Welcome to Clean Vehicles 101!
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Here is where you can learn about clean vehicles - what they are and how they work.
This page hosts snippets plucked from Roadmap to the Clean Vehicle World | The Path to Clean Vehicle Service and articles written by 352 Innovation for Vehicle Service Pros, where we are proud to be a Guest Contributor!
Note: Links to image sources are provided in the caption. Sources used to help create this article, and the Roadmap, are embedded throughout. Roadmap Sections have a separate Works Cited List, available for download, of all sources used. Section I Works Cited List is available for download (end of post)
Blog Post #1: Overview of the Battery Electric Vehicle (BEV) Powertrain Hardware, Operation, and an Overview of the Charging Process | Oct 13, 2025
This first post is pulled straight out of Roadmap to the Clean Vehicle World Section §I: Clean Vehicle Powertrains | Electrical & Battery Terms | H2ICE - §I.A.vi: Battery Electric Vehicle (BEV)
I.A.vi: Battery Electric Vehicle (BEV)
Battery Electric Vehicles (BEV) are configured with a plug port and/or wireless capable for charging the primary power source – the High Voltage Battery (HVB) aka the traction battery. Some concept cars are developing the use of supercapacitors to act as temporary batteries, like the
Lamborghini concept supercar Terzo-Millennio that was developed with Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) engineers.
Others, like Croatian based Rimac Automobili, have developed next-level traction control in their Nevera supercar, with the traction motor inside the hub of the wheel, similar to Lamborghini.
I.A.vi.a: Battery Electric Vehicle (BEV) Powertrain Overview
The basic function is the High Voltage Battery (HVB) provides the electrical energy to power all onboard systems, which include power management, Battery Management System (BMS), Onboard Charger (OBC), DC-DC converters, inverters, electric motors, and traction motors, and other power electronics. To replenish the consumable energy – electricity – the vehicle is plugged into Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment (EVSE) for charging or by wireless charging.
I.A.vi.a.i.a: Battery Electric Vehicle (BEV) Powertrain Configuration | Alternative Fuels Data Center (AFDC)
Figure 1: Typical Battery Electric Vehicle (BEV) Powertrain Configuration | Alternative Fuels Data Center (AFDC)
I.A.vi.a.i.b: Battery Electric Vehicle (BEV) Powertrain Hardware Graphic | EV Engineering Online
Figure 2: Battery Electric Vehicle (BEV) Powertrain Hardware Graphic | EV Engineering Online | J Shepard | Oct 2023 | MDPI energies
I.A.vi.b: High Voltage Battery (HVB) aka Traction Battery
Battery Electric Vehicles (BEV) rely on a High Voltage Batteries (HVB) as their primary power source to move the vehicle. Most of these High Voltage Batteries (HVB) are Lithium (Li) based – Lithium-ion Batteries (LiB) – and lithium metal has inherent instabilities. LiBs have a narrow window of stable operation, LiB safety, and their continued development, is an issue being addressed by the highest levels of government and researchers across the globe.
Battery packs are typically assembled by packing battery cells into modules which are then assembled into the battery pack used in EVs. There are various battery pack architecture configurations available for Electric Vehicle (EV) battery packs, as shown in Figure 3.
Battery cells may be arranged in series and parallel configurations to optimize the power delivery and charging speeds.
Battery cells come in various shapes and chemistries – like Lithium (Li), Iron (Fe), Phosphate (PO4) - LFP – and these material properties play a critical role in battery stability, reliability, and performance. Battery cell balancing is a critical function for performance, reliability, and safety.
I.A.vi.b.i: Electric Vehicle Battery Pack Configurations
I.A.vi.b.i.a: Electric Vehicle Battery Pack Configurations | Battery Technology
Figure 3: Various Battery Pack Architecture Configurations | 2023 Battery Technology | T Campbell & F Billotto
Battery packs and sub-structure(s) are subjected to SAE International (SAE) guidelines and government regulations and are continuously being evaluated and updated as battery and charging technology improves. SAE J2289: Electric-Drive Battery Pack System: Functional Guidelines.
A critical powertrain component – for performance, lifespan, and safety – is the Battery Management System (BMS). This control system will modulate the Thermal Management System (TMS) to operate a series of pumps and heaters/coolers to move the specially formulated liquid coolant through the heat exchanger(s) and use it to maintain the LiB at its most optimum temperature for the given operation, like charging level and power output.
Excessive heat has been shown to rapidly degrade LiBs, making BTMS a critical system for ensuring the battery meets the lifespan requirements, that are being rolled out by governments across the globe, like California wanting to require that the “B” in BEV maintains at least 80% of its certified test-cycle range for 15-years or one-hundred and fifty thousand miles.
Thermal management of the HVB is often one loop of 2 to 3 loop systems to provide thermal management to all the power electronics, motors, and other hardware.
I.A.vi.b.i.b: Examples of Charging Plugs and Adapters | Battery Power Tips | ChargeX Consortium | COMEMSO
Figure 4: Examples of Charging Plugs and Adapters | Battery Power Tips | ChargeX Consortium NREL/TP-5400-91017 | COMEMSO
I.A.vi.c: Battery Electric Vehicle (BEV) Charging Overview
Battery Electric Vehicles (BEV) currently use cables to plug into charging equipment, known as Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment (EVSE) aka charging stations.
Charging equipment comes in various levels of charging energy types and energy levels, like household Alternating Current (AC), like the typical home installation, called Level I charging.
Charging levels go up to Level 3 for Direct Current Fast Charge (DCFC), which can take a battery from 10% State of Charge (SoC) to 80% SoC in about an hour.
Charging can also take place via Regenerative Braking through the vehicle’s internal battery charging circuit. Regen has specific criteria surrounding whether it activates or not.
If equipped, the vehicle will turn the traction motors into generators (or alternators, if AC) and will recharge the traction battery IF the criteria is met.
Criteria include battery SoC, vehicle speed, and any manual settings controlled by the driver. Many owners’ manuals will outline the details of the regenerative braking operation.
I.A.vi.c.i: Megawatt Charging System (MCS)
Agencies like SAE International (SAE) and the US Department of Energy (DOE) with the National Labs, and the global agency, CharIN, are rolling out Megawatt Charging Systems (MCS) which can deliver charging at up to 3,000A! Current DCFC delivers 80-300A. The global consortium Charging Interface Initiative (CharIN) is helping to advance MCS and issued a May 2025 White Paper detailing the hardware, software, electrical, and thermal requirements needed to safely support MCS plug charging at such enormous levels of energy.
I.A.vi.c.i.a: Fast Charging Energy Comparison Table | Charged EV Magazine Webinar | Schaltbau of North America | Sept 2025 Webinar
Figure 5: Fast Charging Energy Comparison Table | Charged EV Magazine Webinar | Schaltbau of North America | Sept 2025
Figure 5a: Estimated Heat Energy Generated from Various Fast Charging Methods, Shown in Equivalence to 350 kWh Battery Energy | Calculations by 352 Innovation
I.A.vi.c.iii: Thermal Management for Charging Equipment and Battery Electric Vehicles
Power - P (W) = Current^2 – I^2 (ampere) x Resistance - R (ohms)
P = I^2 x R
From Figure 5 (above), we can see just how much heat can be generated from the internal resistance created when charging at 1MW of power and 3,000A for those twenty-minutes.*
Q = I^2 x R x t
HEAT - Q (Joules) = Current^2 – I ^2 (ampere) x Resistance - R (ohms) x time - t (seconds)
Using data from Figure 6, the amount of heat energy generated, during that 20-minute charging period, is the equivalent of SEVEN – 7! – 7 x 350 kWh batteries!!
*Charging, at any level, does not maintain maximum power/current for the entire duration, and this time off maximum power/current can vary from level to level and vehicle to vehicle since the vehicle is in communication with the charging station to prevent overcharging and modulating power levels based on heat and the charging algorithm.
Thermal management is just as critical for charging equipment, the High Voltage Battery (HVB), and the charging process because charging generates a LOT of heat – and the higher the level, the higher the heat.
Cables used at Direct Current Fast Charge (DCFC) stations often have liquid cooling flowing through the cable itself (ref top left image in Figure 3) to draw heat out of the cable.
The Battery Electric Vehicle (BEV) will use the Battery Management System (BMS) to set the battery at an optimum temperature, and it will also perform some thermal management on the supporting power electronics, like the Onboard Charger (OBC).
The OBC is used to rectify the incoming Alternating Current (AC) power to the Direct Current (DC) power required by the battery. During DCFC, the OBC is by-passed, which contributes to the fast charging because the OBC can be a limiting factor in the speed of AC charging, based on the speed the OBC can rectify the current.
The BEV control system will prep the battery and charging circuit for DCFC by activating the Pre-Charge Circuit. Systems like Pre-Charge and the BMS are designed to protect the HVB, ensure a long lifespan, high reliability, and safe operation.
I.A.vi.c.iii.a: Electric Vehicle (EV) Charger Types | TE Connectivity
Figure 6: EV Charger Types | Addressing the Time to Charge Industrial & Commercial Transportation Vehicles | TE Connectivity White Paper | Feb 2023
I.A.vi.c.iv: Wireless Charging
Wireless charging of Electric Vehicles (EV) is coming! Stationary and in-road dynamic Wireless Power Transfer (WPT)!
SAE International (SAE) began working on wireless charging possibilities with multiple industry partners in 2007. Their testing and efforts to standardize wireless performance across countries and manufacturers, has brought this technology to be a very real infrastructure upgrade and improve vehicle charging safety for all the associated products in the next few years.
SAE J2954: Wireless Power Transfer (WPT) for Light-Duty Plug-in Electric Vehicles and Alignment Methodology
AND
SAE J2836/6: Use Cases for Wireless Charging Communication for Plug-in Electric Vehicles
AND for MEGAWATT (ref Figures 5, 6 and §!.A.vi.c.i) SAE has been released
SAE J3271: SAE Megawatt Charging System (MCS) for Electric Vehicles
I.A.vi.c.iv.a: Wireless Power Transfer (WPT) Operation Graphic | IEEE ACCESS
Figure 7: Graphical Depiction of In-Road Wireless Power Transfer (WPT) | IEEE Access 2019 | A Adib
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This page is for information and educational purposes only. Links to all sources used to help create this page are embedded throughout this page.
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