With ever-increasing concerns on our environment, there is a fast growing interest in electric vehicles (EVs) and hybrid EVs (HEVs) from automakers, governments, and customers. As electric drives are the core of both EVs and HEVs, it is a pressing need for researchers to develop advanced electric-drive systems. In this paper, an overview of permanent-magnet (PM) brushless (BL) drives for EVs and HEVs is presented, with emphasis on machine topologies, drive operations, and control strategies. Then, three major research directions of the PM BL drive systems are elaborated, namely, the magnetic-geared outer-rotor PM BL drive system, the PM BL integrated starter-generator system, and the PM BL electric variable-transmission system. Index Terms-Electric variable transmission (EVT), electric vehicle (EV), hybrid EV (HEV), integrated starter generator (ISG), magnetic gear, permanent-magnet (PM) brushless (BL)drives.

In a world where environment protection and energy conservation are growing concerns, the development of electric vehicles (EV) and hybrid electric vehicles (HEV) has taken on an accelerated pace. The dream of having commercially viable EVs and HEVs is becoming a reality. EVs and HEVs are gradually available in the market. This paper will provide an overview of the present status of electric and hybrid vehicles worldwide and their state of the art, with emphasis on the engineering philosophy and key technologies. The importance of the integration of technologies of automobile, electric motor drive, electronics, energy storage, and controls and also the importance of the integration of society strength from government, industry, research institutions, electric power utilities, and transportation authorities are addressed. The challenge of EV commercialization is discussed.

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In response to concerns about energy cost, energy dependence, and environmental damage, a rekindling of interest in electric vehicles (EV's) has been obvious. Based on the "California rules" on zero emission vehicles in the United States, as well as similar tightened air pollution regulation in Europe, Asia, and much of the rest of the world, the market size of EV's will be enormous. Thus, the development of power electronics technology for EV's will take an accelerated pace to fulfill the market needs. This paper reviews the current status of multidisciplinary technologies in EV's. Various challenges of power electronics technology for EV propulsion, battery charging, and power accessories are explored. Index Terms-Electric vehicles, power electronics. C. C. Chan (M'77-SM'77-F'92), for a photograph and biography, see this issue, p. 2. K. T. Chau (M'89) received the B.Sc.(Eng.

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This paper presents the design and analysis of a new doubly salient permanent magnet (DSPM) motor. The corresponding output power equation is analytically derived. The initial calculation of motor dimensions and parameters, namely, the core diameter, stack length, permanent magnet size, and winding turns, are also discussed. An 8/6-pole DSPM motor is designed and built for exemplification. Moreover, finite element analysis of this motor is carried out to investigate the magnetic field distribution at different rotor positions and load currents, in which the leakage flux outside the stator circumference of the DSPM motor is firstly taken into account. Hence, the characteristics of the proposed motor are deduced. Experimental results of the prototype are given to verify the theoretical analysis and to confirm its high efficiency.Index Terms-Doubly salient motor, finite element analysis, leakage flux, permanent magnet (PM) motor, sizing equation.

Novel permanent magnet (PM) motor drives have been successfully developed to fulfil the special requirements for electric vehicles such as high power density, high efficiency, high starting torque, and high cruising speed. These PM motors are all brushless and consist of various types, namely rectangular-fed, sinusoidal-fed, surface-magnet, buried-magnet, and hybrid. The advent of novel motor configurations lies on the unique electromagnetic topology, including the concept of multipole magnetic circuit and full slot-pitch coil span arrangements, leading to a reduction in both magnetic yoke and copper, decoupling of each phase flux path, and hence an increase in both power density and efficiency. Moreover, with the use of fractional number of slots per pole per phase, the cogging torque can be eliminated. On the other hand, by employing the claw-type rotor structure and fixing an additional field winding as the inner stator, these PM hybrid motors can further provide excellent controllability and improve efficiency map. In the PM motors, by purposely making use of the transformer EMF to prevent the current regulator from saturation, a novel control approach is developed to allow for attaining high-speed constant-power operation which is particularly essential for electric vehicles during cruising. Their design philosophy, control strategy, theoretical analysis, computer simulation, experimental tests and application to electric vehicles are described.