 114 miles with an EPA rating of 100 miles. Efforts continue to improve the range per charge. Recently, Lucid Motors’ first EV, the Lucid Air, designed in Silicon Valley and produced in Arizona, delivered an industry-leading 500+ miles of range using a proprietary powertrain technology. For performance and range, the Lucid Air won the MotorTrend’s “2022 Car of the Year” award. Its built-in Wunderbox is an ultrafast battery charger that implements a 900V+ architecture to deliver up to 300 miles of charge in just 20 minutes. In addition to fast charging, it is compatible with nearly every public charging station in the country and is expected to offer bidirectional charging capabilities soon.
Ford has also taken the next step in bidirectional (two-way) charging with its new F-150 Lightning EV. At the 2022 CERAweek conference in Houston, TX, Ford and PG&E announced a collaboration to explore how Ford’s F-150 Lightning EV with bidirectional charging capability can interact with the electric grid and provide electric reliability benefits to PG&E customers. “Through collaborations with automakers like Ford, we are innovating together for a cleaner, safer, and brighter future for all,” said PG&E’s CEO Patti Poppe. Through such EV charging infrastructure programs, PG&E is helping reduce one of the biggest barriers to EV adoption: the limited availability of charging outlets.
For e-mobility to be practical and appealing to the majority of car users, a larger network of charging stations and outlets is essential. As of January 2022, according to research firm Statista, there were nearly 113,600 charging outlets in the U.S. for plug-in EVs, with 36% located in California. Additionally, President Biden announced a US $7.5 billion investment to expand the EV charging infrastructure nationwide. It’s no surprise that China remains a leading market for EV adoption, supported by a robust infrastructure with approximately 800,000 charging stations across the country.
Simultaneously, manufacturers are developing ultrafast chargers to reduce charging time to under 20 minutes. At the Future Propulsion Conference 2022 (FPC2022) in the U.K., McLaren Applied announced progress toward full production of its Inverter Platform Generation 5 (IPG5), an 800V silicon carbide (SiC) inverter designed for ultrafast charging, improved efficiency, and extended range. IPG5 is a next-generation architecture that supports modern EV platforms, enabling lighter electric cabling and faster charging while lowering drivetrain weight and cost.
In short, charging architecture is moving from a 400V to an 800V architecture in the near future. At this high voltage, battery management systems (BMS) need mechanically robust plug connections and must provide high levels of safety and reliability with constant communication with the charging station. All this translates into a need for very high-performance, high-voltage AC/DC converters and high-isolation DC/DC converters. For this monitoring task, RECOM has developed the RAC05-xxSK/480 family of AC/DC converters that can handle input voltages up to 528VAC. Additionally, RECOM has readied a series of 1W isolated DC/DC converters used in BMS applications in electric cars. Here, each battery module requires a separate DC/DC converter to isolate monitoring electronics equipment operating at several floating voltages delivered from the controller area network bus.
Furthermore, charging stations are using highly isolated DC/DC converters to control power semiconductors such as IGBTs, SiC or Si-MOSFETs, and GaN-FETs. This requires optimal gate drivers that can precisely provide positive and negative voltages to control the switching process and avcapable of precisely delivering positive and negative voltages to manage the switching process and prevent misfires. Since these power switches operate at high floating voltages, the gate driver’s voltage supply must provide robust electrical isolation. To address this, RECOM has developed asymmetric output reinforced isolation DC/DC converters with output voltages of +15V/-9V (IGBT), +15V/-3V and +20V/5V (SiC), and +6V (GaN). To ensure long system service life, these converters offer wide operating temperature ranges and low isolation capacitance.
