Rapid battery charging technologies for light electric vehicles

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The global use of passenger Electric Vehicles (EV) and Light Electric Vehicles has grown exponentially over the past decade. In 2018 alone, over 2 million passenger EVs were adopted, reinforcing this trend. The use of Light Electric Vehicles (LEV) covers important markets such as industrial vehicles, utility vehicles, and 2 to 4-wheel urban vehicles. LEVs have penetrated immensely with global sales over USD $9B in 2017 and expected to triple by 2026. In particular, electric scooters and electric bikes are becoming popular in high-density areas due to their affordable price, agility, and convenient parking. The objective of the collaboration between Dr. Ordonez at UBC and Delta-Q Technologies is to develop the next generation of high-efficiency, smart, and rapid battery chargers for electrified transportation systems and LEVs. Advances in this area will improve the power conversion efficiency, enhance the battery charging speed, and promote the adoption of sustainable transportation, benefitting utilities, consumers, and society. High-efficiency power conversion mitigates utilities' power quality issues; rapid battery chargers reduce consumers' range anxiety; sustainable transportation improves the quality of living. The research targets the development of novel LEV battery chargers using innovative power conversion technologies. The anticipated outcome is the reduction of power losses in the charger circuits by 40%. In turn, the charger's power density and battery charging speed will be improved substantially. This project will help the industry leader and B.C.-based Delta-Q maintain a competitive advantage over international competitors. The project will enable UBC to provide training to future engineers in power conversion. The trainees under the project will be exposed to a range of cutting-edge techniques and will be positioned to succeed in the field of renewable power conversion. The project is very timely since it anticipates the high demand for engineers in alternative energy.