Graphene: future of high power density electrical machines for electric vehicle applications

The key challenges faced by many of the industries in the present scenario is to develop a high power density electrical machine. The advancements in material technology help the industries to enhance the power density as well as the efficiency of an electrical machine to a greater extent. Conductors play a major role in improving the machine's performance. In this paper, the role of conducting materials in high power density electrical machines are discussed. Graphene is an advanced nanomaterial that exhibits excellent conductivities with low mass density. Using graphene coated windings, the weight and volume of the machine can be reduced significantly. In order to understand the prominent features of the nanomaterial based conductors, a case study has been carried out in different electric vehicles such as Toyota Prius (2017), Nissan LEAF and BMW i3. Moreover, a major constraint in high power density machine is the temperature rise, which is discussed at the end.