Through-life Management of Electric Vehicles

While Electric Vehicles (EVs) have received substantial investment from governments to support technological development and testing in real world conditions, uptakes levels have thus far been below expectations. This is widely acknowledged to be due to a range of concerns held by potential users including cost, range, reliability and availability for use. In this paper the role of through-life engineering in addressing these concerns will be discussed. The major components and subsystems used in EVs will be identified and their impact on the life span, operation and cost of EV ownership will be identified. Based upon this analysis recommendations will be made for future research and development aimed at improving the operational viability and life cycle cost.