Introduction to Protection Engineering in Electric Vehicles
Electric vehicles have gained a lot of popularity in the past few years because of the increase in climatic change. Electric vehicles can reduce environmental pollution and that’s why most of the Automobile manufacturers have started manufacturing electric vehicles. The major advantage of electric vehicles over conventional vehicles is that the carbon emission is less. Several factors should be considered in an electric vehicle such as thermal management and also the protection of the battery pack is the major concern in the electric vehicle. Protection engineering in electric vehicles will protect your vehicle in case of any hazardous conditions. Due to all of this Protection Engineering in Electric Vehicles is really important.
Fire prevention is required for electric vehicles so that we can use electric vehicles for safe transportation. Protection engineering in electric vehicles is inevitable because Electric cars are subjected to many fire hazards.
What are the major challenges faced by the EV industry and how to overcome these challenges?
There are several challenges in the EV industry such as less infrastructure, problems regarding charging stations, power surge problems, and a lot more. All of these can be handled by implementing protection engineering in electric vehicles.
The electrical vehicle and the charging station will be equipped with several sensitive components so during power surges these devices will be affected. Lightning strikes can also cause overvoltages and this will damage most of the components in the electric vehicle. Major sensitive components will be affected because of this so all of these things must be considered while manufacturing the EV industry. Protection Engineering in Electric vehicles will be really useful to do thermal management and also protect the battery pack.
What are the different types of protection engineering used in electric vehicles?
Safety and Maintenance of the electric vehicle
Mostly the maintenance of the electric vehicle is really less when compared to the combustion vehicle. In an electric vehicle, the major components are battery, motor, and also other electronic components. The branking system in an electric vehicle is regenerative braking and because of this, it will last long. Only less energy is required in electric vehicles because of the fewer parts. Less moving parts so less maintenance is needed. Protection engineering in electric vehicles will protect the vehicle from several problems.
The electronic unit which is in the battery system and also in another part of the vehicle will require proper fire and surge protection. Thermal insulation is required in the Electrical Vehicle
Flame retardant encapsulants that have polyurethane in it and it can provide fire protection to the battery modules. So these encapsulants are designed and installed in a way that will isolate the battery from the fire.
Battery Safety
The operating temperature of the electric vehicle can be controlled by the liquid coolant. Most electric vehicles have a high-voltage electric system. The protection of the battery pack is really important so it will be protected by sealed shells. The batteries which are used in the Electric vehicle have been tested several times. These batteries will be tested in different scenarios such as high temperature, vibrations, overcharge, short circuit, humidity, etc.
Protection during emergency situations
Mostly the high-voltage lines will be insulated by the manufacturers and also there will be several security features. In case of any collision or accident, the electrical system will be deactivated. Almost all-electric vehicles will have a lower center of gravity and because of this these vehicles have good stability and the chances of a rollover in emergency situations will be really less. Electric vehicles will have cutoff switches and this will be useful to isolate the battery and also to incapacitate the electrical system.
Battery charging
The battery charging of the electric vehicle must be done by using the level 2 charging station. We shouldn’t use the standard wall chargers because it will take a lot of time it could also generate heat and this could lead to battery fires. The EV must be charged after the cool-down of the electrical system. Use proper equipment for the battery charging if we use any other system that is not recommended by the manufacturer then it could cause a lot of problems. The electric vehicle should not be parked directly under the sun because it will increase the vehicle’s temperature. So protection engineering in electric vehicles is really important for the safety of the electric vehicle.
Surge protection devices
Surge protection devices will be included in the Electric vehicles to protect sensitive devices. There is also an external shielding device which will be really useful to protect the charging stations.
How the electrical vehicle is different from the combustion vehicle?
Electrical vehicles will reduce environmental pollution. The conventional vehicle will emit a lot of harmful gases and in the case, of the electric vehicle, it doesn’t create this much pollution. The manufacturing of the Electric vehicle involves several challenges, the weight of the vehicle will affect the range of the vehicle. The charging station is another problem when choosing an electric vehicle. In the case of conventional vehicles, we don’t have any problem regarding the range because there are a lot of petrol pumps.
Electric vehicle saves a lot of energy when compared to the conventional vehicle. When the EV is stationary it won’t use any energy which is not the case for the combustion vehicle. Combustion engine also requires several gear changes while taking corners. In the case of the electric vehicle, it doesn’t need this kind of gear change and because of this, there is no need for torque converters and gearboxes in EVs.
What are the advantages of the electric vehicle?
- Greenhouse gas emissions will be really less
- No need to rely on petrol and diesel
- Climate change can be reduced
- Health can be improved due to the reduction of air pollution
- There won’t be any tailpipe emissions
What are the job opportunities in Electric Vehicle Engineering?
- EV design engineer
- EV test engineer
- EV battery engineer
- Control system design engineer
- Electric drive engineer
- Thermal engineer
- Powertrain engineer