Totally different. Everything that constitutes a hybrid or pure electric vehicle will change beyond recognition, advises analyst group IDTechEx. Consider hybrids; they are progressing from parallel hybrids rapidly being introduced for small ships and large trucks to series parallel and series only as with some cars. That then progresses to pure electric which is already the norm for most electric vehicles from e-bikes to the two aircraft that recently crossed from the UK to France for the first time on electricity alone. Those changes are dwarfed by the components themselves changing completely. The large conventional piston engine in a parallel hybrid even becomes a motorcycle engine "range extender" in the series hybrid BMW i3 but more radical change is coming.
In the forthcoming, Electric Vehicles: Everything is Changing conference, part of IDTechEx show! in Santa Clara, CA, November 18-19 - radically new "fuel generator" range extenders will be revealed. These do not need a generator to produce electricity - they do it directly. Rotary combustion and jet engine range extenders will be announced. In fact a tsunami of replacements for every familiar component is on the way, often combining and adding functions from autonomy to multi-mode energy harvesting of heat, light, movement in 3D and so on. Learn about Torque Assist Reversing Alternators TARA, structural supercapacitors, lithium capacitors and other post-lithium-ion power, GaN power electronics not just the SiC coming in, imminent energy harvesting active suspension, electricity-producing shock absorbers and motors, stretchable/ spray-on solar and thermoelectrics. Dynamic and semi-dynamic wireless charging starts to be taken seriously. Robotic and self-powered charging must now be added to the toolkit as well. Indeed, that self-powered charging is moving beyond a lone solar panel to adding wind turbines and then the more powerful Airborne Wind Energy with self-launching and self-landing kites and drones generating 10kW or more. This is the subject of the parallel conference, Energy Harvesting & Storage.
Autonomous boats, planes and land vehicles and each of these using sunshine alone are a reality today. Indeed, they largely employ structural electronics where mechanical parts double as electric and electronic, not just the tired old components-in-a-box assembly of the past. Radically new construction for rapidly emerging EV sectors such as e-motorcycles, mining, construction and agricultural EVs is proposed.
Join us in Santa Clara on November 18-19 to find out more: www.IDTechEx.com/ElectricVehiclesUSA