Intelligent Maintenance of Electric Vehicle Battery Charging Systems and Networks

Electric Vehicles (EVs) have become a trending topic in recent years due to the industry’s race for competitive pricing as well as environmental awareness. These concerns have led to increased research into the development of both affordable and environmentally friendly EV technology. This paper aims to review EV-related issues beginning with the component level, through the system level, based on intelligent maintenance aspects. The paper will also clarify the existing gaps in practical applications and highlight the potential opportunities related to the current issues in EVs for the EV industry moving forward. More specifically, we will briefly start with an overview of the fast-growing EV market, showing the urgent demand for Prognostics and Health Management (PHM) applications in the EV industry. At the component level, the issues of the major components such as the motor, battery, and charging system in EVs are elaborated, and the relevant PHM research of these components is surveyed to show the development in the era of EV expansion. Moreover, the impact of an increasing number of EVs at the system level such as power distribution systems and power grid are explored to uncover possible research in the future. The combination of existing PHM techniques and robust measurement or feature extraction methods can provide better solutions to address the motor, battery, or transformer issues at the component level. A comprehensive optimization and cybersecurity strategy will help to address the issues of the whole network at a system level. Four aspects of vision in the overall charging network – battery innovation, charging optimization, infrastructure evolution, and sustainability – that cover the demands of research in new battery materials, innovative charging techniques, new architectures of the charging network, and reliable waste treatment mechanisms are outlined. A conclusion is reached in this paper by summarizing the opportunities for future EV research and development.